What is Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder?
Dr. Sheri Jacobson
March 8, 2023
By: Mark Hillary
Most of us have one or two things in life we like a certain way. Perhaps we can’t bear mess at home, hate things not going to schedule, or tend to be a bit controlling in relationships.
For a person with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) the need to control life — for things to be orderly, perfect — is far from limited and occasional. Instead it’s an all pervasive focus that comes before everything, including relationships and having fun.
As the name suggests, there is an obsessive aspect to the disorder (such as keeping lists and making rigorous schedules) and a compulsive aspect (such as overworking even if there is no economic advantage to be gained).
It’s important to note that, as with all personality disorders, there is a spectrum between ‘normal’ and the disorder. So even if you are convinced that you or someone you know ‘matches’ some of the symptoms of OPCD, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have the disorder. A few symptoms does not always a disorder make. When someone actually has a personality disorder it is not just an inconvenience, but affects their ability to function on a daily basis and it affects all their relationships.
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a personality disorder that affects about 1% of the population, and is diagnosed in twice as many men than women.
Symptoms vary on a case by case basis, but the disorder is at heart an obsession with order and control over ones thoughts, environment, and relationships. This can manifest as rigidity in thinking and actions, extreme perfectionism, anxiety and/or anger when things don’t go according to plan, and excessive attention to detail, amongst other symptoms.
It’s also known as “anankastic personality disorder”.
Isn’t Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Also Called OCD?
By: Faramarz Hashemi
No. OCPD is NOT the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
They are distinct from each other despite some similarities. Both conditions leave an individual needing to feel organised and in control. Both can involve an obsession with personal rituals and routines, rigid behaviour, and hoarding.
The crucial difference is one of perspective – how people who suffer from these conditions view themselves. A person with OCD is aware that their behaviours are not normal and don’t enjoy or want to have their obsessive patterns. They are fully cognisant that their behaviour is a result of their anxiety.
A person with OCPD, however, don’t think there is anything wrong with them necessarily. They think they are the rational ones, and actually want to behave the way they do.
This makes obsessive-compulsive personality disorder a personality disorder, whereas OCD is an anxiety disorder. It’s also thought obsessive compulsive disorder has more of a biological aspect than OCPD.
Symptoms of OCPD
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM), a book written by and for mental health professionals, gives the following outline of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder:
A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
1. is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organisation, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
2. shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
3. is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
4. is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
5. is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
6. is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things
7. adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
8. shows rigidity and stubbornness
By: King Huang
Other symptoms of OCPD are thought to include the following:
- Black and white thinking
- Pessimism and low moods
- Excessively doubtful and cautious
- Easily angry or even violent with others who question their rigidity
- Obsession with tidiness and cleanliness
- Over-focus on achievement to the exclusion of pleasure and relationships
- A tendency to try and demand others do things their way
What Might it be Like to Spend Time With Someone With OCPD?
For starters, you might not be hanging around them very much unless you work with them. People who suffer from OCPD are often very devoted to their work, putting relationships at the bottom of the priority pile and not often fans of ‘leisure activities’. In fact relaxing is something that is very hard for them because they have a sense of a clock ticking away, stopping them from achieving what they feel they must.
You will have to follow their agenda. They will know exactly the way they want their day to go and will be unbending with their schedule. And whatever you do, don’t plan a surprise – individuals with OCPD require that things be predictable and really dislike it if things aren’t.
They will not want to hear your opinion or to have theirs challenged. rarely flexible on their values or ideas on the way the world works. Their way or the highway.
Prepare to feel criticised. Family members of OCPD sufferers often report feeling controlled and put down, and find the demands put forth by the individual with OCPD upsetting.
They probably won’t be treating you or arriving with flowers. People with OCPD are known to be miserly with money because they hoard in the fear of future disaster.
Of course if you are working with them, they might be someone you admire and tip toe around, doing your best to support their ideas. While OCPD can make family and leisure life challenging, in the workplace their extreme meticulousness and attention to detail can be seen as a real asset or even a form of genius.
Famous People with OCPD
These famous people were rumoured to have OCPD:
- Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple
- Estee Lauder, highly successful businesswoman and co-founder of Estee Lauder Companies
- Henry Heinz, founder of the H J Heinz Company
How is Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Diagnosed?
There is not an obsessive-compulsive personality ‘test’ per se. A psychological evaluation is carried out by a mental health professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. They will make a diagnosis only after looking at the severity of symptoms present and a history of onset (OCPD usually starts in teens or young adults).
