What are the symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? People with the disorder usually take on symptoms that reflect a wide variety of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are the out-of-control thoughts, images or impulses that occur over and over again. With OCD, someone may have obsessions about cleanliness, counting, injury and/or perfection, among others.
People with OCD try to make these thoughts go away through behaviors or actions known as compulsions or rituals. For example, the person with a cleanliness obsession may spend hours washing his or her hands repetitively and uncontrollably. Of course, we all have rituals or actions that are important to us, but people with OCD feel like they have to do certain things over and over.
