Which commonly overlooked OCD symptoms should clinicians ask their patients about?
Screening questions for OCD should focus on the behaviors more than the obsessions. Behaviors are more specific. I might ask, “Do you have to repeat routine activities a certain number of times?” Some patients ask for reassurance, often of a significant other, and may ask the same question in different ways multiple times, eg, “Do you sometimes doubt your perceptions and have to check repeatedly?” The French first described OCD as the “doubting madness” (“folie du doute”). In many cases, pathologic doubt seems central to the concerns of a patient with OCD.
