Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves repetitive thoughts and/or behaviors that persist even when they feel excessive or irrational—such as repeatedly checking the stove before leaving the house despite knowing it’s off.
In traditional OCD, these loops usually develop gradually and are often linked to real anxiety about past experiences. Symptoms may fluctuate with stress or poor sleep and typically respond well to exposure therapy and standard OCD medications.
In neuroimmune-influenced OCD, symptoms may appear suddenly and without a clear psychological trigger. From the outset, intrusive thoughts tend to be unusually intense, difficult to dismiss, and often disconnected from a person’s current anxieties and emotional state.
Neuroimmune psychiatry focuses on recognizing these different patterns, helping guide when standard OCD treatment is sufficient and when a broader, biologically informed evaluation may be helpful.