I believe these two topics are often misunderstood. Let's make it more clear.
-OCD starts with obsessive thoughts.. IF your way to deal with these thoughts includes compulsive behaviours then you have OCD.
Now what's phobia?
Phobia is an extreme irrational fear od specific object or situation. It is also irrational fear and can include over checking or avoiding places that seem dangerous to the person who has a phobia.
Then what's the difference, aren't both of them irrational fears?
Well yes, BUT there's an EXTRA dimension to OCD
A person with OCD usually has a strong feeling that then need to carry out their compulsions or else some dreadful consequence will ensue and almost always then feel that they must do their compulsions in a certain way, like a RITUAL.
Let's say you are afraid of 🕷️
-If you are afraid of spiders and need to check every room for them, you have a PHOBIA.
-If you feel that letting a spider be in the room is likely to bring bad luck or harm your family and you also check the room at the same time each day, you have OCD.
I hope this made it more clear.
Let me know your thoughts about it!
Well explained. I had a room mate who got OCD, She used to wash her hands 40,50 times everyday with soup and still thought they were not clean. She had placed the water soup and an empty bucket besides her bed so she doesn't have to go to bathroom every time. She just washed them right away in the room and empty the bucket after few hours. She got so obsessed she wouldn't even touch anything anywhere. She was scared to go out of the room so she won't encounter any germs and all this was before COVID.
She left the college later and went for professional help. She is better now.
I am not sure they are both based on fear. For example, I know someone who has emetaphobia ( a fear of throwing up) and it's based off of some trauma from the past and the reaction to someone throwing up around them or even seeing it on TV is NOT what we would consider "normal." Its' an overreaction based off a (usually imaginary) fear. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder however can happen for the sake of the ritual itself, like smoking cigarettes. It often shows up in simple transitions such as when going to bed or leaving the house: "Must check the stove is off again." I think it isn't so much about a fear of the stove being on, then about what the "groundedness" of the ritual does for the person, particularly during any kind of transition (leaving the house). Someone might always check their purse for example, when out and about with large crowds of people. Often OCD comes up when we are anxious, tired or stressed, and this ritual may provide a sense of "I'm still here" in reality, but I'm exhausted and spaced out so I'm going to rely on this ritual so I don't forget it because of how tired and spaced out I am. In a way phobias tend to be things we just overreact to and want to run away from, whereas OCD is a type of "dealing with feeling ungrounded" but using ritual to move through life despite those feelings. It's a coping mechanism in a way that reinforces a feedback loop that if one continues the ritual, one will regain a sense of control... So by touching the purse or checking to make sure the keys are in their spot. It's a way of taking control of the apparent "chaos" or feelings of anxiety by temporarily trying to control those feelings with a sense of groundedness in reality (the purse is there, the purse is there, i didn't forget the purse, it's there, i'm touching it). Atleast, that's how I experience it ;)
Alot of people claim they have OCD because they like to clean but in reality they are just clean freaks who just like to clean.
I have seen a video where a woman suffering from OCD washed her face for 2 hours and still she was not satisfied. Sense of uncleanness can make people lives a living hell. So, be considerate when claiming you have OCD.