{"id":876212,"date":"2026-10-09T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876212\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T11:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:00:22","slug":"a-lot-of-women-who-think-they-have-anxiety-really-have-this-instead-heres-how-to-spot-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876212\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lot of Women Who Think They Have Anxiety Really Have This Instead. Here’s How to Spot the Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

October is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) awareness month, and there are a lot of people out there\u2014right now\u2014who don\u2019t even know they have it. One reason why? They think they have anxiety<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not such a surprise; the two mental health diagnoses have some overlap. For example, part of having OCD is experiencing feelings of anxiety, Simone Leavell-Bruce, PsyD<\/a>, a psychotherapist who specializes in OCD, previously told <\/a>Women\u2019s Health<\/a>. If you ask her, \u201cOCD is like anxiety on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet the experts: Simone Leavell-Bruce, PsyD,<\/a> is a North Carolina-based psychotherapist who specializes in OCD. Levi Riven, PhD<\/a>, is a clinical psychologist and founder of Riven Psychology.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just one major thing: OCD requires entirely different treatment than anxiety, and the traditional therapy for anxiety could actually make OCD worse. So, it\u2019s definitely worth knowing the difference between the two. About one in 40 adults in the United States has OCD, with signs most commonly appearing at ages 7 to 12 and in early adulthood, around age 20, per the International OCD Foundation<\/a>. Women also appear to be more susceptible to the condition; one review concluded<\/a> that women may be 1.6 times more likely to have OCD than men.<\/p>\n

Here are the core signs therapists look for when diagnosing OCD and how they tell it apart from anxiety.<\/p>\n

The Key Differences Between OCD and AnxietyYour worries are unusual to others.<\/p>\n

While generalized anxiety disorder tends to focus on everyday fears, OCD worries\u2014or obsessions\u2014are more out-of-the-box, especially to those who don\u2019t have the condition.<\/p>\n

Take this as an example: The night before a big presentation at work, someone with anxiety might be kept up all night with racing thoughts<\/a> about all the ways it could go wrong the next day. What if I fail? Did I practice enough? I hope I can pull it off. For someone with OCD, the worries are less rooted in everyday reality. Instead of being kept up by thoughts about preparedness or worrying if people will like their presentation, they might get intrusive thoughts about impulsively swearing or saying a racist slur while presenting. What if I offend people? Have I done anything like this before? Am I a bad person?<\/p>\n

Obsessions can also often be outlandish, surprising, and taboo. Some common OCD themes revolve around worrying that you\u2019re secretly a pedophile, getting intrusive thoughts that you\u2019ve harmed others\u2014or have the capability to\u2014and confusing, all-consuming doubts around your sexuality.<\/p>\n

That brings us to a core component of OCD: obsessions are usually ego-dystonic, meaning they contradict one\u2019s value system, morals, and sense of self, Levi Riven, PhD<\/a>, a psychologist based in Ottawa, said. (As in: That person who is worried that they\u2019re a pedophile is not.) Those things that people with OCD are worrying about\u2014like harming someone\u2014are actually the things they\u2019d like to do least. \u201cThat’s what makes OCD so scary: it hits you with something you just don’t recognize in yourself,\u201d said Leavell-Bruce.<\/p>\n

Common obsessions include:<\/p>\n

Contamination, or the extreme worry of encountering germs, diseases, or dirt that might infect you<\/p>\n

Fear that you might harm someone, or already have but don\u2019t know or remember doing it<\/p>\n

Excessive worry about your health<\/a>, such as having an undiagnosed condition or that you\u2019ll acquire one<\/p>\n

Overwhelming concern over things being even, ordered, or feeling \u201cjust right\u201d<\/p>\n

You follow each obsession with a compulsion.<\/p>\n

Every case of OCD will include compulsions, said Leavell-Bruce; they may just not be what you think. When most people think about OCD, they probably think about the compulsive handwashing, cleaning, or other physical rituals\u2014but many compulsions can happen entirely inside your own head.<\/p>\n