Related Mental Health Problems
People with OCPD have a high risk of depression and anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder and specific phobias.
The intense need to control things may lead some with the disorder to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
What Causes OCPD?
By: Kevin Dooley
As with many mental disorders, there are several theories as to what causes obsessive compulsive personality disorder, and likely it is a combination of factors that lead the onset of the disorder in a particular individual.
There is thought to be a genetic basis for the disorder. In other words, if a person has a certain gene they are thought to be more likely to develop OCPD – but this is as of yet not strictly proven.
A gene would, in any case, need to be triggered by life events or it can stay dormant, so environment is a crucial part of someone acquiring the disorder.
Traumatic experiences as a child, including all forms of abuse, will trigger the onset of OCPD.Is is further suggested that OCPD can develop if the child is harshly punished by their parents. They would feel a need to be ‘perfect’ to avoid further negative attention.
It is also suggested OCPD can be learned. If a child grows up around an adult who is controlling and rigid, or overly protective, which can be a parent, guardian, or even teacher, they will copy that behaviour and take it into their own adulthood.
Are there any Treatments for OCPD?
Personality disorders are notoriously difficult to treat, not least because the individual in question often does not want to admit there is anything wrong but sees their behaviour as desirable. It’s also rare for a person with OCPD to seek help unless a big life challenge occurs to motivate them, such as a relationship breakdown or redundancy at work.
Medication alone is not recommended, although it can be prescribed by a psychiatrist and help in conjunction with psychotherapy. Medications can help certain symptoms bought on by OCPD such as depression and anxiety. There is no medication that is purely for OCPD.
Psychotherapy has been shown to produce results by helping create behavioural changes and increase coping mechanisms as well as challenging unreasonable expectations and teaching sufferers how to value relationships and recreation.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in particular is a recommended obsessive-compulsive personality disorder treatment. It can help a sufferer recognise the connection between their anxiety and thoughts and their behaviour.
Psychodynamic therapy, with its focus on helping a client gain insight into themselves and their behaviour, is also seen as helpful.
Mindfulness- based therapy, with its focus on present moment awareness over excessive worry about the past and future, is the latest to be recommended for OCPD. It helps reduce the anxiety, depression, perfectionism and stress the condition brings.
If friends and family cooperate with an individual’s recovery it is helpful as they can offer valuable feedback. A big part of recovery is for the individual with OCPD to recognise their behavioural patterns and understand how their behaviour comes across.
Self-help wise, journalling can also help a sufferer begin to recognise how their anxieties trigger behaviour.
Support groups are recommended. Meeting with others with OCPD allows sufferers to learn coping mechanisms that work from others going through the same thing.
Relaxation techniques are also thought to be helpful for sufferers of OCPD, as they can reduce the anxiety that is such a big part of the condition.
Complete recovery from OCPD, as with all personality disorders, is, however, very rare.
Do you have questions about obsessive-compulsive personality disorder? Would you like to share a personal experience with the disorder? Please do share below, we love hearing from you.
