| Fears of germs or contamination |
- Repeatedly washing hands, bathing, showering, using anti-bacterial wipes or hand-sanitizer
- Excessively changing clothes, washing clothing or surfaces; asking parents to wash clothing more than once to get it “clean”
- Avoiding touching “dirty” surfaces such as doorknobs
- Avoiding touching others, not playing with classmates or siblings
- Avoiding being touched
- Avoiding contact play or sports - either because of a fear of catching a disease or a fear of contaminating another person or child
- Avoiding public places or avoiding public washrooms
- Seeking reassurance that they or others are not “sick” or “dirty”
- Avoiding certain products or surfaces because they may contain “poison” (such as cleaning products, chemically-treated lawns)
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| Fears of harm, illness, or death to oneself or others; fear of causing harm to others (such as a fire or accident) |
- “Checking” behavior such as making sure doors and/or windows are locked
- Checking that parents are OK
- Making sure the stove is turned off, that appliances such as a coffeemaker or toaster are unplugged or that lamps and light switches are turned off
- Returning to a location repetitively to check that a person or animal has not been harmed. For example, a young child who rides a bicycle becomes convinced he or she may have run into a dog or bird, and circles back over and over again to the spot where this may have occurred to make sure no animal is lying there injured or dead.
- Reading a paragraph over and over again to prevent harm from coming to a pet
- Unreasonable avoidance of ordinary places, objects, situations, animals or people that may trigger fears of harm
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| Fears/urges related to losing something valuable or a need to collect items(hoarding) |
- Saving useless items -- scraps of paper, candy wrappers, bottle caps, broken items; being unable to part with things that are not needed any more
- Holding on to items that might be needed sometime in the future, such as books, toys, food, school papers, clothing; wanting multiples of the same item “just in case”
- Picking up objects on the playground or sidewalk such as stones, pieces of string, empty cans
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| Scrupulosity: excessive fears of violating religious or moral rules |
- Praying, saying prayers a certain number of times; excessive praying to atone for being “bad”
- Repeatedly confessing perceived "sins" or bad behavior (e.g., cheating, lying)
- Avoiding answering questions for fear of telling a lie
- Repeatedly asking if something has been done wrong
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| Fears/urges related to symmetry or order |
- Constantly evening up items or groups of items, such as books on a shelf, aligning edges to be “just right” or “even”
- Rearranging items to be in a certain order to prevent harm, e.g., shoes on the closet floor, CDs on a shelf, arranging clothing in a specific order or in certain color groups
- Getting dressed or eating breakfast in a precise order
- Avoiding a room with square tiles; seeing the tiles would necessitate tracing each of the edges with the eyes
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| Preoccupation with numbers, e.g., "good" numbers, "bad" numbers, “magical” numbers |
- “Counting” behavior such as counting up to a "good" number; touching or saying words a certain number of times to “magically” keep harm from coming to another; silently counting or counting items with the eyes
- Avoiding "bad" numbers on a worksheet
- Brushing hair a particular number of times in order to "feel right"
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| Preoccupation with sexual thoughts, urges, images |
- Seeking reassurance that one is not gay or lesbian, despite being heterosexual
- Excessive praying to atone for having inappropriate sexual thoughts
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| Excessive doubting/dread of uncertainty |
- Checking a backpack excessively to be certain all the necessary items are in it
- Returning home several times after leaving to ensure that the door is really locked
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| Fears/urges related to having something "just right" or "just so" |
- Repeatedly revising the way words are written to make them look "just right"
- Extreme slowness with activities, chores or school work -- repeating something until it looks, sounds, or feels "just right" or in a certain order or pattern
- Repeating actions over and over again for no apparent reason
- Avoiding a hallway in which one must walk repetitively until it feels "just right"
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