OCD Awareness Week: Understanding OCD beyond the stereotypes

To mark OCD Awareness Week, we spoke with the OCD, BDD and Related Disorders Team about what the disorder is, the misunderstanding that often goes hand in hand with discussion about it, and the challenges individuals may face.
OCD is a severe and debilitating disorder that can significantly impact a person’s daily life. At its core, it involves a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images or urges that create intense anxiety or a sense of danger. These thoughts are often repetitive and distressing, and can include fears of harm, contamination, or moral wrongdoing.
Dr Amita Jassi said: "Despite its prevalence (1 in 50), OCD remains widely misunderstood, often trivialised as a personality quirk or reduced to stereotypes about cleanliness and order. In reality, OCD can be a severe and debilitating disorder that can significantly impact a person’s daily life."
To manage the anxiety triggered by intrusive obsessions, individuals may engage in compulsions - repetitive behaviours or mental rituals such as checking, cleaning, counting, or seeking reassurance.
While these actions may offer temporary relief, they ultimately reinforce the obsessive fears, making the cycle harder to break. OCD is not simply about being neat or organised; it is about managing overwhelming doubt and fear that can feel paralysing.
Dr Bruce Clark said: "One of the greatest challenges for people with OCD is confronting the stigma and misinformation surrounding the condition. Phrases like “I’m a bit OCD” can diminish the seriousness of the disorder and make it harder for individuals to seek help."
With the right support - such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) - many people experience significant improvement in the symptoms.
Understanding OCD begins with recognising its diverse characteristics and validating the experiences of those who live with it. With greater awareness and compassion, we can help dismantle stigma and support recovery.
At our Trust, adult service users with OCD are supported as outpatients at the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT) on our Denmark Hill site and as inpatients at the Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit (ADRU) at Bethlem.
The OCD, BDD and Related Disorders Team sit within our National & Specialist CAMHS service and work with children and young people with OCD from across the country. For more information and resources, visit OCD Action and OCD UK. See these mythbusters to help with your understanding of OCD: OCD Awareness Handouts | OCD-UK
Watch the short video below made by the National and Specialist CAMHS OCD, BDD & Related Disorders Service, in collaboration with OCD Action, designed to raise awareness and provide hope for parents whose children have the debilitating condition.
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