By Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG – July 29, 2024
What is obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)? Can an individual have ADHD and OCD at the same time? If so, how can a person obsess and be compulsive and, at the same time, be impulsive and distracted? Believe it or not, it happens. To learn more, I had a conversation with Dr. Roberto Olivardia, a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard Medical School with a private practice in Arlington MA, as well as Dr. Kirsten Milliken, a psychologist and trained ADHD coach.
An obsession is basically characterized by a recurrent or persistent thought or impulse that is experienced in a very intrusive way. It is not welcome and can cause a tremendous amount of anxiety and distress. These are not thoughts and images that are simply excessive worries about real life problems, but physiologically, they feel very real and can be quite irrational.
The evidence shows that approximately 30% of people with OCD also have ADHD. They both look like each other at times. To be diagnosed with OCD, you can have either an obsession or a compulsion or both, and there are actually people who have OCD but do not have any compulsions, like repeated hand washing, for example. Another example might be spending hours rethinking every detail about a 10-minute social interaction, obsessing over whether the other person might have been offended in some way.
OCD, as with ADHD, comes with a lot of social stigma. They’re often marked with shame or blame even though these folks often are above average in their intelligence. The obsessive side is much more difficult to diagnose than the compulsive side because you can actually see it. While it is challenging, the good news is that treatment can be quite effective.
For those who have both OCD and ADHD, one of those forms of stimulation could be the obsessions around the OCD. So, it’s very important for them, if ADHD has not been diagnosed, which is often the case, ADHD is often the undiagnosed condition. However, once you understand ADHD, it can really help in managing OCD. And vice versa.
Listen to the discussion: “ADHD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.”
As a sequel to this conversation, we had a follow-up conversation focusing more on the ADHD aspect. Visit “ADHD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – The Sequel.”