Hi, I’ve been with my husband for 7 years married for 2. Our relationship before marriage was lovely he would do anything for me I felt very lucky however he was always overly obsessed with time keeping cleaning washing would never take a day off work ,my friends and I would laugh and call him Mr spontaneity (not) I could handle this and we were in love and married 2 years ago . One day he told me that before he met me he had periods of bad thoughts such as I could just run that lady down in my car right now if I wanted to and he would then panic and think why did I think that and what if I actually do it !! He said he had had cbt and taken prozac for years but thought he was OK as the thoughts had stopped however this day he told me the thoughts were back ..we went to see a doctor who once again prescribed prozac. I was very supportive through this but then my mother died and I was distraught and put his problems aside . Since then in the passed 18 months since our wedding my husband has ended our marriage 3 times over silly things .the first was my son getting his face glassed in a club he worked in as he tried to break up a fight . My husband walked out the day after said he couldn’t deal with it he went to his mum the second time he said he had come home from work and the dog had no water and hadn’t I left any out said I was making him deeply unhappy .but the night before he had asked me did I fancy a weekend away I was so confused he got himself a flat for 6 months this time but we tried to still work on our marriage when ever I mentioned the pain that he lived in a flat caused me he would say very black and white you know why I went so let’s not spoil things . We recently went away for 2 weeks had a fabulous time when we returned I told him I felt sad and wanted him to stay overnight he said he couldn’t because he had no overnight bag I said oh just get over the bag thing and stay . We rowed for 20 minutes over the bag and he walked out. The next morning he text my phone and ended our marriage and refused to answer my calls . On going through my messages he had messaged me just days before “hey sweetcheeks my soul mate my sexy wife I’m out before you’re awake to buy your birthday present … we never seen my birthday which was 3 days later . This is 5 weeks ago now and I’ve received a letter off him saying he’s so very sorry he doesn’t know why he can’t deal with stress or an argument he said he just can’t help thinking things are either really great or really bad can’t see in between and doesn’t know why he’s doing it I’ve not replied. Is this man unwell is this anything to do with the strange thought processes from a few years ago or is he a narcissist I’m totally confused .thanks in anticipation. France x
Thank you so much for sharing. It sounds like he has unresolved issues and desperately needs support. What is worrisome is that the doctor seemed to have prescribed a strong anti-depressant but not therapy??! That is very poor practise of that doctor if so, espeically if he has a history of previous issues. These things will not just ‘resolve’ or ‘go away’, real issues need real support. But what is more important here is, what about you? Your focus is solely on your husband. While we understand that you love him, the truth is that you are not in a position to take care of him as you have to take care of yourself and it sounds like you have many stresses of your own (child with troubles, bereavement, these are big things to handle). What support do you have? What within you makes you feel that this is love, to be treated in such an inconsistent and unsupportive manner? Have you considered not worrying what is wrong with him right now and instead focussing on finding support yourself so that you can raise your own self-esteem and feel happy no matter what he decides? The truth is that being attracted to this sort of person, while on one hand shows that you are obviously a kind, open-minded, compassionate person, also often signifies a childhood that had truamas, or where you had to ‘earn’ love by being good, or where you took on a core belief that you must take care of others to have value. Until you deal with the roots of this relationship for yourself personally, you might find it hard to move on from it, or you’ll choose another equally emotionally unavailable partner in the future. And in closing, if you can’t believe you deserve support, and can only work through the lens of helping him, remember the best way we can help others is to help ourselves first.
Steve.
My wife and I have been married for 16 years and have known each other through work for over 35 years. When we married it was both our third marriage and initially I felt very lucky to have her as my wife. I was then 48 and she was 35. she was very loving and caring and I considered myself to be a very lucky man to have found someone like her at last to spend the rest of my life with.
Within a few months however, I became aware of my wife’s other side of her personality. One of extreme anger and associated violence towards me and others. I eventually convinced her to seek psychiatric help which she did. I attended with her only to come away having been made to feel that her extreme behaviour was due to me and nothing to do with her. From this point onwards our relationship was generally good but interspersed with periods of extreme anger and violence from my wife for which I would always be blamed. I also became aware that my wife would always become agitated if things were not done how she would like and would redo things that I had already done. also I began to take over doing daily household chores as my wife would take an eternity to complete a simple task. In more recent years, simple daily tasks like opening her post, putting clothes away and throwing away things that are no longer needed all became apparent to me. Hoarding was also becoming a problem.
Due to the conflicts that this behaviour induced, our relationship has deteriorated over the years. Four years ago I stumbled upon a book called Tighrope Walking by Gwyneth Cheeseman which was a ‘Eureka moment’ for me. It described my wife’s behaviour exactly and indentified her symptoms as OCPD. I gave the book to my wife to read and having read it twice she agreed that it described her precisely. She also added that she assumed we were all like that.
My wife underwent CBT courses, takes a number of drugs, spent 3 months in the Priory and had private psychiatric therapy. She has since lost her job due to depression and anxiety. Our marriage is not in a good place and our relationship is under considerable strain. My wife told me recently that she is who she is. If I don’t like it I should leave.
I feel very alone having to deal with my wife’s OCPD and obviously failing. Can anyone help me please?
