Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD is not a personality quirk or a love of neatness. It's a condition where unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors take over hours of your day — and it responds to the right treatment.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder has two parts that feed each other:
- Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that cause real distress — fears about contamination, doubts about whether you locked the door or hurt someone, a need for things to feel "just right," or disturbing thoughts that clash with your values.
- Compulsions are the behaviors or mental rituals a person feels driven to perform to relieve that distress or prevent something bad — washing, checking, counting, repeating, arranging, or silently reviewing and reassuring.
The relief compulsions bring is temporary, and the cycle tightens: the more the ritual is performed, the stronger the obsession becomes.
It's worth saying clearly: OCD is not just being tidy or liking things organized. Casual phrases like "I'm so OCD" can make it harder for people with the real condition to be taken seriously. OCD is often exhausting, time-consuming, and deeply private — many people hide their symptoms for years out of shame, especially when the intrusive thoughts are violent, sexual, or religious in nature. Having those thoughts does not mean you want to act on them or that anything is wrong with your character. They are symptoms, and they are treatable.
Common signs and symptoms
- Intrusive thoughts or images that keep returning no matter how hard you push them away
- Excessive fears about germs, contamination, or illness
- Repeated checking — locks, appliances, messages, your own memory
- Needing things arranged or done in a particular way until they feel "right"
- Counting, repeating words, or rerunning events in your mind
- Repeatedly seeking reassurance from others
- Avoiding places, objects, or situations that trigger obsessions
- Rituals that consume an hour or more a day, or significantly interfere with school, work, or relationships
How is OCD treated?
We start with a thorough psychiatric evaluation. OCD is frequently missed or mislabeled as anxiety, and it often coexists with depression or other conditions — so understanding the full picture matters before treatment begins. From there, we build a personalized plan.
- Therapy — the best-studied psychological treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), a structured, gradual approach in which you learn to face triggers without performing the compulsion, so the anxiety loses its grip. Our therapists work at a pace you can handle.
- Medication management — certain antidepressants are well established for OCD and can meaningfully turn down the volume of obsessions, especially alongside therapy. Doses and timelines for OCD differ from depression, so experienced prescribing matters.
- GeneSight® genetic testing — helpful insight when previous medications haven't worked well or caused side effects.
- Telehealth — both therapy and medication visits are available by secure video anywhere in Tennessee.
When to reach out
If intrusive thoughts or rituals are taking real time out of your day, keeping you from things you care about, or leaving you ashamed and exhausted, you deserve help — and you're likely to be met with more understanding than you expect. Many people find substantial relief with treatment. We see patients ages 13 and up; fill out our new patient form or call 615-716-8255.