The largest, most obvious difference between being obsessive and having OCD comes down to whether an obsession interferes with your daily life. “If it’s not interfering with your functioning, it’s not OCD,” says Yip. Keep in mind that not all people have full OCD, and could instead have obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), which has less interference with functioning and primarily affects interpersonal relationships.
But when obsessive thoughts begin interrupting a person’s ability to carry out normal activities or prompt compulsive behaviors in response to them, the person may have OCD, says Dodgen-Magee.
Another subtle but significant difference is that the sense of control over these thoughts and the severity of their obsessions is different for people with OCD than for those without it. For example, obsessions are not anxiety-provoking and feel easier to manage for someone who is merely obsessive or detailed-oriented. Often, this just feels like part of their personality, and they may even like this aspect of themselves.
But people with OCD typically have a very different experience. They’re usually very bothered by their obsessive thoughts and would prefer not to have them, and find them very difficult to silence.
Whether an obsession is paired with a compulsion is also a key difference between obsessiveness and OCD. Bell suggests trying to identify whether there is a compulsive behavior that occurs in conjunction with or in response to an obsessive thought. She adds that it’s wise to seek professional support from a psychotherapist or psychiatrist if compulsions take up more than one hour of your time each day and cause you significant distress at work or in your social life.
“If your everyday life is interrupted by your thoughts or behaviors for two weeks or more, if the compulsive behaviors that ‘quiet’ the obsessions are potentially harmful to you, or you are at risk of harming yourself, you should seek professional help,” adds Dodgen-Magee.
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