Difference Between OCD and Anxiety (With Table)

OCD means Obsessive-Compulsive disorder. It is a type of disorder where there is an unwanted urge to do the same things repeatedly. It can be both good or bad. For example, a person may have OCD of washing their hands repeatedly. Although they want to stop, they are powerless to do so. Each person has a habit of repeating some things. If that habit is not enjoyable, can’t be controlled, interfere with your daily activities, then chances are there that you might have OCD.

Anxiety is a feeling in which a person has a feeling of dread, uneasiness or fear. Various symptoms can be seen when a person is having anxiety like restlessness, tension, sweating, fast heartbeat, freeze etc. It can be very normal for those who are under stress. But it may have severe consequences as well, such as a person having an anxiety attack or disorder can be overwhelming. Anxiety disorders can get worsen over time if not taken care of.

Comparison Table Between OCD and Anxiety

What is OCD?

 OCD has been categorised into various types like contaminations, ruminations, intrusive thoughts, symmetry, checking, ordering hoarding etc. In checking, there is an obsessive fear and compulsion to check things like door locks, taps, windows, cars, gas lights, electric lights etc. In contamination, there is a compulsion of using dirty things or touching them like using public toilets, chemicals, doorknobs, crowd, dead skin etc. In symmetry and order, there is a need to keep things in line and order in a perfect way.

In OCD, obsessions and compulsions are so common that people who have them don’t enjoy doing it, and neither is their habit. But they do it because they are powerless, and if they stop doing it, they feel so bad that it starts all over again. There are many reasons for obsessive thoughts like breathing heavily, blinking too fast, worries about yourself or other people getting hurt, suspicious nature without any reason etc. There is no reason that how OCD happens. 

Stress can make it worse. There are some of the causes and risk factors through which OCD can happen, such as depression, anxiety, trauma, a parent, sibling facing OCD, physical or sexual abuse as a child, there may be a physical difference in certain parts of the brain etc. OCD can be diagnosed using blood tests, physical exams and talking about thoughts, habits and feelings of a patient. There is no cure for OCD, but there are certain therapies and treatments via which OCD can be minimized.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety has severe consequences. In anxiety disorder, anxiety doesn’t go away and become much worse with time. Because anxiety disorders can interfere with day-to-day life activities, and a person is not able to do his normal activities like work, school or relationships. There are various types of anxiety disorders like GAD, OCD, PTSD, Phobia, Panic Disorder. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder. GAD or Generalized anxiety disorder is becoming normal.

It starts with feeling normal anxiety, then stress and then GAD is developed. GAD is one of the excessive forms of anxiety where the person is unable to control his surroundings. Its symptoms are very much similar to OCD, Panic attacks etc. GAD can happen to both adults as well as to the child. It can become a long time problem, and living with it can become quite a challenge. But it gets better via therapies like psychotherapy etc.

What causes anxiety is unknown. It can happen due to various factors such as brain biology, genetics, stress, environment etc. There are different types of risk involved for different types of anxiety disorders. Like phobias and GAD are more likely to happen in women, whereas social anxiety can happen to both men and women. Various symptoms include dizziness, restlessness, fatigue, tension, shortness of breath, aches, pains, behavioural changes etc.

Main Differences Between OCD and Anxiety

1. OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which is a type of Anxiety disorder. Anxiety is a feeling of dread and fear.
2. OCD has various types like Mental Contamination, Checking, Ruminations, Contamination, Hoarding etc. Anxiety also has various types such as GAD, OCD, PTSD, Social Phobia etc.
3. Symptoms of OCD include Blinking, Breathing, Fear of touching, Doing tasks in specific order etc. Symptoms of Anxiety include rapid heartbeat, aches, dizziness, pains, and shortness of breath.
4. Causes of OCD are Depression, anxiety, or tics, trauma etc. Causes of Anxiety are traumatic events, family history of anxiety, arrhythmia, thyroid etc.
5. Treatment of OCD includes Medication, psychotherapy, TMS, Neuromodulation etc. Treatment of Anxiety includes CBT, Medicines etc.

Conclusion

Both OCD and Anxiety are forms of mental illness. What causes both of them is unknown to scientists to date. Various causes are responsible for OCD and Anxiety. Anxiety can be mild as well as extremely severe. It can be treated accordingly. In most cases, anxiety is very normal, and every person faces it. It also helps to boost a person’s morale and confidence, pushes them to do better performance under stressful conditions.

Whereas OCD can be extremely severe and can take the form of schizophrenia, ruminations and intrusive thoughts. It can be very dangerous for q person suffering from it as well as for others who are around them because they can attack them as well. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder only. Anxiety is a feeling to be fear.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887618515000614
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/da.20699