I've been asked so many times whether OCD counts as neurodivergent, especially with mental health issues becoming common among children and teens. For years, I've worked with neurodivergent individuals and those facing mental health challenges in many different settings. While it is a fascinating question, there is no simple and straightforward answer.
What Does Neurodivergent Mean?
Neurodivergence refers to variations in the human brain that affect sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions. Often used in the neurodiversity movement, this term encourages acceptance of neurological differences as natural human variations. This includes conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and sometimes OCD, which many view as “neurodivergent disorders.
As awareness of neurodivergence grows, it’s becoming harder to pinpoint what qualifies as neurotypical. Neurodiversity is reshaping our understanding of what’s “normal,” highlighting that variation is increasingly the norm.
Understanding the Core Features of Neurodiversity
To explore how Obsessive Compulsive Disorder relates to neurodivergence, it’s helpful to understand the basics of neurodiversity. At its core, neurodiversity celebrates the idea that there isn’t one “right” type of brain. It’s not about symptoms, but about natural variations.
- Variation and Individuality: Every brain functions uniquely.
- Acceptance and Inclusivity: Neurodiversity promotes acceptance of all brain types.
- Understanding and Adaptation: Embracing different neurotypes and adapting environments to be more inclusive..
Are People With OCD Considered Neurodivergent?
The question of whether OCD is neurodivergent sits at the crossroads of brain science, mental health, and the neurodiversity movement. Neurodivergence generally includes conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. OCD, often seen as an anxiety disorder due to its obsessions and compulsions, brings a unique perspective. Including OCD as neurodivergent depends on broader definitions of neurodiversity and whether mental health conditions should be part of that spectrum.
Key Features of OCD
OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is a complex mental health condition that goes beyond common misconceptions of orderliness or cleanliness. It’s characterized by unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that significantly affect a person’s life and well-being.
Is OCD on a spectrum? In a way, yes. OCD symptoms vary widely and can change over time, often co-occurring with other conditions. While some wonder if OCD is related to autism, it’s not the same. However, OCD and autism can overlap, with some similar behaviors like repetitive actions.
To learn more about what's the difference between autism and neurodivergent brain, listen to my It's Gonna Be OK! podcast series on OCD.
Understanding Obsessions
- Nature of Obsessions: These are intrusive, persistent thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Unlike everyday worries about real-life problems, obsessions are excessive and not proportionate to the actual risk involved.
- Common Obsessions: They can include fears of contamination, intense worry about safety or harm (to oneself or others), and deeply ingrained fears of making mistakes or acting against personal morals or religious beliefs.
- Impact on the Individual: Obsessions often cause significant anxiety or discomfort. The individual usually tries to ignore or suppress these thoughts or neutralize them with some other thought or action, leading to compulsions.
Understanding Compulsions
- Nature of Compulsions: Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession. The behaviors typically aim to prevent or reduce anxiety related to the obsessions or prevent some dreaded event or situation; however, these acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent, or they are clearly excessive.
- Common Compulsions: These can range from physical behaviors like handwashing, checking, or arranging objects in a particular way, to mental acts like praying, counting, or repeating certain words silently.
- The Compulsive Cycle: Engaging in these compulsions provides temporary relief from the anxiety caused by the obsessions, but this relief is short-lived. This often leads to a reinforcing cycle, where the more the individual performs these compulsions, the more they feel the need to continue doing so.
The Impact of OCD on Daily Life
- Disruption in Daily Activities: The intensity of the obsessions, compulsions and rituals can consume hours of a person's day, significantly interfering with their daily activities, social interactions, work, and family responsibilities.
- Emotional and Physical Toll: The chronic nature of this cycle can lead to a range of emotional challenges, including feelings of shame, guilt, or frustration. Physically, it can lead to exhaustion or even manifest as physical symptoms related to the compulsive behaviors (like skin irritation from excessive washing).
- Need for Control and Certainty: A hallmark of OCD is the overwhelming need for control and certainty in the face of their obsessions. This often leads to a paradox where the more control they seek, the less in control they feel and the more they ruminate. This can especially impact relationships.
Understanding these key features and definitions of OCD is crucial in recognizing its complexity and the profound impact it has on those who suffer from it. This comprehension forms the foundation for exploring how OCD relates to the concept of neurodiversity and what this means for treatment and support for individuals with OCD.
Different Types of OCD
OCD can show up in many forms, each with its own set of obsessions and compulsions. While some symptoms are internal, outward signs may develop over time. Here are some common types:
- Contamination OCD: Fear of germs or dirt, often leading to excessive cleaning.
- Symmetry and Order OCD: A need for things to be perfectly symmetrical or arranged in a specific order.
- Harm OCD: Fear of causing harm to oneself or others.
- Hoarding OCD: Difficulty discarding items, feeling a strong need to keep them.
- Somatic OCD: Intense focus on bodily sensations or functions.
Expanding Neurodivergence to Include Mental Health
Traditionally, neurodivergence has been associated with developmental conditions like autism and ADHD. Now, it’s being increasingly applied to a range of mental health conditions, including OCD. This broader view reflects growing acceptance of the many ways our brains can function.
Understanding Unique Brain Functioning in Mental Health
Mental health conditions like OCD involve unique thought and behavior patterns that reflect distinct brain functioning. Neurodivergent brains have their own strengths and variations, fitting within the neurodiversity paradigm, which values neurological differences as part of the human experience.