Instead of physical checking or seeking external reassurance, many people with OCD will go through an internal checking or rumination<\/a> process to make themselves feel better, Riven said, and that can look a lot like what someone does when they\u2019re anxious.<\/p>\n

Common compulsions include:<\/p>\n

Avoidance of a stressful stimulus or thought<\/p>\n

Constantly asking others for reassurance<\/p>\n

Checking that you have or have not done something<\/p>\n

Excessively cleaning a space or yourself<\/p>\n

Excessively ruminating about an obsession<\/p>\n

Making sure things are \u201cjust right\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent study published in Psychological Assessment<\/a> that surveyed 641 OCD patients found 62 unique compulsion rituals among patients. Among this wide spectrum of physical and mental rituals, avoidance, reassurance, checking, and cleaning\/handwashing were the most common. Among those, avoidance, asking for reassurance, and checking can all appear as if a person is just anxious about something, instead of performing a compulsion.<\/p>\n

Compulsions are also the crux of OCD treatment (more on that later). But essentially, performing\u2014or not performing\u2014these rituals can be the difference between reducing OCD symptoms or making them worse.<\/p>\n

Your rumination\u2014or deep thinking process\u2014looks different.<\/p>\n

Because rumination can also happen in cases of generalized anxiety disorder, it can be tough to identify it as an OCD compulsion. Rumination is when someone thinks deeply about one particular worry for a long time with the hope of better understanding it.<\/p>\n

Someone with generalized anxiety disorder will use rumination as a way to \u201canticipate possible catastrophes and find ways to prevent them,\u201d said Riven. They might weigh future choices against each other (like how much to prepare for a presentation) and stress about making the wrong decision.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, someone with OCD rumination compulsions will get trapped in rumination cycles where they might review and analyze memories of past actions, check their own interests and desires, or even try to cancel out \u201cbad thoughts\u201d with \u201cgood thoughts.\u201d While classic anxiety rumination focuses on catastrophizing events and possibilities about the future, OCD rumination often focuses on catastrophes of the self: reassuring yourself that something did or didn’t happen, or checking your memories and emotions to ensure that certain intrusive thoughts aren’t true.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say someone with rumination OCD is worried they\u2019ll say a slur during their work presentation. The night before, they might lie awake examining their emotions around slurs to be sure that they don\u2019t actually want to use them and examine their memories to collect \u201cevidence\u201d that this behavior has never happened before. OCD rumination is all about finding proof that something did or didn\u2019t happen, or that something about you is true or untrue.<\/p>\n

Traditional therapy doesn\u2019t help you feel better.<\/p>\n

In typical cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)<\/a>, a therapist will unpack a patient\u2019s anxiety to help them understand where it comes from and to reframe the threats, said Riven. CBT talk therapy is widely considered to be the best therapy for generalized anxiety disorder treatment, per the National Institute of Mental Health<\/a>. But, for someone with OCD, trying to understand a nonsensical obsession only makes things worse. If someone has an intrusive thought that they might hurt someone (a common OCD obsession), for example, there\u2019s little benefit to trying to understand where in their personal history that thought comes from, since it\u2019s just not based in much of anything at all. (Again, OCD thoughts tend to be against what a person actually believes and\/or wants.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it’s not clear that a person has OCD and they’re just expressing anxiety, a supportive and well-meaning therapist might focus on providing a lot of reassurance, which actually maintains the cycle of doubt,\u201d said Riven. Think about it like this: Performing a compulsion like seeking and getting reassurance is almost like rewarding a dog with a treat every time they bark, said Leavell-Bruce. It\u2019s reinforcing that whatever obsession you have is a real threat to you and deserving of attention, therefore making it stronger. Getting specialized support from a therapist trained in OCD care\u2014who won\u2019t provide you that reassurance\u2014can make all the difference.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, only a credentialed professional can tell you if you have OCD or anxiety.<\/p>\n

So if you suspect you have either, it\u2019s always a good idea to seek support. Another thing OCD and anxiety have in common: They\u2019re highly treatable. Don\u2019t hesitate to ask for help!<\/p>\n

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