Hi Harley,
Great article. I’ve read through it a few times. I myself suffer from OCPD and just this week started a YouTube channel dedicated to it (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0wb5NK7yi0O-1Wy_7C8tbw). I’m interested in collaborating with mental health professionals, bloggers/vloggers, people with OCPD and people that live with people with OCPD. If you are ever interested in having a chat, please reach out to me at
Gosh this has been very sad to read, Steve, because not once in all of this is there really any sense of you. It sounds like you haven’t had any time or energy to take care of yourself and you’ve long forgotten that you even exist, really. Just like in airplanes, where if you are a parent and there is an emergency, you have to put your own air mask on before helping your children with theirs, the truth is we really can’t help others unless we help ourselves. We need ‘air to breathe’ to help others, and it sounds like you are gasping for some air! It is evident you love your wife and you have gone through hell and back to help her but there is truth in the fact that you yourself need help and deserve help. It’s also very sad to us to here that a psychiatrist would leave you feeling blame, this is not professional.This is not your fault. In any case we are not telling you what to do in this situation because you need to do whatever feels right to you, but we are suggesting it’s time to figure out who ‘you’ even is and what ‘right for you’ actually means as it sounds you’ve long lost sight of your own needs and desires. You are just as worthy of help and support. Can you reach out for that? At the end of the day, after all you’ve been through, this is the real act of courage, to seek support for yourself, which can be far more intimidating. We have ever confidence you have the strength within you to do so. And just to say that it is common for those with very ill partners to think ‘I don’t have enough of a problem compared to my partner to seek help’. This is not true. Being a caretaker mentally, emotionally, and physically drains anyone, and there are support groups just for this issue as the need is so great! Any counsellor or therapist would also be happy to work with you.
Just checked out the channel, good work and keep it up!
My stepmother repeatedly says I have OCPD. She herself is a personal construct psychologist. Whenever I read about OPCD I can see no evidence of it but I guess I might not see it in myself. How do I find someone competent to do a proper assessment?
Thanks for sharing Georgina. It can feel very condemning and upsetting to constantly be given a label, especially if it isn’t delivered with warmth, concern, or offers to help you find support. It is wise that you recognise it’s best to seek a professional diagnosis before agreeing with someone. It’s true, on one hand, that most people with OCPD don’t feel they have a problem, but that the problem is that other people don’t adhere to rules properly. That said, even if someone is a licensed psychologist, if you are not their client and they are not professionally diagnosing you, their bias will seep in. We suspect you are in the USA, and we are in the UK, where an official personality disorder diagnosis must be carried out by a psychiatrist, although treatment, especially with OCPD, is talk therapies. Medication can be offered to manage symptoms, but changes and coping comes from working with a therapist trained in dealing with OCPD. We hope that helps, and sorry we are not experts on how it is managed outside the UK.
So I am diagnosed with ocpd 1 wk back I went to psychiatrist coz I can no longer control my life so l get depressed &start having suicidal ideation.my life with ocpd was a perfect life for me.I was happy but since I join medical school it become difficult for me to control every thing so my brain get stuck &I can’t no longer do any thing all I want to do at that time is to sleep.now it is ruining my life I can’t study or do any thing I spend the day lying on my bed.I am exhausted I don’t know what to do.
We are sorry to hear you feel overwhelmed. But good for you for seeking support. We don’t know what country you are in, but here in the UK we support talk therapy and not just medication. What did the psychiatrist suggest? Has he or she put you in touch with a therapist who can support you and help you find ways of coping?
Meme
I have been with my partner for 10 years now and have always been aware of “his particular ways”. In October 2018 I discovered he was having an affair, which completely destroyed me at the time, but I stood by him, allowed him to deal with ending the affair in his way so there was no ‘come back’ on us. He has never offered an explanation or apologised for his behaviour & insists that I don’t need to know the answers to my questions. Obviously this has had a serious impact on me and I began to question why after everything he had put me through, did he still behave as if he is always right and its ‘his way or the highway’ attitude. Examples of his behaviour are as follows:
I am not allowed to retrieve the bathroom towels from the cupboard as there is a stack of his ‘things’ in the way. I have to discuss in detail any plans I have when doing the gardening, shopping or buying anything for the house. He’ll ask my opinion on a subject but its never taken up – eg. Did I want a couple of bowls (that were already wrapped & boxed) to be protected with a plastic bin liner? I said it wasn’t necessary but he ignored me & decided to wrap them anyway. Our dining room table & downstairs lounge is laden with the contents of our garage but I am not allowed to help sort it out. 8 years ago we purchased two beautiful sofa’s, had matching curtains made and bought coffee & side tables and TV stand for our upstairs lounge and a bedroom suite & curtains but its all still under wraps waiting to be unpacked and hung. If I mention it to him he immediately thinks I’m trying to ‘get one over him’ or I’m deliberately trying to upset him. He uses work as his reasoning to why he has no time to do these jobs but will not allow me to do it despite the fact that I don’t work.
