#ocd subtypes
what is an OCD theme?
when I first proposed the OCD project, I got a bunch of questions about what it means to have an “OCD theme”, so I thought I’d make a post to address this!
a theme is something for your OCD to be centred around. a person can have one theme, multiple themes, or no theme in particular. the dominant theme can also change over time.
if you have OCD, you won’t be diagnosed with “harm OCD” or “contamination OCD”, it’s just a way to group things for the purposes of understanding the disorder and recovery.
common themes include:
- harm
- contamination
- gender and sexuality
- religion
- morality
- persecution
- perfectionism
- pedophilia
- health
but there are many more! each theme has different challenges, but they can all be really hard to live with.
no matter your theme, the gold standard for treatment is ERP (exposure response prevention). once you’ve identified what your key fears are, this is a lot easier to do. an experienced therapist will have go-to ways to trigger you in a safe environment so that you can learn how to cope and process without resorting to the compulsions.
hope this helps!
