Symptom Inventory
Instructions
Below you will find a list of some types of obsessions and compulsions. This is not a complete list, only examples of some of the more common types of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
Prior to your next counseling session please go through this list and mark the symptoms which you have been experiencing. Often the examples listed will lead you to think of other obsessions or compulsions you may experience - write these in as well. Make all the notes you wish! It is best to go through the list once initially and then carry it with you for a few days to add to it as you notice additional obsessions and compulsions. Also, ask someone close to you for their input and observations and write these in as well. You can also indicate other symptoms that you no longer experience, but have experienced sometime in the past.
Finally, see if you can give each symptom you wrote down or checked an intensity rating from 0-100 - if you refused to think the thought or do the behavior how anxious or upset would you feel?
Take your time and be as complete as possible. Thank you.
Symptoms
Ordering and Organizing Obsessions
(Examples)
- Preoccupation with exactness, or perfect order
- Having handwriting be perfect or "just so"
- Compiling information, files, papers, or other items a certain "perfect" way
Religious Obsessions and Hypermorality
(Examples)
- Having blasphemous thoughts or saying bad things
- Concern about religious beliefs
- Saying prayers a certain way
- Extreme right and wrong, morality
- Preoccupation with religious images or thoughts
Scrupulosity and Hyperresponsibility
(Examples)
- Excessive worry about sexual thoughts
- Must make sure never make errors or "lie"
- Having to get everything correct or be exact
- Fear of doing something irresponsible
- Checking for things that might hurt others
Somatic Obsessions
(Examples)
- Strong worries about illness
- Rumination over a particular part of the body
- Anxiety about negative reactions of others to one's appearance
Contamination Obsessions
(Examples)
- Environmental contaminants-radon, asbestos, radiation, toxic waste
- Touching animals
- Fear of insects
- Becoming ill by contamination
- Making others ill by contaminating them
- Diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases
- Bodily waste, secretions, urine, feces, saliva, blood
- Dirt or germs
- Household cleansing agents or chemicals
Hoarding, Saving, and Collecting Obsessions
(Examples)
- Urge to know or remember certain things-slogans, license plate numbers, names, words, events of the past
- Picking up items from the ground
- Filling empty space
- Difficulty throwing things away, even seemingly useless items
- Collecting useless things
- Saving or collecting seemingly useless items
Harming Obsessions
(Examples)
- Causing harm to self
- Causing harm to others
- Possibility of acting on unwanted impulses (stab someone, hit someone)
- Imagined responsibility for a terrible accident ("Hit and run OCD")
- Fear of blurting out insults or obscenities
- Doing something embarrassing or looking foolish
- Violent or horrific images in the individual's mind causing one to do harm to others
Sexual Obsessions
(Examples)
- Being or becoming a homosexual
- Thoughts of sexual violence
- Sexualized thoughts, images, or impulses
- Thoughts about molesting the individual's own or other children
Timeline Contamination and Calendar Obsessions
(Examples)
- Magical idea that present can be contaminated by past
- Magical idea that the future can be contaminated by the present
- Magical idea that one's consciousness can be pulled into the past
- Continual need to review dates or excessive preoccupation with calendar
Perfectionistic Obsessions
(Examples)
- Fear of saying something wrong, not saying something just right, or leaving out details
- Worry about losing things
- Worry about making mistakes
Symmetry Obsessions
(Examples)
- Having items in environment lined up or ordered perfectly
- Preoccupation with color matching
- Making certain that events are scheduled or synchronized
Somatosensory Obsessions
(Examples)
- Upset by certain sounds and noises-clocks ticking, loud noises, buzzing
- Sensitive to the feel of clothing or textures on the skin
- Intrusive nonsense sounds, music, words
- Excessive focus on bodily functions, health or physical appearance
- Unusual need to pick at seams or stroke certain surfaces
Superstitious Obsessions
(Examples)
- Fear of saying certain words because of obsessional beliefs
- Fear of using certain colors for superstitious reasons
- Fears about deviating from certain patterns of counting, walking around ladders, walking between oil spots on the pavement, etc.