I could write a million different senerios but I’m so tired & beaten by it all, I don’t know how or if I can see a way through it. I have spoken to him about my unhappiness but as you can guess, its my fault & he says that just by talking to him about it makes him suspicious of me & how I really feel about him.
Any guidance would be very much appreciated, however positive/negative, big or small.
Thank you
Hi there, so despite you commenting on a post about OCD, we don’t feel you are asking if this is or isn’t OCD. It seems that the real issue is that you are pretty angry and frustrated and feel trapped. If you were in therapy, we’d be far less interested in hearing a list of all the things he does or doesn’t do, and far more interested in knowing about you. What makes you stay in this relationship? What do you think love is? What did you learn love is as a child? What do you do in response to all this? What things go right in your life? In summary, you can’t change another person, only yourself. You are an adult with free choice choosing to be in this relationship, choosing to spend all your mental space endlessly going over all his flaws, so there must be something about it that is working for you. Even if it is just a chance to feel bad, which some of us confuse for love. Until we recognise and take responsibility that we have our reasons to stay, and are honest about it, we can’t really look clearly at if we are going to continue to stay and improve things or ever recognise and embrace our personal power and find our way forward. Change is possible, but it starts with you, not with him. We can’t say if he has OCD or not, we don’t know him, and he’d have to decide to get a diagnosis. But again, that doesn’t seem to be the issue here. Best, HT.
Ok, after an exhausting week at work and venting last night, with tears, my husband told me I have OCD, he has told me this a few times previously. I have always brushed it off thinking OCD are cleanliness people or arranging cupboards neatly etc – I am far from that.
Last night I thought to ‘Google’ OCD, and came across OCPD, I am absolutely shocked to the core how I relate!!! I am very often anxious, the last year particularly I have not coped with change well, and it has been very very often with work, school, covid. I find myself exhausted and anxious with a small change or any unplanned events I am a total mess for the whole day, if not the week.
I thought back way before the pandemic hit and in total shock of my daily traits! And now question if I have been suffering in silence with OCPD – I partly feel embarrassed if I do?
Where do I even start? Do I need to be diagnosed? Work especially is pretty much getting to me and the way we are working.
UK living
Hi there. It’s always a relief to realise that there might be ways forward for our issues. And there always are, if we are willing to seek support and take the journey of Self. It is best to not jump to conclusions, however, about a diagnosis, and leave that to a professional. A good mental health professional will always see you as an individual, not a label or diagnosis, in any case. We do hope that when your husband is always labelling you in this way it is not from anger and judgement but from concern and support. We’d recommend that you seek support if you are struggling in life, diagnosis or not. And note you don’t have to have a disorder to seek mental health support. You can either book directly with a psychiatrist, if you want a diagnosis so that insurance covers treatment or as you think medication is a route that interests you. Otherwise you can find a counselling psychologist or psychotherapist who works with OCPD like symptoms and go from there. The advantage here is that it is usually cheaper and faster to get an appointment with a psychotherapist and you start learning ways to manage symptoms right away. If they feel like a psychiatric diagnosis is necessary, they can refer you on. One thing we would mention is that exhaustion, stress in the face of face of the change we’ve seen in the last year, and extreme anxiety is actually quite normal for sensitive people at the moment, the pandemic has left millions suffering with low grade mental health issues and ratcheted up mild symptoms to moderate or severe ones. Best, HT.
Hi
I left this message back in May when I began looking up OCPD, I didn’t go any further as I couldn’t. Again, I find myself in a bad place searching again and remembered I posted the anonymous post. Thanks for the reply which I will need to take onboard.
My husband doesn’t label me in a nasty way, he is very supportive, since reading up OCPD I have asked if my traits effect our relationship as this began a worry for me, but he says no.
I appreciate the pandemic has most definately left so many with mental health issues, sadly. But it is from the pandemic that has taught me about myself and questioning ‘why can’t I adapt to change so well like others?’ Or if a home/office rota needs to change at short notice ‘why do I go into a mess?’ Its the same work whether i do it from home or office but in my head its not in my schedule of where I need to be.
