For some people, it’s a quick jolt of doubt that won’t settle. You lock the door, take a few steps, then your mind throws up a sharp “What if you didn’t?” and you feel compelled to go back. Others get stuck washing, re-washing, or mentally replaying a moment until it feels safe. This is often what people mean when they talk about obsessions and compulsions.
Obsessions are intrusive, distressing thoughts, images, or urges that show up uninvited. They are usually unwanted and can feel completely at odds with who you are, which is why they can be so upsetting. Compulsions are the behaviours, or the mental routines, you use to calm the anxiety or prevent a feared outcome. That might look like checking, cleaning, arranging, or asking for reassurance. It can also be quieter, like counting, praying, reviewing, or trying to “undo” a thought in your head.
A tricky part is that many people can see the ritual is excessive, yet still feel pulled to do it. Compulsive behaviours can bring a burst of relief, but it doesn’t last, and the brain learns to demand the same ritual again next time. Over time, it can chip away at your confidence and take up more and more time, leaving you worn out and often carrying shame you never asked for.
Checking doors, appliances, messages, or your body repeatedly because doubt keeps returning
Washing, cleaning, sanitising, or avoiding things that feel contaminated
Counting, tapping, repeating, arranging, or redoing tasks until they feel “right”
Mental rituals such as replaying conversations, analysing, praying, counting, or neutralising thoughts
Intrusive thoughts that feel unwanted or distressing, often linked to harm, contamination, relationships, or responsibility
Feeling driven to prevent mistakes or harm, even when you know the risk is low
Reassurance seeking from others, or repeated online searching, to try to settle uncertainty
Avoiding triggers, including objects, places, or situations that set off anxiety
Rituals that expand over time and start to interfere with sleep, school, work, or relationships
Parents sometimes notice a child stuck in reassurance loops, needing repeated redo moments, or becoming very distressed when routines shift.
Obsessions and compulsions are often kept going by an anxiety loop. An intrusive thought appears, your body reacts as if it’s urgent, and a compulsion briefly lowers the discomfort. That short relief is powerful, so the brain learns to repeat the ritual, even when it creates bigger problems later.
There’s rarely a single “cause.” These patterns can be influenced by stress, personality factors, genetics, and brain-based threat processes. They often worsen during transitions, high pressure periods, illness, fatigue, or uncertainty.
One important clarification: intrusive thoughts are common. What makes people seek OCD support is when the thoughts feel relentless or intense, and when the attempts to manage them start to take over. Effective intrusive thoughts support and obsessive thoughts treatment help you relate to the thoughts differently and gradually reduce the grip of rituals.
Good therapy should help on ordinary days. Together we build step by step plans that fit your routines at home, work, school, and in relationships. You will learn tools to resist compulsive behaviours gradually and safely, skills for distress tolerance, and ways to strengthen tolerance of uncertainty. For young people, parents or carers can be included so everyone understands how to respond without feeding the ritual.
IPA offers secure telehealth across Australia and face to face sessions in Unley. We work with adults, teens, and children.
Reach out if obsessions and compulsions are costing you time, energy, or freedom. Consider support when rituals disturb sleep or focus, avoidance is shrinking your world, shame or exhaustion is building, or more of each week is spent managing symptoms. Early support can prevent patterns from becoming more entrenched.
We begin by gently mapping your cycle. You will have space to describe intrusive thoughts, triggers, and the behaviours that follow, including the quiet mental ones. We look at what each compulsion is trying to achieve and how to meet that need in healthier ways. You set the pace. We agree on goals and build a personalised plan for obsessive thoughts treatment that feels realistic for your life. Family involvement is optional and can help for teens or when a partner is closely affected.
If obsessions and compulsions are taking up too much space in your life, you do not have to manage it alone. Book an appointment or contact us for support so we can plan the next step together.
