Do You Have OCD? A Self-Test

"Do I really have OCD?" You may have been asking this over and over again, especially if you feel that your problems are similar to those described in this website. How would you know for sure?

Well, the only way to know for sure is to be evaluated by a professional licensed to make a mental health diagnosis. In the meantime, here's an informal self-test that can help you get a clearer sense of whether you may have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. However, I ask that you promise to take the following caution very seriously:

This self-test IN NO WAY is intended to be a substitute for an evaluation and diagnosis made by a licensed mental health care professional. Your answers to these questions should serve you only as a GUIDE in determining whether to seek out help for what may be OCD.

Now spend a few minutes to answer the following 10 questions. Write the numbers 1-10 on a sheet of paper. Read each item and then write down "yes" or "no" next to the number. And remember, just give your own honest view of yourself: (1) Are you bothered by worries, or thoughts accompanied by anxiety, which deep down you know are unrealistic (or other people tell you so)? If so, do these thoughts take up at least an hour most days and/or interfere with doing things at home, school, or work? (2) Do you fear that you may say or do something really embarassing or harmful because you might momentarily lose control over your actions? (3) Do you experience anxiety or discomfort when doing an everyday task such as showering, brushing your hair or teeth, getting dressed, preparing meals, eating food, touching household garbage, using the bathroom, driving, household cleaning, closing doors or windows, using appliances, touching common objects (doorknobs, for example), incidental contact with other people, writing, mailing letters, or being near someone who is ill? (4) Do you find that it takes you an unusually long period of time to do a simple task, such as any of the things listed in #3? (5) Do things pile up at home because you feel that you cannot throw things away, including really useless objects like empty packages or wrappers? (6) In order to avoid having anxiety or discomfort, do you try to avoid going to certain places, getting close to certain objects, or doing certain tasks (for example, having your partner pay at the checkout counter so that you can avoid touching money or the cashier's hand)? Or do you avoid certain "bad" words, letters, or numbers? (7) In order to REDUCE anxiety, fear, or discomfort, do you feel that you have to repeat a task over and over again, check something many times, clean something for a really long time or with harsh cleansers (including handwashing), perform tasks in an inflexible order, use certain "good" words/letters/numbers, arrange things in a certain order (symmetrically, for example), or say a reassuring "prayer" or phrase? (8) If you answered "yes" to any of the above, have your efforts to stop or reduce doing these things (on your own) mostly been unsuccessful? (9) If you answered "yes" to any of the above, have you found yourself involving others close to you by having them do (or avoid) certain things in order to reduce your anxiety or discomfort? (10) If you answered "yes" to any of the above, do you try to hide or disguise these things so that others don't know what you are really doing?

So how did you do? As you may have noticed, there is no "score" to be counted up. The more "yesses" you gave to these 10 items, the more likely it is that you have OCD. Making the diagnosis of OCD requires a thorough evaluation. This is especially true because "yes" answers to any of the above could be due to conditions other than OCD. Also, only a trained professional has the experience to make the clinical judgment that the severity is sufficient to warrant a diagnosis.

If you answered "no" to all the questions, it is unlikely that you have OCD. If you said "yes" to one or two questions, you should consider evaluation and treatment for OCD or some related condition. If you answered "yes" to three or more, you should definitely seek professional evaluation and treatment.

Where do you go from here? If you gave at least a few "yes" answers, my advice is to click here to learn about how to find the right treatment for OCD.