Is OCD part of a wider trend?

OCD is often seen as an isolated condition, with no link to anything that came before it. But for many people, OCD is actually the latest attempt by the subconscious mind to warn them that something deeper needs attention.

Let me explain.

When the body is carrying too much stress or unresolved trauma, the subconscious starts sending signals. These signals often begin gently. A person might develop mild social anxiety, a fear of flying, or another discomfort that nudges them to slow down and pay attention.

If those gentler signals don’t work, the subconscious sends a stronger message — perhaps irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a stomach ulcer, or another physical symptom that doesn’t have a clear medical cause.

If the person continues living in the same way and those signals are still ignored, the subconscious escalates again. At that point, the next message could be OCD.

So now it can be helpful to look back at your own medical and emotional history, and consider how far back your subconscious may have been trying to warn you — either mentally or physically. Pay particular attention to issues where doctors couldn’t identify a clear cause, such as headaches or other conditions that often appear without an obvious explanation.

If your OCD developed as part of this wider trend, then addressing the root cause (stress or trauma) becomes essential. If the deeper issue isn’t dealt with, the subconscious may continue escalating, and you may end up with another major mental health condition such as depression, in addition to OCD.

The good news is that the subconscious mind doesn’t need you to tackle the root cause straight away. It usually gives you a grace period where you can temporarily ignore the root cause without the mind escalating into another mental illness — this can be called the first temporary easing of pressure. But you only get this grace period if you’re willing to experience the anxiety from your current OCD thoughts, because that’s what tells the subconscious its message has been acknowledged.

When you experience the anxiety from your current OCD thoughts, the anxiety begins to lessen over time — which is the basis of ‘Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)’ therapy. I’ve explained ERP in detail on the ‘CBT’ page of this website.

ERP can massively reduce the anxiety from your current set of OCD thoughts — this can be called the second temporary easing of pressure.

But this second temporary easing of pressure can sometimes give a false sense of recovery. Sometimes ERP is so effective that patients feel completely cured. When that happens, they may not move on to dealing with the root causes, because the symptoms have eased and everything feels resolved. But this is an unwise approach. After a certain amount of time — which could be months or even years — the subconscious mind will recognise that nothing has actually changed at the deeper level. And at that point, it may respond by bringing the OCD back or by generating another major mental health condition.

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