{"id":2416,"date":"2018-02-18T12:41:19","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T12:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ocduk.net\/?page_id=2416"},"modified":"2022-04-27T14:19:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T13:19:02","slug":"diagnosing-ocd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ocduk.org\/ocd\/diagnosing-ocd\/","title":{"rendered":"Diagnosing OCD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Karen<\/a>

Karen and Paul worked collaboratively during their CBT treatment sessions together.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the most frequent support emails or calls we receive is from people asking \u201cDoes this sound like OCD?\u201d.\u00a0 Many of us within OCD-UK know how daunting it can be to seek formal help from a GP or health professional having been through it ourselves, but in order to be formally diagnosed, we do need to reach out<\/p>\n

Whilst we’re unable to diagnose people ourselves, that is something beyond our remit and level of qualification, we thought it might be helpful to explain how a diagnosis of OCD might come about and what health professionals might ask you.<\/p>\n

This simple OCD cycle image is helpful to understand the four basic aspects of OCD. OCD will nearly always involve these four components, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) leading to anxiety, compulsions (internal or external, including seeking reassurance or avoidance of certain people, places or objects) leading to temporary relief from the anxiety, relief, that may only last for minutes until the next intrusive thought (obsession) occurs.\u00a0 The actual process of OCD is far more complex, and not as straight forward as the OCD cycle image depicts, but we like this OCD cycle image for providing a simple illustration of four of the main elements of OCD.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

OCD Cycle<\/p><\/div>\n

Regardless of the type of OCD, when you strip away the nature of the worries, the above processes will always be taking place, albeit in a slightly different format.<\/p>\n

Of course, such an image isn’t how a health professional will diagnose OCD, but it’s helpful to understand the four key stages of OCD that may be required for a formal diagnosis. We do expand on this image in much more detail in the overcoming OCD<\/a> chapter.<\/p>\n

To some degree OCD-type symptoms are probably experienced at one time or another, by most people, especially in times of stress. However, OCD itself can have a totally devastating impact on a person\u2019s entire life, from education, work and career enhancement to social life and personal relationships as we discussed earlier in the chapter..<\/p>\n

The key difference that segregates little quirks, often referred to by people as being \u2018a bit OCD\u2019, from the actual disorder is when the distressing and unwanted experience of obsessions and compulsions impacts to a significant level upon a person\u2019s everyday functioning \u2013 this represents a principal component in the clinical diagnosis of Obsessive\u2013Compulsive Disorder<\/strong>.\u00a0 If a person\u2019s trait does not cause anxiety or impact or disorder to their life, then it is unlikely to be OCD, although a health professional will need to conduct an assessment to confirm a diagnosis or not.<\/p>\n

When someone seeks help for their OCD, healthcare professionals will consider how distressing the symptoms are for that person and how much their life is affected. Generally OCD might be diagnosed if symptoms take more than a hour each and every day.<\/p>\n

In terms of what health professionals will look for when assessing and diagnosing OCD, the NICE Guidelines for OCD<\/a> stated that “the diagnostic criteria for the two main international classification systems, ICD<\/a> and\u00a0DSM<\/a> are virtually identical and must include the presence of either obsessions or\u00a0compulsions.”\u00a0 The NICE Guidelines then go on to state:<\/p>\n