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There, and Everywhere

OCD Diagnosis

Updated 23-Jan-2016

This is a new page that I'll try to expand more fully as time goes on.

"To be considered clinically significant, the obsessions or compulsions must cause significant distress or interfere with the person's social or role functioning and must occupy more than an hour per day. This however is only a general guideline to recognizing the symptoms of OCD, since even those with chronic OCD usually have a waxing and waning course (i.e., OCD symptoms are not evident on a daily basis for a set amount of hours)."

Stanford School of Medicine - OCD Research - OCD Diagnosis

• Obsessions and Compulsions - is a list of common obsessions and compulsions, compiled by the Interational OCD Foundation (IOCDF).
• Stanford School of Medicine - OCD Research - OCD Symptoms - provides a statistical break down of obsessions and compulsions.
• OCD Symptoms - "Expert Advice on OCD Causes & Treatments ..." This site has a large collection of articles on various aspects of OCD. The Symptoms Category has articles on different types of OCD.
• OCD Types - provides summaries of (i) types of obsessions, (ii) types of compulsions, and (iii) related disorders. There are additional articles about treatment therapies, as well as a list of books and a small list of therapists. I found the articles about the types of obsessions and compulsions and treatment therapies the most useful.
• Peace of Mind Foundation - founded by a severe OCD sufferer, Elizabeth McIngvale, has the entire left column of its web site devoted to links to OCD types. Aside from textual information about the different types of OCD, the site also features videos by sufferers and therapists.

• Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) - on-line test commonly used to evaluate the severity of obsessions and compulsions.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory - Revised (OCI-R) - on-line test that evaluates the severity of OCD based on questions about different types of obsessions and compulsions.

Contamination Fears

Contamination fears are the most common type of OCD and, with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), one of the most easily treatable. People who suffer from contamination fears are associated in the public mind with germaphobes, but potential contaminants encompass a much wider range of things than just germs. Contamination fears are particularly insidious in that an object touched by a contaminant itself becomes contaminated, and so on and so on.

• Clean Hands Campaign - is a public education campaign sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology. "According to the CDC, the single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands."
• HyGenius - is a commercial "state-of-the-art hand washing control and verification system".
• "OCD in Egyptian Adolescents: The Effect of Culture and Religion" (PDF) - Dr. Ahmed Okasha compares and contrasts the effects of religion on OCD in the Moslem, Jewish, Christian, and Hindu religions. While this scholarly paper is not about contamination fears in particular, Dr. Okasha does note that the nature of contamination fears is influenced by one's culture and/or religion.

Hoarding

Also see the films, Housekeeping and Unstrung Heroes, and numerous television shows about hoarding under Arts/Entertainment/Media.

• 5 Tips to Overcome Hoarding (Curio Cabinet Spot) - has some useful information about hoarding, its connection to OCD, ways to overcome it, and some good links to other hoarding resources.
• Clutters Anonymous (CLA) - uses a 12-step program (similar to Alcoholics Anonymous) to overcome hoarding. "Our fellowship is based on suggestion, interchange of experience, rotation of leadership and service. CLA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology, or religious doctrine ..."
• Hoarding Pros - "We Are The Hoarding Specialist In Michigan. Hoarding Help Is All We Do - That's Why We Can Do It Best!" This company is run by Janet Kester, MSW, LMSW, who offers counseling to hoarders and family members, whether or not they choose to have the company clean their homes.
• Information about Compulsive Hoarding - is a video put together by Renae M. Reinardy, Psy.D., a specialist in hoarding.
• International OCD Foundation Hoarding Center - has a lot of information on hoarding, help and community services for hoarders, and other resources. The Welcome page has a concise introduction to the different sections of the web site. (Don't ask me why they didn't make the Welcome page the Home page - who knows?)
• Rapid Responders Cleaning Company - cleans and decontaminates filthy homes, especially those of hoarders.
• Troubles with Junk: A Guide to Compulsive Hoarding - summarizes the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of hoarding; the web page also links to a number of useful websites dealing with hoarding.
• Vimeo Hoarding Videos
• YouTube Hoarding Videos

Pure Obsessions

"Pure Obsessions" is considered by some as different than OCD in that there are no visible compulsions. However, from my own experience, sufferers use internal compulsions (i.e., mental rituals) to counteract the obsessions. ("Pure-O Defined and Described confirms my understanding.) Consequently, in my unprofessional opinion, pure obsessions can be treated by the usual methods for treating OCD.

• OCD and Religion - is my own web page. Pure obsessions relating to one's religion are especially common (e.g., scrupulosity). Dr. Lee Baer's book, The Imp of the Mind, points out how the "imp" in your mind zeroes in on whatever is near and dear to your heart and causes you to obsess about that. A person of deep faith is likely to obsess that every thought and action is blasphemous.
• The Other OCD - "A complete resource guide to understanding and living with 'Purely-Obsessional' OCD." This is a very content-rich web site - a must-visit for people with pure obsessions (and even for those with any type of OCD).
• Pure "O" - is a film by Jennifer Goodwin about Pure Obsessions. Watch the trailer and order (English, French PDF) the DVD (and other OCD DVDs) from the Quebec Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation. (The web site can be viewed in English or French; the film itself is in English.)
• Pure Obsessional OCD (Wikipedia)