Quick question

I wouldn't say 'stages' however OCD is known to wax and wane over time and to change themes oftentimes. It makes sense given that the things people worry about tend to be related to their developmental stage in life or other things that are important to them, so it makes sense that the content of OCD would change at times. Other people report a steady theme throughout their lifetime. Check these out-https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/how-erp-can-treat-all-ocd-themes & https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/my-symptoms-come-and-go-is-it-still-ocd

I don’t think OCD necessarily has specific stages. However, it can Definitely manifest differently for each of us. Also, for some of us, OCD, has this way of sometimes jumping around from theme to theme. Sometimes OCD reminds me of the carnival game whack-a-mole. Every time it becomes manageable in one way, something else comes up. Also, it is not uncommon for someone to have more than one OCD theme that they deal with. Nor is it uncommon for them to deal with one OCD theme in the past and then that theme subsides, and a new theme comes up. Regardless of the subtype, it’s all OCD, and the Good news is recovery is possible from all of it.

I haven't heard anyone say this clinically speaking, but I've for sure experienced this. I've heard professionals though explain how ocd evolves/changes over time so maybe that's similar. My ocd started off with contamination and some pure o but i didn't notice the pure o too much because the contamination was so awful and i think the pure o was more chill back then. I did ERP for the contamination and then my ocd went mostly dormant for almost 10 years. Then the pure o came back so hard. It started with one theme i had for a bit but was able to keep at bay. I couldn't think of anything else for a month or two, and then a few months later it went on to another theme. I was debilitated by that for months and then i went on meds for a year, and didn't experience many symptoms. After getting off it came back slowly with two more themes and now I'm doing ERP for the pure o. Even my specific themes, i can see how it evolves or has stages as it progresses. Ocd is so sneaky so i feel like once i engage with it it becomes more intense and gets more serious until it's all i csn think about. So for sure i feel like ocd has different stages and evolves, but i think it can really be prevented by identifying it's ocd and not giving attention to it to feed into it

i think so. im not a professional but i had contamination ocd in 2020. it then turned into pure ocd. and now its on a completely different theme.