- Concern with lucky and unlucky numbers
Relationship Obsessions
(Examples)
- Inability to let go of needing to control another persons behavior
- Extreme over-protectiveness
- Stalking
- Sacrificing self-care to be around another person
- Fantasizing continually about a relationship
Olfactory Reference Obsessions
(Examples)
- Intrusive thoughts about body odor
- Social avoidance
- Excessive wearing of perfumes or deodorant
- Repetitive washing
- Repetitive changing of clothes
- Intense shame, anxiety, embarrassment
Body Dysmorphic Obsessions
(Examples)
- Excessive worry about appearance of specific area or part of body. (e.g. hair, nose, lips, skin, breasts, buttocks, thighs, sex organs)
- Preoccupation has had negative impact on life
Reassurance-Seeking Compulsions
(Examples)
- Continual need to share thoughts, feelings, ideas and reactions with others
- Marked difficulty in being alone for more than short periods
- Constant questioning of others about appropriateness of one's own behavior
- Excessive need to repetitively ask others for reassurance
- Need to confess wrong behavior, even the slightest insignificant infractions of behavior toward others
Cleaning and Washing Compulsions
(Examples)
- Excessive or lengthy hand washing
- Showering or bathing for excessive amounts of time, often in a ritualistic way of tooth brushing, grooming, shaving, etc. that is excessive or ritualistic
- Continual cleaning of things in one's environment
- Avoidance of any objects considered "contaminated" by "germs" or thoughts
- Avoidance of specific places-cities, towns, buildings-considered "contaminated"
- Concern with wearing gloves or other protection to avoid "contamination"
Hoarding, Saving, and Collecting Compulsions
(Examples)
- Saving, collecting seemingly useless items
- Need to pick up useless items from the ground
- Difficulty throwing things away
Risk Taking Behavior Compulsions
(Examples)
- Inability to refuse dares made to self or by others
- Gambling for excessive lengths of time or beyond financial means
- Inability to stay away from dangerous activities (fireworks, car racing, etc.)
- Repeatedly engaging in risky sex
- Taking extreme risks which may compromise health status
Checking Compulsions
(Examples)
- Checking that one did not make a mistake
- Checking an aspect of physical condition such as blood pressure, or heart beat
- Checking that one did not harm others without realizing it
- Checking that one did not harm the OC sufferer with realizing it
- Checking safety of physical surroundings-locks, windows, appliances, stoves
- Checking that boxes, closets or jars are closed
Safety Compulsions
(Examples)
- Checking one did not do something that lead to future harm
- Taking excessive steps to prevent harm to self or others - for example, avoidance of certain objects or extreme precautions to prevent unlikely harm or danger
Mental Ritual Compulsions
(Examples)
- Mental rituals-prayers, repeating "good" thoughts to counteract "bad" thoughts performed with the intention of reducing or neutralizing anxiety
- Superstitious behavior that takes excessive amounts of time
- Need to touch, tap, or rub certain items or people
Repeating, Counting, Ordering Compulsions
(Examples)
- Reading and rereading things, sometimes for hours
- Excessive worrying that one didn't understand something one read
- Excessive writing and rewriting things
- Repeating routine activities-going in and out of doorways, repeated crossing of thresholds, getting up and down from a chair, combing hair, tying shoes, dressing and undressing over and over
- Doing certain activities a particular number of times
- Counting items-books on a shelf, ceiling tiles, cars going by
- Counting during compulsive activities, such as checking and washing
- Arranging items in a certain order - books, pencils, cupboards
Food-Related Ritual Compulsions
(Examples)
- Eating ritualistically according to specific "rules"
- Arranging food or utensils in ritualistic manner
- Refusing to eat except at certain times or under certain conditions
- Eating foods in a particular order
Spending, Shopping or Acquiring Compulsions
(Examples)
- Compulsive shopping
- Hoarding purchased items
- Shopping for excessive lengths of time or in ritualistic patterns
- Buying a great number of items due to fear of running out
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