What OCD is, in short
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a cycle of obsessions, unwanted and distressing thoughts, images or urges, and compulsions, repeated actions or mental rituals done to reduce the distress or prevent something feared. Diagnosis usually requires that it takes more than an hour a day or causes significant distress or disruption.
Liking things tidy isn't OCD. The difference is distress and time: the rituals feel necessary rather than satisfying. This test follows the six-area structure of the OCI-R (2002) with our own statements; the line at 21 is a rough guide, not a diagnosis.
By What's Your IQ · Reviewed 4 Oct 2026- Format
- 18 statements, 3 per area, rated 0–4 for distress
- Score
- 0–72 total, 0–12 per area; guide line at 21
- How common
- About 2–3% of people over a lifetime
- Treatment
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a form of CBT
Six things OCD isn't
Click each card to turn a common belief over and see what the research says.
~90%of people have unwanted intrusive thoughtsA classic study found most people without OCD reported thoughts very like clinical obsessions. What differs in OCD is how distressing they feel and the effort spent getting rid of them.2
1978Normal obsessions. Rachman and de Silva showed intrusive thoughts are almost universal, changing how clinicians explain OCD.2
2002Six areas. Foa and colleagues published the 18-item OCI-R, whose structure this test follows. A total of 21 or more best separated people with OCD from others.1
2010How common. A US national survey estimated about 2.3% of adults meet criteria for OCD in their lifetime, and far more have some symptoms.3
2013Hoarding separated. DSM-5 made hoarding disorder its own diagnosis, though scales like this one still include it because the two often overlap.4
- Foa, E. B., Huppert, J. D., Leiberg, S., Langner, R., Kichic, R., Hajcak, G., & Salkovskis, P. M. (2002). The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory: Development and validation of a short version. Psychological Assessment, 14(4), 485–496.
- Rachman, S., & de Silva, P. (1978). Abnormal and normal obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16(4), 233–248.
- Ruscio, A. M., Stein, D. J., Chiu, W. T., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Molecular Psychiatry, 15(1), 53–63.
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).