![]() By studying not only your intrusive thoughts, but the other symptoms you’re experiencing as well, a professional should be able to distinguish between the two disorders. If you’re unsure about the cause of your intrusive thoughts, the only person who can give you the answer you’re seeking is a licensed mental health professional. One defining factor of an OCD obsession, though, is that they usually revolve around a specific theme, which we’ll talk more about later. ![]() There’s not a clear answer on whether an intrusive thought is caused by ADHD or OCD. People with ADHD have intrusive thoughts that just won’t go away, and may find that they ruminate on them. If you have been diagnosed with ADHD, you might have thought to yourself, as you were reading about OCD obsessions: “But I get intrusive thoughts too!”Īnd you’d be right people with ADHD do report that they experience intrusive thoughts that cause more distress to them than they do to people who are neurotypical. If there is an obsession underlying the behavior, however, the re-arranging might be a compulsion, which would make it more likely to be OCD. If it’s the former, that boy may qualify for ADHD. Are they truly just fidgeting because they feel like they can’t sit still, or is there an underlying obsession that’s causing these behaviors?įor example, is the little boy playing with his school supplies because he’s distracted and hyperactive, or is he re-arranging them because he has an overwhelming feeling that something is “off” or that something terrible will happen until his desk is arranged “just so”? ![]() It’s important for treatment providers to get to the root of why that person is engaging in these behaviors. For example, consider the example of a young boy who, instead of completing his homework every day, is constantly re-arranging his school supplies. To an outsider, it might just look like the person can’t sit still or that they’re constantly fidgeting. We think that part of the reason why these two conditions are confused is because people with OCD often engage in repetitive behaviors that look strange to people watching them. More specifically, children who actually have OCD are often misdiagnosed with – and treated for – ADHD. In presentation, though, these disorders are often misdiagnosed for each other. On paper, it might seem like OCD and ADHD have nothing in common at all. Similarities Between OCD and ADHD Symptoms As its name suggests, people with ADHD have difficulties maintaining focus, as well as with hyperactivity or impulsivity. What is ADHD?ĪDHD, or Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, is one of the most common neurological disorders in the world, affecting over 8% of children and over 2% of adults. OCD can be a debilitating disease when left untreated, and is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten causes of disability in the world. ![]() To meet the diagnostic criteria for OCD, these obsessions and compulsions must cause a significant decrease in functioning for the person in important areas of their life, like employment or relationships. This could be anything from washing one’s hands over and over again or checking locks (the compulsions that are most commonly associated with OCD) to asking for reassurance or mentally reviewing memories. These are any kind of repetitive, ritualistic behaviors (whether it’s mental or physical) that are meant to reduce the anxiety that’s caused by an obsession. They’re unable to think about anything else when an obsession gets lodged in their minds.Ĭompulsions are what, for people with OCD, follows an obsession. The thought causes them a great deal of distress, anxiety, and fear, and they feel like they’d be willing to do anything just to get the thought to leave their brains. We all have random thoughts like this sometimes, but what makes an obsession different is that the person with OCD ruminates on the thought. Obsessions are intrusive and unwanted thoughts that pop into someone’s head. The disorder is defined by the presence of two specific symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, is a mental illness that’s often called “the doubting disease”, because, at its core, it’s an inability to tolerate any level of doubt. If you’ve been following this blog, you’re probably very familiar by now with the symptoms of OCD.
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