The Journal
What Is Checking OCD?
Do you keep checking the stove, locks, garage door, or other things even though you already know they’re secure? Learn why checking compulsions happen in obsessive compulsive disorder and how ERP helps break the cycle.
What Is Sensorimotor OCD? (Somatic OCD)
Do you feel like you can’t stop noticing your breathing, swallowing, blinking, or another bodily sensation? Learn what sensorimotor OCD (somatic OCD) is, why the awareness becomes so distressing, and how ERP can help.
Why Do I Overthink Everything?
Do you feel like you overthink everything? Learn why overthinking happens, how it differs from productive problem-solving, and how anxiety, rumination, and OCD can keep repetitive thinking going.
Can You Have OCD and Know Your Fear Doesn’t Make Sense?
Many people with OCD recognize that their fears don’t fully make sense, yet still feel unable to let them go. Learn why insight alone doesn’t stop OCD and how Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) helps people respond differently to doubt and uncertainty.
“What If This Isn’t Really OCD?” Understanding Meta OCD
Sometimes OCD targets the disorder itself. Learn how meta OCD can create endless doubt about whether your symptoms, treatment, or diagnosis are “really OCD” and why trying to find certainty often keeps the cycle going.
What Is Relationship OCD (ROCD)?
People with Relationship OCD (ROCD) often feel trapped in an endless search for certainty about their relationship. Learn how ROCD affects relationship doubts, attraction concerns, reassurance-seeking, and obsessive questioning.
Why Can’t I Stop Thinking About It? Understanding Rumination
Do you replay conversations, second-guess decisions, or analyze the same thoughts for hours without finding an answer? Learn what rumination is, why it’s so hard to stop, and how it differs from productive problem-solving.
What Is Sexual Orientation OCD? (SO-OCD/HOCD)
Do you constantly question your sexual orientation, analyze your reactions, or seek reassurance about what your thoughts mean? Learn what sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD/HOCD) is, how it differs from genuine identity exploration, and how ERP can help.
Understanding Backdoor Spikes in OCD
Many people with OCD experience periods when symptoms improve, only to become alarmed when anxiety suddenly returns. Learn what backdoor spikes are, why they happen, and how OCD can turn recovery itself into a new source of doubt.
Why Repeated Checking Can Make You Trust Your Memory Less
Many people with OCD check repeatedly because they want certainty. Research suggests that repeated checking may actually make people trust their memory less, even when they remember accurately.
What Is Just Right OCD?
Do you feel like you have to keep repeating something until it feels “just right”? Learn what Just Right OCD is, how it differs from perfectionism, and why the urge to repeat behaviors can become so difficult to resist.
What Is Hit-and-Run OCD?
Hit-and-run OCD involves persistent fears about accidentally injuring or killing someone while driving and not realizing it. Although the fear centers on driving, the core issue is often a need for certainty and repeated attempts to determine whether harm occurred.
Why Can’t I Stop Thinking About It? Understanding Rumination in OCD
Rumination is a common mental compulsion in OCD that can feel like problem-solving but often keeps people trapped in cycles of doubt, uncertainty, and overanalysis. Learn how rumination works and why it can be so difficult to stop.
What Is Thought-Action Fusion?
Many people with OCD become frightened not only by what they think, but by what they believe their thoughts mean. Thought-action fusion is a common OCD process in which people begin treating thoughts as though they are morally equivalent to actions or capable of causing events to occur.
Understanding Moral Scrupulosity: When OCD Targets Morality and Responsibility
Moral scrupulosity is a form of OCD characterized by excessive guilt, moral doubt, and a relentless need for certainty about being a good person. People may become trapped in cycles of rumination, reassurance-seeking, confession, and compulsive self-evaluation that never fully resolve their doubts.
Understanding False Memory OCD
False memory OCD is a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder involving obsessive doubt about past events, actions, or memories.
The person becomes preoccupied with the possibility that they forgot something terrible, misremembered events, caused harm unknowingly, behaved immorally, or committed a serious mistake without realizing it. The fears often feel vivid and emotionally convincing, even when objective evidence is limited or absent.
How to Support a Loved One With OCD Without Accidentally Reinforcing It
Supporting someone with OCD can be challenging. Learn how reassurance, accommodation, and participation in compulsions can affect OCD, and how to provide support without reinforcing the disorder.
What Is OCD?
OCD is much more than cleaning and checking. Learn how obsessions and compulsions work, why OCD feels so convincing, and how evidence-based treatment helps people break the cycle.