- Date posted
- 1y ago
What is Checking?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is identified by obsessive and intrusive thoughts, stress, anxiety, and engagement in repetitive behaviors to reduce these symptoms. “Checking” is both a common symptom of OCD and its own subtype. Checking OCD is observed in checking-based repetitive behaviors; these behaviors occur to prevent the possibility of something bad occurring. Examples of Checking OCD: It may be hard to recognize or distinguish checking OCD symptoms. It may look different for each person, but always involves checking and re-checking something, like making sure they completed a task, turned off the lights, or locked their front door. Examples of checking OCD include: Leaving work to check if the lights and appliances are off at home, even though they can verify that they or their partner did Rushing away from dinner with friends to see if their car and house doors are locked Constantly fearing they haven’t done something and bringing it up repeatedly to get reassurance that they have OCD checking and rechecking personal items to ensure they have them, even if they haven’t moved Taking significantly longer to complete tasks, especially if they involve fears of harming others or themselves Types of OCD Checking: OCD checking can be complex and there are many different things people with OCD might check, including: Checking locks: Checking to make sure things are locked multiple times Checking stoves, light switches, faucets, etc: Need to confirm that everything is off even after checking multiple times or asking others Checking related to harming self or others: Needing to make sure that you are not acting on impulsive or aggressive thoughts Checking for mistakes: Rereading and redoing the same thing multiple times to confirm that a mistake was not made Checking related to body/health: Checking your body out or checking your temperature to make sure you aren’t sick Full article here: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/checking-ocd/