Everybody has pet peeves. Mine happen to include technical terms that are commonly used but don't really mean anything. Within the field of OCD, one particular term that I really wish should go away is "obsessive slowness." Researchers and practitioners generally use it to describe the behavior of people who carry out everyday activities in an extremely slow manner.

Within limits, a certain amount of superstitious thinking can be a harmless part of normal life. The popularity of horoscopes, tarot card readings, good luck charms, and psychics in our own society bears witness to this. However, even in primitive societies where magic controls people's actions and decisions on an everyday basis, it is integrated into everyday life, regarded as a tool, and does not paralyze its users. 

Over the years, I have watched my OCD patients putting great amounts of emotional, mental, and physical energy into the struggle against their symptoms. OCD, as we know, is especially characterized by doubt, and they seemed to believe that there just had to be a way to overcome their crushing doubts and the severe resulting anxiety. 

Steve, a 26 year-old computer programmer: “I can’t stop thinking about why we’re all here and whether there’s any purpose to life. I keep going over it in my mind all day long. I have continual thoughts of how one day I’ll be dead and no one will remember me. It will be as if I never existed. 

Always expect the unexpected - you can have an obsessive thought any time or any place. Don’t be surprised when old or even new ones occur. Don’t let it throw you. Be prepared to use your therapy tools at any time, and in any place.

“Doc,” began Don, a 35 year-old school teacher, “I told my wife we should sell my car, because I just can’t drive any more. Every time I go anywhere, I keep thinking that I’m hitting people with my car. It could be a jogger, a pedestrian, someone on a bike, or even an animal.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has long been known to take on many strange forms and cause people to think unusual things. It is important to know about and be able to recognize these different forms in order to make a correct diagnosis, and therefore have an effective treatment plan.