Symptoms

Obsessive compulsive disorder has to be evaluated by a health professional (doctor, psychologist) and diagnosed, based on pre-established criteria, by a psychiatrist, who has to recognize the particular symptoms of OCD and distinguish them from behaviours related to another disorder.

That is why it is important, when the individual meets with a health professional, that he describe in detail his thoughts, emotions and compulsive acts. The health professional may use an OCD evaluation scale, such as the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), which estimates the level of distress and degree of severity caused by the obsessions and compulsions, and will also observe the impact of the obsessive symptoms on the patient’s professional, family, conjugal life and everyday activities.

OCD shares some common characteristics with certain other disorders. While those disorders are treated differently, they can be confused with OCD:

• trichotillomania (compulsion to pull out hair, eyebrows and body hair)
• uncontrollable habits (nail-biting, skin-picking)
• tics, involuntary physical or vocal behaviours may be present at the same time as OCD, which is thus often associated with Tourette Syndrome

OCD is distinct from impulse control disorders, such as pathological gambling or compulsive sexual activity.