Understanding Perinatal OCD
Perinatal OCD is a mental health concern affecting parents both during pregnancy and in the postpartum phase, affecting 2-3% of parents annually. Despite its prevalence, perinatal OCD is frequently not well understood, and this lack of understanding can sadly cause parents to feel shame and alone in what they are going through. Increasing awareness about perinatal OCD is therefore essential, as it can help parents feel more confident in reaching out for the support they need.
Perinatal OCD is characterized by a recurring pattern of unwanted and intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety and distress. To alleviate this anxiety, individuals may engage in what are known as safety behaviors. While these behaviors might offer temporary relief, they often inadvertently perpetuate the cycle of anxiety leading a person to continue to fixate on their intrusive thoughts.
What are intrusive thoughts?
Some common intrusive thoughts that parents experience during pregnancy and the postpartum period include worries about the baby getting contaminated or sick, unwanted sexual thoughts about the baby, fear of accidental or intentional harm coming to the baby, and concerns about needing to be perfect parents to prevent something dangerous from happening to the baby. One of the most important things to note about intrusive thoughts in the context of perinatal OCD is that these thoughts are ego-dystonic, meaning these thoughts are not in line with the person’s values and beliefs. Oftentimes because of the lack of awareness about perinatal OCD, people experience immense shame and guilt for having these thoughts leaving them to feel hesitant to talk with their loved ones about what they are experiencing or reach out for help.
It is also important to remember that many parents experience intrusive thoughts about their children occasionally. While some individuals can readily recognize these thoughts as intrusive and dismiss them, others may find themselves fixating on these thoughts, causing significant distress and difficulty in coping.
What are Compulsions?
Logically it makes sense that if someone is experiencing a thought that they find unbearable to have, they are going to engage in behaviors that will help decrease their anxiety and distress. However, as mentioned previously, in the context of OCD, these safety behaviors tend to perpetuate the cycle of OCD. Common compulsions include washing and cleaning, researching, reassurance seeking, checking, and repeating tasks. Similar to intrusive thoughts, these are behaviors that all parents engage in from time to time. One way to differentiate between what is considered normal behavior versus safety behaviors, is how an individual feels after engaging in the behavior. For instance, someone without OCD might clean and organize and experience a genuine sense of satisfaction with their accomplishment. However, an individual engaging in these actions as safety behaviors driven by OCD symptoms might feel a fleeting sense of relief, quickly followed by dissatisfaction and a persistent urge to repeat the behavior in an attempt to achieve a sense of completion that never truly comes.
You are not alone
The good news is that you are not alone and with treatment individuals struggling with perinatal OCD can significantly reduce their symptoms. It can be difficult for parents who are struggling with intrusive thoughts to talk about what they are going through. However, reaching out to a trusted person and sharing your experiences is often the very first step toward feeling better. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) are all effective mental health therapy approaches used in the treatment of perinatal OCD. In therapy, you will work with your individual provider to develop a treatment plan tailored to your symptoms and work on developing skills to improve your mental health
Additional Resources
International OCD Foundation https://iocdf.org/
Postpartum Support International https://postpartum.net/