New York Center for Obsessive - Pathological Doubt

Pathological Doubt Obsessions
Pathological doubt is characterized by intrusive thoughts that an individual experiences.  For example, an individual may have an intrusive thought that something bad will happen because they have failed to check something thoroughly or completely. They may obsess that they didn’t turn the stove off and their house will burn down.  Even though the individual knows that the thoughts are irrational, they cannot prevent themselves to giving into the doubt and perform a checking ritual.  Checking is the compulsion that is most often used by the patient to alleviate the anxiety that they are feeling from the intrusive thoughts.  The compulsion can take form of repeatedly checking either verbally, physically or visually to reassure themselves that the task has been properly done.
 
Robin’s Story
Robin is a 45 year-old executive director at a Public Relations firm. Robin is married with children and  performs the average duties that a working woman does.  However, Robin has OCD that consists of pathological doubt. Robin gets obsessive doubts about turning off appliances in her home, locking her front door, and checking that she shuts her computer down at work.  Robins gets intrusive thoughts  make it hard for her to perform the daily demands on her life.  Robin needs to wake up 1 hour early before work because she has a habit of leaving her home and them getting doubts about her house.  So on a typical day Robin will drive off in her car and then be struck with the idea that she didn’t shut the coffee machine after using it or she doubts whether she shut the front door.  She obsesses because she thinks that if she leaves the coffee machine is left on or if the front door isn’t lock that some harm may come to her family.

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