For many new parents, intrusive thoughts arrive as fleeting flashes: a sudden image of dropping their baby down the stairs, a panicked fear that the bath water is too hot, a split-second scenario in ...

Beyond simple quirks and preferences, OCD creates a debilitating cycle of unwanted thoughts and ritualistic behaviors that can hijack everyday life. This mental health condition affects approximately ...

For seven years, a woman believed she was a pedophile — until a rare diagnosis explained her intrusive thoughts. Molly Lambert, a 22-year-old from Manchester, England, grew up struggling with anxiety ...

The term “intrusive thoughts” has become common parlance from mental health creators on social media such as TikTok, and people have resonated with it. In psychiatry, we don’t usually talk about ...

Everybody has an occasional upsetting or shameful thought. For some people, the thoughts feel uncontrollable. It doesn't take long for someone to worry they're going "crazy" or wonder if they're just ...

Here’s what experts recommend you should do if the signs of moral OCD sound familiar.

Individuals who experience hoarding related to OCD may have distressing feelings about discarding items. It can drive compulsive saving behaviors that they recognize as excessive. Obsessive-compulsive ...

“For years I avoided talking about it," said Molly Lambert, who was diagnosed with pedophilia-themed obessive-compulsive disorder Vanessa Etienne is a Staff Writer for PEOPLE on the Health team. She ...