# Does OCD require anxiety or fear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548 "2013-01-08T22:28:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/1 "2013-01-08T22:28:31Z")
I seem to have most of the common symptoms of OCD (obsessive–compulsive disorder) yet I don’t feel fear. In fact there are not much thinking behind it, I simply feel a relief when I satisfy my compulsion, I don’t feel like I’m avoiding something bad happening or anything like that. I clearly know that my compulsions are illogical, there is no (and never was any) rationalization (or reason) behind it. Is it rather standard for OCD or maybe it is some other kind of disorder? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/2 "2013-01-08T22:33:34Z")
Have you asked a doctor? ---
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/3 "2013-01-08T22:36:54Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Have you asked a doctor? Keyboard was closer… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/4 "2013-01-08T22:50:34Z")
> [@Qwertol](#): > > Keyboard was closer… 😉 – and much, much cheaper. SDMB should have a requirement that all referrals to service personnel have a budgeting estimate. In this case a co-pay with insurance might might be $25 for a primary to get a referral. Then another $50 co-pay to the specialist. Without insurance it could run $200-300, if you can get in at all. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/5 "2013-01-09T00:53:47Z")
I think you mostly answered your own questions. You have OCD symptoms, but only a therapist can tell you with more certainty. I am not sure what distinction between anxiety and fear you are making - the definition of both depends on who is making the definition. Suffice it to say that what you are describing _in your OP_, and excluding anything you may have not said, it sounds like “anxiety” is sufficient to show OCD. Things like _Monk_ are overdramatized for TV. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/6 "2013-01-09T01:19:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Things like _Monk_ are overdramatized for TV. Actually, I was watching a some show on TV where a person (real, quite successful and well known) said he has an OCD which has to do with real and severe fear (of disease or dying or similar). In fact that’s what made me ask the question in the first place (I was really surprised, I always thought the word ‘fear’ is used by the therapists in some scientific, ‘mumbo-jumbo’ kind of meaning, not the actual fear as in being authentically scared of something…). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/7 "2013-01-09T01:42:05Z")
The DSM indicates that there must be an anxiety component for it to be classified as OCD. To classify as a disorder, the symptoms must be disabling or disturbing. So it is possible to have OC symptoms without having full-blown OCD. There is also what is called “obsessive-compulsive personality disorder”. People with OCPD tend to be “anal” and follow rules and rituals that drive everyone BUT them crazy. Like, they are the type of people who have to have their soup cans lined up in alphabetical order, label turned outwards in the cabinets, and freak out when other people come and mess up their system. There is some debate about whether OCPD is related to OCD or not. In my non-expert opinion, I think it is. Seems to be kinda nitpickish to focus so much on whether an obsession is ego-dystonic or ego-syntonic. To me, that’s like saying that scary hallucinations are the result of something that’s totally different from non-scary hallucinations. In addition to “obsessive-compulsive symptoms” and “obsessive-compulsive personality disorder”, you may also want to google “impulse disorder”. Trichotillomania (hair pulling) is an example of a compulsion that does not arise out of an irrational fear, but it still sorta-kinda looks like OCD sometimes. It is frequently comorbid with OCD, and in some cases can be treated with OCD medication like Anafranil. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/8 "2013-01-09T01:50:03Z")
> [@Qwertol](#): > > I seem to have most of the common symptoms of OCD (obsessive–compulsive disorder) yet I don’t feel fear. In fact there are not much thinking behind it, I simply feel a relief when I satisfy my compulsion… How do you feel when you _don’t_ satisfy your compulsion? _That’s_ when a person with OCD feels anxiety. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/9 "2013-01-09T02:07:31Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > How do you feel when you _don’t_ satisfy your compulsion? > > _That’s_ when a person with OCD feels anxiety. I would describe it as a pain in my head. Similar to regular headache but milder although more focused. When I don’t act on compulsion it just gets more annoying over time. I know it sounds crazy but that’s just how I feel it… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/10 "2013-01-09T02:17:29Z")
A big part of OCD is: realizing your thoughts and behaviors are irrational, and nothing bad will happen, and nevertheless having the need, and being bothered by it. Hie thee to a psychologist/psychiatrist. I claim part of the finder’s fee. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/11 "2013-01-09T02:25:04Z")
> [@Qwertol](#): > > I would describe it as a pain in my head. Similar to regular headache but milder although more focused. When I don’t act on compulsion it just gets more annoying over time. > I know it sounds crazy but that’s just how I feel it… Doesn’t sound crazy to me. But then, I have OCD. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/12 "2013-01-09T02:30:45Z")
About 15 years ago I started acting on my obsessions rather than feeling frustrated and somehow missing something if I didn’t. Sometimes one experience will satisfy it and sometimes it may take thousands. A few months ago i was watching moonshiners and felt I had to build a still, I have not much of a desire to use it, I just wnated to build it. I eneded up spending about 400.00 building a still I could have bought fopr about 300.00. But now I have some more tools. I have probably built over 3,000 all wood archery bows trying to unlock the most finite details of making them efficient. I feel better living like this even though I blow a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/13 "2013-01-09T06:06:06Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > How do you feel when you _don’t_ satisfy your compulsion? > > _That’s_ when a person with OCD feels anxiety. This (IMHO). If the subject can get by without freaking out over not satisfying that urge, then they’re basically normal. Hell, think about sexual urges or hunger - they can both be overcome by the average person through willpower (note to self - stop thinking about that girl I saw earlier, and that Italian sub that I let sit too long in the fridge). If the subject can’t resist that urge, or it drives them batshit, it may be time to try to figure out why. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-ocd-require-anxiety-or-fear/646548/14 "2013-01-09T10:53:30Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > This (IMHO). If the subject can get by without freaking out over not satisfying that urge, then they’re basically normal. Hell, think about sexual urges or hunger - they can both be overcome by the average person through willpower (note to self - stop thinking about that girl I saw earlier, and that Italian sub that I let sit too long in the fridge). > > If the subject can’t resist that urge, or it drives them batshit, it may be time to try to figure out why. It only bothers me when the spices are not alphabetized.🙂