It’s nearly Halloween, and kids around the country are digging through dusty closets and plundering the aisles of local Halloween shops in search of the perfect costume.

Halloween is the one night of the year when we give ourselves permission to be silly, scary, or fantastical. We can act a little weird, and nobody will …  (read more)

Flu season will be quickly upon us and with it comes an unfortunate increase in the likelihood of experiencing fevers, coughs, runny noses, vomiting, and the like.

Although no one enjoys being sick, this time of year poses particular challenges for individuals suffering from “vomit phobia”, or emetophobia, the fear of throwing up.

The …  (read more)

Parents brace themselves for many changes when a new baby comes home. As new routines replace old, life quickly becomes a confusing jumble of cherished memories, bottles, and dirty diapers.

Parenting can be joyful, but it can also be terrifying.

Parenting comes with many important responsibilities, and it can be intimidating–if not downright frightening–to be …  (read more)

Thoughts of death, dying, and suicide are an unfortunate reality for many individuals. In the U.S. alone between 2008 and 2009, approximately 3.7% of adults (8.3 million Americans) reported having suicidal thoughts (Crosby et al., 2011).

During that same time frame, approximately 2.2 million U.S. adults reported making specific plans to commit suicide. …  (read more)

The fear of harming others can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a neurobiological condition that is associated with repetitive, intrusive, distressing thoughts that can’t easily be dismissed.

Fear of Harming Other People On Purpose

Some aggressive obsessions involve the fear of harming others intentionally. In my last post about the fear …  (read more)

Aggressive obsessions go by many names. Harm obsessions, violent obsessions, morbid obsessions…the list goes on…

These symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involve the fear of harming or killing other people. In other cases, aggressive obsessions are directed at the self, such as when individuals experience unwanted, intrusive, and recurrent thoughts about hurting or killing …  (read more)

Imagine that you’re leaning down to kiss your young daughter goodnight, when BAM! You are jolted by an image of yourself stabbing her to death.

Alternatively, picture yourself as a young child who is intensely afraid of playing with your new puppy…not because you’re afraid of dogs but because you are afraid that if you …  (read more)

This is a recommended list of OCD books and OCD websites that I consider to be essential reading for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition to my formal training in OCD treatment, these OCD books and websites have had a profound impact on how I conceptualize and treat OCD.

This list is not intended to …  (read more)

Behavioral Checking (Overt Checking)

Many examples of compulsive checking rituals in OCD involve direct inspection of a target stimulus by sight, sound, or feel.

Common OCD checking behaviors include relocking doors, visually examining the position of one’s parking brake, or holding one’s hands above stove burners in order to detect warmth.

Behavioral checking is often …  (read more)

Compulsive checking often begins innocently enough. One check here, two checks there…

But OCD’s greed knows no bounds.

What starts out as a simple check “just to make sure” eventually spirals into disabling OCD doubt that can come to predominate innumerable situations and scenarios.

Checking behaviors often emerge in situations in which “being irresponsible” might …  (read more)