Life
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is commonly — and harmfully — used as a shorthand for "extremely neat" or "requiring order in all things." When people use OCD as a stand-in for these two specific symptoms of the disorder, which not all people with the disorder experience, it increases stigma towards people with OCD. A whole other group of symptoms get erased when these stereotypes are repeated, and we need to stop excusing them.
But what are the symptoms of OCD that don't get talked about? The defining aspect of obsessive-compulsive disorders isn't a need to keep all your sneakers in a row. It's the underlying fear and anxiety that might make you believe that without scrubbing out the shower fourteen times you may spread disease, or that opening a door repeatedly is the only way to save your friends from danger. The behaviors are an attempt to keep the thoughts under control — but for many of us, intrusive thoughts are more common than you might realize, even if you don't fit all the criteria for OCD. Understanding these thoughts as a consequence of everyday life can help promote empathy for people who do have OCD, and hopefully reduce stigma about the disorder.
Intrusive Thoughts Are More Common Than You Think
There are a lot of variations on OCD in the world. Some are comorbid disorders, like body dysmorphia, in which the obsessive and intrusive thoughts revolve almost exclusively around distorted self-conceptions of bodily size and shape. Others are similar in behavior but not in thought: disorders like trichophagia, which involves compulsive eating of one's own hair, can be done unconsciously without anxiety behind them. But are intrusive thoughts on their own, without compulsions attached, a disorder to be reckoned with, or just an element of normal human psychology?
Humans are naturally imaginative creatures; it's one of the features that's served us well throughout our evolution, allowing us to picture outcomes that differ hugely from what's actually in front of us and make complicated plans. However, the gift of imagination can sometimes lead to dark places.
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America notes that, for people with intrusive thoughts, "somewhere within an obsession is the flip side of a core value. If OCD taunts you with images and thoughts about offending God, then religion must be important to you. If OCD reviews all the ways your family could be hurt, then your family is clearly one of your top priorities." However, there's a large difference between casually imagining what would happen if something awful occurred and having to actively conquer those thoughts because they recur so often that they're causing you distress.
Intrusive thoughts that cause distress but don't manifest in compulsive behavior likely fit the definition of other anxiety disorders. They occur in people with generalized anxiety disorder, with specific phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other anxiety conditions. The Calm Clinic has a handy test to examine whether you might be having intrusive thoughts at a level that needs attention by a psychological professional. If not, though, relax; these sorts of thoughts likely occur to many of us at one time or another, but we just don't talk about them enough. Talking about them honestly, and without stereotypes, can help everyone — with or without OCD — navigate their symptoms and understand what's happening to them.