Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Intrusive thoughts that trigger anxiety, and actions with which you try to lower it.
How it shows up
The thought arrives uninvited and contradicts who you are — which is exactly why it is so tormenting. An action follows: checking, washing, repeating, seeking reassurance. The relief lasts a few minutes, then the loop starts again.
What we do with it in therapy
The key isn’t the content of the thought but breaking the loop — letting the anxiety come and pass without the ritual. That is unpleasant and therefore has to be gradual. In marked forms, specialist treatment makes sense.
See also
Bullying
Repeated, deliberate hurting in which power is unevenly distributed.
Countertransference
Everything a therapist feels, thinks and experiences with a client — once seen as a disturbance, now one of the most valuable tools for understanding the relationship.
Crisis
The moment when your existing ways no longer suffice — danger and opportunity at once.
