OCD and phobias

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Another difficult differential diagnosis is that of the phobia of impulse classified in the OCD because also associated with a feeling of responsibility in the dangerous acts which would be carried out in an uncontrollable way, with certain simple non-obsessive phobias including a notion of danger, as by example the phobias of driving.

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Impulse phobia  

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Concretely, people suffering from phobias of impulse fear to hurt others or themselves, physically or morally. They can thus "see" themselves attacking their relatives or strangers with weapons or dangerous objects, throwing them into a vacuum, or, less dramatically, insulting them. These unacceptable impulses are often linked to moral values and to societal and cultural fears. Today, for example, we see that sexual themes are more and more present in phobias of impulse, in particular with regard to the fear of acts on children.

The same types of aggressive impulses can be feared towards oneself, in the form of impulsive suicidal gestures. In response, patients look for ploys to get away from dangerous places or objects (windows, metro, needles, blades, etc.) or to symbolically neutralize their "bad thoughts" (repetition of sentences, numbers or acts. conjuring). All this causes very strong anxieties, equal to the gravity of the dreaded misfortunes.

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Remember that these disorders can be alike but they can also coexist in the same patient.

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Social phobia and impulse phobia are the most common anxiety comorbidities found, some consider this association OCD and social phobia as a serious factor of OCD.

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