OCD or Anxiety? How to Detect and Understand the Early Signs of OCD
- Kassie Love
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Written by: Jordan Kadish
Reviewed for Accuracy by: Kassie Love, MMFT, MPH
If you’ve ever felt confused about whether your mental health symptoms are a result of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), you’re not alone. Many people struggle to differentiate the two disorders due to their overlapping symptoms. However, a lack of clarity regarding your symptoms may lead to misguidance, delayed diagnosis, and inadequate treatment. While the two conditions have some similarities, there are many key nuances that are important to understand. Keep reading to learn more about these differences, the early signs of OCD, and how to treat OCD effectively.
What is OCD?
OCD is a disorder that occurs when one experiences persistent, distressing, and/or intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that cause anxiety, which they attempt to alleviate by performing repetitive behaviors or rituals (compulsions) (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2023). For example, someone with OCD may regularly experience intrusive thoughts about their house being broken into. Even if this has never happened before and they know they are generally very cautious, they are unable to shake the obsession with home invasion, picturing it regularly. In an attempt to alleviate their anxiety, they check that they’ve locked their doors five times each night. Even if they understand that the door is locked the first time, they must check five times; otherwise, things won’t feel “right” or “safe.” This is just one example of how OCD can manifest, but the kinds of themes people with OCD obsess about are limitless. Obsessions tend to center around the things most important to a person, like relationships, health, safety, and moral values.
It’s important to note that although compulsions may temporarily alleviate the anxiety one experiences from their obsessions, the obsession-and-compulsion cycle only worsens anxiety in the long run (Gilette, 2023). This is because the cycle becomes repetitive, explaining why OCD can be so debilitating for some individuals. The constant association between a compulsion “solving” an obsession exacerbates the issue—it reinforces the idea that compulsions need to be performed for the person to feel safe, whether physically or emotionally. This can make OCD feel inescapable for those affected. Even though most understand that, logically, their compulsions aren’t protecting them, they feel unable to break the pattern without experiencing extreme distress.
OCD vs Anxiety
OCD and other anxiety disorders have a lot of similarities. For example, they are both characterized by obsessive worry, fear, and distress. Both disorders can impact day-to-day life and become debilitating if not treated properly. Additionally, many of the signs and symptoms coincide: difficulty concentrating, trouble breathing, increased heart rate, and more (Surles, 2025). Despite these similarities, the disorders are different at their cores.
First, anxiety disorders like GAD or social anxiety disorder typically entail anxious thoughts and feelings surrounding everyday events or social situations. Individuals may be able to recognize that their worries aren’t based in logic, similar to those with OCD. However, they won’t partake in ritualistic behavior to counteract the anxiety. Basically, people with OCD and people with other anxiety disorders will both experience intense worries about certain triggers, but only people with OCD will try to “solve” these thoughts with compulsive behaviors.
For example, someone with GAD and someone with OCD may both worry about contracting a serious illness. However, those with OCD will try to “solve” the worry by performing protective behaviors, like taking an excessive number of showers each day. Their compulsions can also be rooted in magical thinking and based less on logic (Diaz, 2023). For example, someone with OCD concerned about getting sick may feel the need to take a shower whenever they think about themselves becoming sick, even though they know deep down that the thought itself can’t contaminate them. It’s a complex disorder that logic, unfortunately, can’t help with, in contrast to other anxiety disorders.
Early Signs of OCD
If you’ve ever Googled, “How to know if I have OCD,” you’re at the right place. Here are a few indicators of the early signs of OCD. If you find that you are experiencing these signs and symptoms, speak to a mental health professional for additional information and support.
Common OCD Obsession Themes:
Fear of contamination
Fear of causing harm to yourself or others
Fear of being unjust, “bad,” or facing consequences
Need for certainty, perfection, or feeling “just right”
Need to “fix” taboo thoughts about “forbidden” subjects
Common OCD Compulsive Behaviors:
Excessive washing or cleaning
Avoidance of certain situations, places, or actions
Repetitive checking
Intense rumination and attempting to “solve” thoughts
Constant reassurance-seeking (through others or the internet)
Confessing thoughts or actions that could be seen as “bad”
Repeating actions until they feel “just right”
Avoiding or seeking out certain numbers, colors, order, or symbols
Treatment Options for OCD
Fortunately, there are possible treatments for OCD symptoms. Like most mental health conditions, a combination of therapy and medications is recommended as an effective treatment plan. However, unlike other anxiety disorders, research has shown that people with OCD do not respond well to typical talk therapy or cognitive therapy, which can actually worsen their symptoms (McKay et al., 2019). This is because these types of therapy involve the therapist helping the client reason with their thoughts, assess whether they are accurate or not, and learn how to change them into more helpful thoughts. For individuals with OCD, reasoning with and assessing thoughts only worsens rumination. And, in the end, the thoughts themselves aren’t the main issue for people with OCD—the compulsions they condition themselves to perform are.
Exposure response prevention therapy, or ERP, is known as the “gold standard” treatment for OCD (Surles, 2025). In ERP, the therapist works with the client to slowly expose them to their obsessions and fears, having them sit in their discomfort and anxiety in a safe space. The client must avoid performing compulsions as much as possible to prevent them from feeling necessary as an automatic response to the obsession. Over time, the client learns how to resist the urge to complete compulsions at all, and often experiences less anxiety-inducing obsessions overall from breaking this vicious cycle. ERP can feel scary and is a lot of hard work, but it has shown extreme success in managing OCD.
If therapy works to manage your OCD on its own, your doctor may recommend continuing therapy for your treatment plan. However, if you’re still struggling, they may recommend taking a prescribed medication—typically a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)—to help you manage your symptoms.
Living with OCD can feel like a constant battle. But with proper knowledge of the disorder and your treatment plan options, there is plenty of room to learn to manage it. You’ve got this!
References:
Diaz, M. (2023). The role of magical thinking in OCD. Anxiety & Depression Association of America. https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/role-magical-thinking-ocd
Gillette, H. (2023). Understanding the cycle of OCD. Healthline.
McKay, D., Abramowitz, J., & Storch, E. (2019). Ineffective and potentially harmful psychological interventions for obsessive-compulsive disorder. International OCD Foundation. https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/ineffective-and-potentially-harmful-psychological-interventions-for-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2023). Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — Symptoms & causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354432
Surles, T. (2025). GAD vs. OCD: Key differences, overlap, and treatment. NOCD.
Surles, T. (2025). What is ERP? Exposure and response prevention therapy for OCD. NOCD. https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/what-is-erp
UF Psychiatry. (n.d.). Medications for OCD. UF Psychiatry.
Kassie Love is a psychotherapist specializing in more intensive mood and emotional regulation needs, as well as unusual thoughts and experiences. Visit here to learn more and see how you can improve your mental well-being.
Comments