The door is locked. Deep down, you know because you checked it before you left. But halfway down the street, an alarming thought creeps into your mind. Did I really lock the door? Back to the door, you reassure yourself that it is indeed locked. You leave again, but before you know it, that same thought comes back.
For the average person, these types of thoughts are fleeting and infrequent. A panicked thought crosses your mind, but it is quickly forgotten. With OCD, it can happen dozens of times each day, making simple tasks challenging and exhausting. Having to entertain these constant thoughts makes it impossible to get through routine tasks in a timely fashion.
What Is Checking OCD?
Checking OCD is a subtype under the umbrella of obsessive-compulsive disorders. It involves persistent, intrusive thoughts, also known as obsessions, that something is wrong. These thoughts are then paired with repeated checking behaviors, called compulsions, meant to ease the associated anxiety.
Doing a double check might seem harmless, but this specific need to check is not casual. Your need to check, re-check, and repeat is fueled by an all-consuming fear that something bad has or will happen.
You can literally check that you unplugged your curling iron, go back and check again, take a picture as proof that it was unplugged, and still feel this worry deep in your gut that your house is going to burn down. The compulsion temporarily reduces the anxiety, but the relief is very short-lived, which keeps the cycle going.
Common Checking Behaviors
Checking OCD can manifest in several ways. Some of the more common checking behaviors include the following:
- Repeatedly checking locks, doors, or windows before leaving the house
- Checking appliances or lights, often multiple times in a row, to ensure they are off
- Checking your body for signs of illness
- Rereading sent text messages to make sure you did not say anything offensive
- Retracing your driving routine to confirm no one was accidentally hit
The common denominator for all of these behaviors is the underlying pattern. You have a distressing thought, followed by checking to get certainty, followed by a temporary relief, followed by returning doubt.
Why Checking Does Not Help
You would think that checking whatever item is causing you distress would solve the problem. Confirming that your coffee pot is off should make your worries go away. With OCD, your brain needs much more.
Every time you give in to your compulsions, you’re indirectly reinforcing the narrative that the obsessions are worth taking seriously. You are training your brain to need external validation to tolerate the distress and uncertainty.
Over time, this will cause your fears and doubts to grow stronger, requiring more action to calm them down. The number of checks will grow. Situations that trigger anxiety will multiply.
How Checking OCD Is Treated
Generally, checking OCD responds well to treatment. One effective approach is exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. ERP is considered a gold-standard method for OCD treatment. By gradually facing triggering situations, you can learn how to resist the urge to check.
CBT is another method used in conjunction with ERP to help identify unhelpful thought patterns and challenge them so they no longer drive your compulsions. You work to differentiate between real and false alarms so you can act accordingly.
Living with checking OCD is no easy task. It consumes valuable time and energy that could be better used elsewhere. If you are ready to break your cycle and restore quality of life, get in touch to learn more about OCD treatment and take the first step toward feeling like yourself again.