Written By: N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe | Updated : January 15, 2026 5:17 PM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr. Sheetal Goyal, Consultant Neurologist, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central
Are you someone who gets freaked out about misplacing your belongings and being obsessed with arranging unorganized stuffs? If you show any of the aforementioned symptoms repeatedly and uncontrollably, then you may have an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). However, to determine clinically that you may be suffering from this long-lasting disorder, you must take OCD tests.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that affects 1 per cent to 3 per cent of the global population, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). OCDis a prevalent disease with very limited diagnoses and treatments. Is it because people don't talk about it? Or simply they don't take serious? To address this issue, the founder of Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder revealed that more drawn-out treatments are underway in New Zealand, as 17 participants aged 18 to 25 are being trialled.
According to Dr. Sheetal Goyal, Consultant Neurologist, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, the "neat" trait of OCD is sometimes confusingly believed to be of those who enjoy being "neat."
She explains, "The part of OCD that is commonly misunderstood is what appears to be going on: cleaning. The underlying aspect of OCD that is commonly misunderstood is what is going on: OCD is fueled by thoughts of intrusion and anxiety. A neat person finds pleasure in being "neat." An OCD sufferer becomes "neat" out of anxiety if a task is performed "this way and that way" rather than properly."
"The complex etiology of OCD involves cognitive, genetic, and neural factors, making the condition's diagnosis challenging and necessitating the exclusion of other psychiatric conditions that present similarly," NIH explains. "Further complicating matters, OCD frequently coexists with other psychiatric disorders, requiring comprehensive identification and treatment for optimal clinical outcomes. While the combination of medication and psychotherapy is generally effective, emerging evidence supports using neuromodulation techniques (eg, deep brain stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation) for treatment-resistant cases."
According to the National Health Service (NHS), symptoms of "Obsessions" include unwanted, intrusive thoughts, urges or mental images that cause strong anxiety. Whereas "Compulsions" symptoms are repetitive actions or mental rituals you feel you must do to ease or get rid of the obsessions. The UK health agency further explains that a person can have an obsession without a compulsion and a compulsion without an obsession.
Scientists claim that anyone can develop OCD, but you are at higher risk if you are in early teen or early adulthood, have a biological history of the psychiatric disorder, experienced childhood trauma like abuse, diagnosed with mental conditions like depression, anxiety or tic disorders and extreme stress.
"OCD should be treated as a medical condition, rather than attributed to one's character. Treatment options include therapy, ongoing lifestyle management, regular sleep habits, and stress management skills," Dr. Goyal explains. "The best methods of managing compulsions include 'response prevention' thinking about what someone would likely have anxiety about doing and learning how to live with that. It is a lot easier to recover from OCD when you have got family members that support your efforts."