Reducing Stigma and Embracing Differences
Viewing mental health conditions as forms of neurodivergence helps challenge and reduce the stigma around them. Instead of seeing these differences as deficits, we recognize them as variations that deserve understanding and support.
individuals’ behaviors and experiences are also closely tied to how their brains process information and emotions, and this kind of holistic view can make it easier for everyone to understand and sympathize with neurodivergent kids.
The Growing Conversation on Neurodivergence and Mental Health
As our understanding of the brain evolves, the concept of neurodivergence is expanding. Conditions like OCD, once seen purely as “mental health issues,” are now being viewed through a neurodiversity lens. This shift can help you see your child’s unique experiences in a new, more accepting light.
For you as a parent, this perspective can be empowering. When the rest of the world recognizes these conditions as part of the neurodivergent spectrum, it can help reduce stigma and fosters self-acceptance in your child. People would more and more support them in embracing who they are.
Neurodivergence is generally considered an inherent part of a person’s neurological makeup. While you can't “become” neurodivergent in the traditional sense, conditions like OCD can develop due to a mix of genetic, biological, and environmental factors. This highlights the complexity of brain function and mental health.
How Neurodiversity Shapes OCD Treatment
Understanding that OCD is part of a neurodivergent spectrum means that treatment should focus on supporting the individual’s unique brain functioning, not just eliminating symptoms.
(1) Personalized Treatment Approaches
Recognizing OCD as a neurodivergent condition calls for more personalized and empathetic care. Effective treatment should address the root causes of OCD while honoring the individuality of each person’s experience. This might include strategies like magnesium supplements, PEMF therapy, neurofeedback, or specific therapeutic approaches tailored to the person’s needs.
(2) Beyond Traditional Labels
Shifting from traditional models of mental health to a neurodiversity framework allows us to focus on strengths and coping strategies, rather than just trying to eliminate symptoms. This approach promotes a deeper understanding of OCD as part of the neurodivergent spectrum, leading to greater acceptance and support.
(3) Building Community and Advocacy
This broader understanding also helps create a sense of community among those with OCD and other mental health conditions. It strengthens advocacy for better resources, support systems, and public policies that better accommodate neurodivergent individuals, ensuring they receive the care and understanding they deserve.
When an individual is both neurodivergent and experiences multiple conditions, like OCD and autism, it can affect how treatment is approached. Understanding whether it's a mental illness or neurodivergence can lead to better outcomes. Personalized treatment plans that consider each person’s unique mix of challenges and strengths are essential.
This may include customized cognitive-behavioral therapy, specialized exposure and response prevention (ERP) techniques, neurofeedback, PEMF therapy, parent support groups, and environments tailored to their specific needs.
Citations:
Chapman, R., & Botha, M. (2023). Neurodivergence-informed therapy. Developmental medicine and child neurology, 65(3), 310–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.15384
Heasman, B., & Gillespie, A. (2019). Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 23(4), 910–921. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318785172
Kornblau, B. L., & Robertson, S. M. (2021). Special Issue on Occupational Therapy With Neurodivergent People. The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association, 75(3), 7503170010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2021.753001
Mellifont, D. (2021). A Qualitative Study Exploring Neurodiversity Conference Themes, Representations, and Evidence-Based Justifications for the Explicit Inclusion and Valuing of OCD. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, 5(2), 111–138. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48645276
Dr. Roseann is an OCD mental health expert who frequently is in the media:
- Insider: What is OCD?
- Single Care Controlling the uncontrollable: Living with OCD during a pandemic
- MomsCove How to Help a Child with Anxiety and OCD
- Holistic Counseling Podcast: Effective Treatments for OCD
- Epidemic Answers: Neurofeedback for ADHD, anxiety, OCD and mood
- BCIA: Calming the OCD Brain with Neurofeedback and ERP Therapy
- Integrative Practitioner: Integrative Approaches to Treating OCD
Dr. Roseann is a Children’s Mental Health Expert and Licensed Therapist who has been featured in/on hundreds of media outlets including The Mel Robbins Show, CBS, NBC, PIX11 NYC, Today, FORBES, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Business Insider, Women’s Day, Healthline, CNET, Parade Magazine and PARENTS. FORBES called her, “A thought leader in children’s mental health.”
She coined the terms, “Re-entry panic syndrome” and “eco-anxiety” and is a frequent contributor to media on mental health.
Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge has three decades of experience in working with children, teens and their families with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, concussion, dyslexia and learning disability, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression and mood disorder, Lyme Disease, and PANS/PANDAS using science-backed natural mental health solutions such as supplements, magnesium, nutrition, QEEG Brain maps, neurofeedback, PEMF, psychotherapy and other non-medication approaches.
She is the author of three bestselling books, It’s Gonna Be OK!: Proven Ways to Improve Your Child's Mental Health, The Teletherapy Toolkit, and Brain Under Attack. Dr. Roseann is known for offering a message of hope through science-endorsed methods that promote a calm brain.
Her trademarked BrainBehaviorResetⓇ Program and It’s Gonna be OK!Ⓡ Podcast has been a cornerstone for thousands of parents facing mental health, behavioral or neurodevelopmental challenges.
She is the founder and director of The Global Institute of Children’s Mental Health, Neurotastic™Brain Formulas and Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, LLC. Dr. Roseann is a Board Certified Neurofeedback (BCN) Practitioner, a Board Member of the Northeast Region Biofeedback Society (NRBS), Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional (CIMHP) and an Amen Clinic Certified Brain Health Coach. She is also a member of The International Lyme Disease and Associated Disease Society (ILADS), The American Psychological Association (APA), Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), International OCD Foundation (IOCDF).
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