# Anxiety Disorders > Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) >  >  How do Doctors Test for OCD?

## Lexii_babee

Hi,

I think i may have OCD, and have been advised to go and see my doctor.

I would like to know what sort of tests they may do. Could anyone tell me what type of tests they would do to see whether I have OCD?

It would be most appriciated if you could help, as i am planning on seeing my doctor because of the symptoms I have. Most of them related to OCD.

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## L

The test will be a set of questions and and a talk about you mental health, it will be based on what you believe to be OCD and how you cope with it.

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## kc1895

They diagnose you based on your symptoms.  They are usually very particular, but in some cases less obvious.  Neither myself nor my therapist realized I had OCD, until she consulted with my psychiatrist about obsessive thoughts that were interfering with my life.  If your symptoms are strong and interfering with your life, and therapy isn't helping, you may be prescribed medication.  I've been on some SSRI's that are indicated for OCD.  It has helped me a lot.  Good luck and keep us updated.

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## UltraShy

> I would like to know what sort of tests they may do. Could anyone tell me what type of tests they would do to see whether I have OCD?



I've never had any OCD tests.  They just trust me when I tell them that that I have OCD and that OCD runs in my family with two brothers who have/had OCD.  I use the past tense as one of them died and it wasn't till his death that the full extent of this OCD was revealed to me.  Given how he never invited me over I knew his place was a mess, though I had no idea it was something that should be featured on "Hoarders" till he was dead and I got to go through it.  He had a spare bedroom where you literally could not find the floor it was so bad.  You simply had to walk on bags of old newspapers.  I hoard, our other brother hoards (and is diagnosed with OCD and is trying to get SS with this as part of his disability claim), our mother hoards.  The whole family hoards.  It clearly seems genetic and/or taught through the generations.

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## enfield

i think they'll test you for OCD sort of similarly to how they test for any anxiety disorders. if you do have apparent mental issues and chronic anxiety then you could pretty much qualify for any of them. i wouldn't really worry about the "tests" so much. the best indication that they can get that you could benefit from treatment is from how you describe your day to day life and what's gone wrong. that's going to say more than the tests. in fact i think the point of a lot of the tests if its open ended questions is just to get you to talk about that so the professional can get a sense of if treatment makes sense for you. they're not really trying to match you to criteria as much as firstly see that you've got issues, and then secondly see that those issues can vaguely align with some diagnosis, whether its OCD or another one that fits better. most of the anxiety disorders are treated in approximately the same way with the same meds, so its not really too imperative your issues are captured very precisely by the diagnosis. even the best fitting diagnosis for you is probably going to leave lots unexplained. therapy is where you define your particular issues, but the meds can really be given before those are discussed in much detail.

i got told i had ocd issues before but i really thought no way i do, that's WAY off. but then i learned there's different subtypes and really ocd can refer to a lot more than i thought it could, so maybe he wasn't really so far off after all in saying i had it. for example there's the relationship obsessive subtype which i could see myself MAYBE being able to be diagnosed with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relati...lsive_disorder





> In psychology, relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder (ROCD) is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder centred on relationship-related obsessions focusing on intimate relationships. Such obsessions can become extremely distressing and debilitating, having negative impacts on relationships functioning.

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