# What is OCD?

URL: https://tymirahealth.com/resources/faqs/what-is-ocd
For: Patients | Mental health care | Reviewed by Independent clinical reviewer, Registered mental health clinician, Kenya | Last reviewed 8 November 2026

**Answer:** Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involves unwanted, distressing thoughts, images or urges (obsessions) and repeated actions or mental rituals (compulsions) done to ease the anxiety, such as checking, washing or counting. It is a health condition, not a personality quirk or a sign of madness, and it is not your fault. Talking therapy, and sometimes medicine, can help. If it affects daily life, speak to a health worker.

Sources: NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/overview/

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