Thinking back my daily traits have been around for many many years, I just thought it was me and normal, i never needed to give it a thought. I cannot deal with change, prior to Covid I had control over most aspects of my life but now I do not, my life was like a repeat week on week but now it isn’t. I still find myself anxious over silliest daily things, something I just thought was ‘me’ but reality is I shouldn’t be constantly on edge. The joke in our house which we both use referring to my schedules is ‘I need to know where I am’ if it isn’t in my head or something changes I am a mess.
I never blow my own trumpet but I would refer myself to be a great asset to my team at work, I am thorough, good eye for detail, a perfectionist. I also overthink on a daily basis which can often leave me exhausted.
I last visited my GP 6 years ago, explaining my issues at the time I was shaking and crying, and now when I look back at the route cause it was something out of my control back then, I was given medication but I weaned myself off them thinking I didn’t need them, I never ever had a follow up call or it has never been asked in any future appointments I have been for (non anxiety non mental health related), sadly.
It’s interesting how many ‘shoulds’ you have, a sense of comparing yourself to others, some mystical perfect person. Comparison is a perfect way to make ourselves feel bad. In our experience MANY people find working at home harder compared to an office, there are so many reasons for that. Many people need structure and don’t work well without it. And MANY people panic with change, that is for certain. It can be a question of personality. The very reason millions of people even have a 9-5 sort of life can be that it is a structure they function in and don’t do well without. So none of this is striking us as at all a personality disorder. It sounds, yes, like there are control issues, perfectionism, and certainly anxiety, and these issues are greatly exacerbated in all our clients who are sensitive since the pandemic. We don’t know you, and you’d need to see someone and have a proper diagnosis obviously, we aren’t saying what it is or isn’t, we are just saying from the facts you present they do not match a personality disorder, just control issues and anxiety. Both of which do very well with therapy, CBT therapy is a structured short-term therapy that might be a good start. Also, we don’t know your age, but as an aside also for other readers of this response, if you are 38+, do note that hormonal change and perimenopause/menopause can hugely exacerbate anxiety issues and fear of change and also cause mood swings and personality changes, it is finally being exposed that many women with hormonal issues have had anti-anxiety or depression meds thrown at them when they need HRT. So we’d say, go back to your GP and insist (preferably not the GP who just threw meds at you). A lot has changed in the last 6 years, most GPs have more training in mental health and also menopause than they used to. If they do not refer you on ask to see another GP. We’d recommend you keep a diary of symptoms leading up to your appointment. We expect you will get the referral as there is also a mental health crisis at the moment that doctors are all aware of. Also note that private therapy requires no referral, and is now available for all budgets. Also most companies in the UK cover several sessions with their insurance policies. Finally, what if there were no shoulds? And there was only, find ways of working and being that feel right for you and help you be the best version of yourself? Something to think about. Best, HT.
Hi,
I have only recently discovered OCPD and have stumbled upon this website. I just want some advice really as I think this is something I may have but truly unsure. I don’t remember always being the way I am I feel like it started in my early twenties I am now late thirties. I’ve never really thought that I have any issues it’s always been other people pointing things out and telling me I’m not right, I need help or I need to be diagnosed. It was always said by friends and family that I have OCD but I’m very certain it’s not OCD I have. Since early twenties I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety on and off but most of all it’s the over whelming feeling of needing to be in control of everything in all aspect of my life. I am constant on the go organising and cleaning, everything must be perfect. Everything in my home has a place and if one thing is moved or touched it sends me in to a full meltdown and my mind will not rest until I have sorted it. It’s only now I realise how bad I have been in the past such as not letting anyone sit on the sofa after I have plumed the cushions I would actually make them sit on the floor or only letting my daughter get one toy out of her toy box at a time. I live by routine and regime and it consumes my life, the smallest things can trigger me such as the kettle being put back the wrong way or crumbs on the worktops after I cleaned them, small specs on the carpet after I’ve hoovered etc I would have to go over it all again to put my mind at ease. I can’t leave the house until all the jobs are done otherwise I get anxious and my mind goes crazy. I point things out in the house that drive me crazy but my family members tell me they can’t see what I see and that’s I’m being over the top. To me if anything is laying around in eye view of me it triggers me really badly and I can’t settle until it’s been put away in its correct place which obviously causes issues with family members. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for them but to me it just feels like the normal thing to do. I am such a control freak and if nothing is done the way I like it to do done again I get very triggered by this and end up taking over to do it myself. Could this be OCPD? If so how do I go about having this diagnosed?
Thank you in advance