Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterised by the presence of either obsessions or compulsions, but commonly both, causing significant functional impairment and/or distress.
Obsessions, commonly referred to as ‘intrusions’, are unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges that repeatedly enter the person’s mind and are experienced as unwelcome, distressing, unacceptable and even repugnant. Obsessions are not experienced as voluntarily produced thoughts but as thoughts or images that ‘come out of the blue’. While these are recognised as one’s own thoughts, they are also experienced as unwelcome and distressing, leading the individual to engage in attempts to get rid of the thoughts and to prevent further examples from occurring.
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