| Type | Compulsion | Examples |
| Contamination | I wash my hands excessively or in a ritualized way | Washing your hands many times a day or for long periods of time after touching, or thinking that you have touched a contaminated object. This may include washing the entire length of your arms |
| Contamination | I have excessive or ritualized showering, bathing, tooth brushing, grooming, or toilet routines | Taking showers or baths or performing other bathroom routines that may last for several hours. If the sequence is interrupted, the entire process may have to be restarted |
| Contamination | I have compulsions that involve cleaning household items or other inanimate objects | Excessive cleaning of faucets, toilets, floors, kitchen counters, or kitchen utensils |
| Contamination | I do other things to prevent or remove contact with contaminants | Asking family members to handle or remove insecticides, garbage, gasoline cans, raw meat, paints, varnish, drugs in the medicine cabinet. |
| Contamination | | If you can’t avoid these things, you may wear gloves or use paper napkins to handle them. |
| Checking | I check that I did not harm others | Checking that you haven’t hurt someone without knowing it. You may ask others for reassurance or telephone to make sure that everything is all right |
| Checking | I check that I did not harm myself | Looking for injuries of bleeding after handling sharp or breakable objects. You may frequently go to doctors to ask for reassurance that you haven’t hurt yourself |
| Checking | I check that nothing terrible happened | Searching for news about some catastrophe that you believe you caused. You may also ask people for reassurance that you didn’t cause an accident. |
| Checking | I check that I did not make a mistake | Repeated checking of door locks, stoves, electrical outlets, before leaving home; repeated checking while reading, writing, or doing simple calculations to make sure that you didn’t make a mistake |
| Checking | I check some aspect of my physical condition tied to my obsessions about my body | Seeking reassurance from friends or doctors that you aren’t having a heart attack or getting cancer |
| Checking | | Repeatedly taking pulse, blood pressure, or temperature |
| Checking | | Checking your appearance in a mirror, looking for ugly features |
| Repetition | I reread or rewrite things | Taking hours to read a few pages in a book or to write a short letter because you get caught in a cycle of reading and rereading |
| Repetition | | Worrying that you didn’t understand something you just read |
| Repetition | | Searching for a ‘perfect’ word or phrase |
| Repetition | | Having obsessive thoughts about the shape of certain printed letters in a book |
| Repetition | I need to repeat routine activities | Repeating activities like turning appliances on and off |
| Repetition | | Repeating activities like combing your hair |
| Repetition | | Repeating activities like going in and out of a doorway |
| Repetition | | Repeating activities like looking in a particular direction not feeling comfortable unless you do these things the ‘right’ number of times |
| Counting | I have counting compulsions | Counting objects like ceiling or floor tiles |
| Counting | | Counting objects like books in a bookcase |
| Counting | | Counting objects like grains of sand on a beach |
| Counting | | Counting when you repeat certain activities, like washing |
| Ordering/Arrangement | I have ordering or arranging compulsions | Wasting hours arranging things in your house in ‘order’ and then becoming very upset if this order is disturbed |
| Ordering/Arrangement | | Straightening paper and pens on a desktop or books in a bookcase |
| Hoarding | I have compulsions to hoard or collect things | Saving old newspapers, notes, cans, paper towels, wrappers and empty bottles for fear that if you throw them away you may need them |
| Hoarding | | Picking up useless objects from the street or from garbage cans |
| Miscellaneous | I have mental rituals (other than checking/counting) | Performing rituals in your head, like saying prayers or thinking a ‘good’ thought to undo a ‘bad’ thought. |
| Miscellaneous | I need to tell, ask, or confess | Asking other people to reassure you, confessing to wrong behaviors you never even did, believing that you have to tell other people certain words to feel better |
| Miscellaneous | I need to touch, tap, or rub things | Giving in to the urge to touch rough surfaces, like wood, or hot surfaces, like a stove top |
| Miscellaneous | | Giving in to the urge to lightly touch other people |
| Miscellaneous | | Believing you need to touch an object like a telephone to prevent an illness in your family |
| Miscellaneous | I take measures (other than checking) to prevent harm or terrible consequences to myself or family | Staying away from sharp or breakable objects, such as knives, scissors, and fragile glass |
| Miscellaneous | I have ritualized eating behaviors | Arranging your food, knife, and fork in a particular order before being able to eat |
| Miscellaneous | | Eating according to a strict ritual |
| Miscellaneous | | Not being able to eat until the hands of a clock point exactly at a certain time |
| Miscellaneous | I have superstitious behaviors | Not taking a bus or train if its number contains an ‘unlucky’ number (like thirteen) |
| Miscellaneous | | Staying in your house on the thirteenth of the month |
| Miscellaneous | | Throwing away clothes you wore while passing a funeral home or cemetery |
| Miscellaneous | I pull my hair out (trichotillomania) | Pulling hair from your scalp, eyelids, eyelashes, or pubic areas, using your fingers or tweezers. You may produce bald spots, or you may pluck your eyebrows or eyelids smooth |
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