OCD Test: Do I Have OCD? Self-Check Questions & Next Steps

Wondering whether your intrusive thoughts or rituals could be OCD? A short self-test can help you put your experience into words. This page explains how OCD screening works, the questions it covers, how to read your results, and what to do next. A self-test is not a diagnosis; only a qualified clinician can diagnose OCD.

What an OCD test looks for

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has two parts. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that cause distress. Compulsions are behaviors or mental acts you feel driven to do to reduce that distress or prevent something bad. OCD screening tools ask about both, and about how much time and distress they take up.

Self-check: common OCD screening questions

These questions reflect what clinical tools such as the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI-R) and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) cover. Answer honestly for the past month:

• Do unwanted thoughts, images or urges keep popping into your mind even though you try to push them away?
• Do you feel you must check things (locks, stove, messages) repeatedly?
• Do you wash or clean more than you think you need to because of fear of contamination?
• Do you need things to be arranged, even or “just right”, and feel very uncomfortable when they aren’t?
• Do you repeat words, prayers, numbers or actions in your head to cancel a bad thought?
• Do you seek reassurance from others or online again and again?
• Do you avoid people, places or objects because they trigger these thoughts?
• Do these thoughts and rituals take more than an hour a day, or interfere with work, school or relationships?

How to read your answers

Everyone has odd intrusive thoughts sometimes. What points toward OCD is the cycle: a thought causes intense anxiety, a ritual brings brief relief, and the relief makes the thought come back stronger. If you answered yes to several questions, and especially if the time or distress is significant (around an hour a day or more), it’s worth talking to a professional who treats OCD.

Common themes include contamination, harm, symmetry, relationships, religion or morality, and sexual or taboo thoughts. Read more in Pure O OCD, harm OCD and relationship OCD.

What a clinician will do

A clinician will ask about your thoughts and rituals, how long they’ve been present, and how much they interfere, often using the Y-BOCS interview to rate severity. They’ll also check for related conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression or tic disorders.

Treatment that works

The first-line therapy for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), a form of CBT in which you gradually face triggers while resisting compulsions, so the anxiety fades on its own. Medication can also help; that’s a discussion for a doctor or psychiatrist. Learn more in OCD signs and treatment.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• NIMH: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• International OCD Foundation: About OCD
• International OCD Foundation: Treatment of OCD
• American Psychological Association: Cognitive behavioral therapy
• SAMHSA: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline