Not really. That’s a popular misconception though because a small percentage of people appear to express it that way.
Compulsive behaviours are usually linked to an obsessive thought. Like checking the iron is turned off fifteen times so the house doesn’t burn down, just to have the thought intrude again, so you turn the car around and check again.
Lock the door, check the handle five times, walk five steps, walk back, check the handle five more times, walk out of the apartment building, make it a couple blocks, get a panic attack about whether you actually locked the door, run back to check the handle five more times…
And I don’t even have OCD. I can’t imagine the hell people go through who have it bad enough for a diagnosis. I’ve seen it from a distance though at my psychologist’s clinic, and my heart aches for them.
