When is OCD Awareness Week 2025?

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Summary: OCD Awareness Week 2025 occurs the week of October 12^th to October 18^th. OCD Awareness Week 2025 is hosted by the International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF), with support from organizations like the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and various non-profit organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Key Points:

Anyone of any age, race, gender, nationality, or cultural background can develop OCD: roughly 240 million people worldwide have OCD
Long-term consequences of OCD can be severe, but with timely diagnosis, treatment can be effective in reducing both the symptoms and negative consequences of OCD
People with OCD and advocates for OCD awareness want the general public to know that “OCD” is not an adjective, as in “I’m OCD about this or that,” but rather, OCD is a serious mental health disorder that can have a significant negative impact on overall quality of life and wellbeing.
People with OCD and advocates for OCD awareness want the general public to know obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is neither a joke nor a punchline, and encourage everyone to be mindful of the words they choose, learn the facts, and do their part to end misunderstandings and misconceptions about OCD

OCD Awareness Week 2025: Post #OCDWeek to Shine a Light and Dispel the Myths

In 2025, the International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF) hosts OCD Awareness Week – #OCDWeek – between October 12^th and 18^th. The IOCDF organized the first #OCDWeek in 2009 with the goals of raising awareness, sharing knowledge, and reducing stigma associated with OCD and related mental health disorders. Every year, for one week during the month of October, like minded individuals, community and service organizations, treatment centers, and mental health clinics around the world join together to participate in:

Educational talks, workshops, and events
Events for youth and teens
Yoga classes
Fundraising walks
Grassroots advocacy and awareness events

This year, the IOCDF chose an important theme for #OCDWeek:

Dispelling Myths About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

The overall goal of the week is to shine a light on the myths associated with OCD while celebrating the strength, courage, and commitment it takes to address and manage OCD. For people with OCD, misconceptions and misunderstandings about OCD can prevent people with OCD from seeking, accessing, and committing to treatment that can change their lives for the better.

We’ll start dispelling myths about OCD by sharing an accurate definition of OCD, in order to encourage people to understand that using OCD as slang perpetuates misconceptions and misunderstandings.

What is OCD?

The IOCDF offers this definition of OCD:

“OCD is a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages in to attempt to get rid of obsessions and/or decrease distress.”

Let’s expand on what they mean by obsessions and compulsions, starting with obsessions. The IOCDF offers this definition of obsessions:

“Obsessions in OCD are thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again and feel outside of the person’s control.”

Now let’s take a closer look at what people with OCD may develop obsessions about.

Obsessions Associated With OCD

Obsession with possible contamination from a variety of sources is common among people with OCD. These include, but are not limited to:

Germs
Dirt
Chemicals
Bodily fluids

Obsession with violence/violent behavior/violent thoughts is common among people with OCD. These include, but are not limited to:

Worry they may cause themselves harm
Worry they may harm others
Serious concern about recurring violent thoughts or images

Obsession with responsibility is common among people with OCD. These include, but are not limited to:

Causing another person harm by personal negligence
Harming another person by accident or by causing a serious accident

Obsession with perfectionism is common among people with OCD. These include, but are not limited to:

Organizing personal items
Organizing household items
Remembering facts or trivia
Demonstrating knowledge
Fear of losing things
Ensuring they do anything/everything perfectly
Fear of making mistakes

Experts also indicate that people with OCD report a variety of additional obsessions, including those associated with death, sex, religion, morality, and relationships, among others. Next, we’ll review the compulsions commonly associated with OCD.

Now let’s look at compulsions. The IOCDF offers this definition of compulsions in OCD:

“Compulsions in OCD are repetitive behaviors or thoughts that a person uses with the intention of neutralizing, counteracting, or making their obsessions go away.”

Here are the most common compulsions people with OCD report experiencing.

Compulsions Associated With OCD

People with OCD report compulsions to wash and/or clean things. Washing and/or cleaning compulsions include, but are not limited to:

Handwashing in a specific manner
Personal hygiene
Household items, general housecleaning
Ritualized behavior associated with avoiding dirty things

People with OCD report compulsions to check on things. Checking compulsions include, but are not limited to:

Ensuring their actions cause no harm
Ensuring others don’t harm themselves
Worry about harm befalling friends or loved ones
Ensuring they haven’t made a mistake, no matter how small

People with OCD report compulsions to repeat things. Repeating compulsions include, but are not limited to:

Daily actions or behaviors, like sitting/standing, turning lights and/or household appliances on and off, and opening/closing doors, windows, drawers, cabinets, etc.
Idiosyncratic movements, such as itching or scratching, touching objects in a specific way, tapping, blinking, etc.
Doing things in numbered sets only, activity in preferred sets, like shutting a specific door four times – every time – because it feels or seems like the right way to do it.

In many cases, people with OCD engage in repetition in order to make things right or fix things. They feel compelled to arrange thing just so, count until they feel good about the number they end on, or repeat an action performed poorly to fix or cancel the perceived consequences of having done it in a less-than-optimal manner.

As you can see, there’s nothing funny about obsessions and compulsions, hence the admonitions in the introduction to this article. When you read the facts about obsessions and compulsions, it’s easy to understand how severe OCD can disrupt daily life, and even prevent a person from accomplishing the most basic daily tasks.

We’ll continue dispelling myths about OCD by sharing the latest and most accurate data on the prevalence of OCD.

The Prevalence of OCD in the U.S.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports the following facts about the prevalence OCD in the U.S.:

Past year OCD:

Adults 18+: 1.2% (3.1 million people)
- Among women: 1.8%
- Among men: 0.4%

Ever diagnosed with OCD (lifetime OCD):

Adults 18+: 2.3% (6 million people)
By level of severity:
- Severe: 50.6%
- Moderate: 34.8%
- Mild: 14.6%

In addition, peer-reviewed research shows these important OCD facts:

Age OCD symptoms appear for the first time:

Average: 19
Early onset: 25% of people with a clinical OCD diagnosis say they had their first symptoms around age 14
Childhood onset: 33% of people with a clinical OCD diagnosis say they had their first symptoms during childhood

Co-occurring mental health diagnoses among people with OCD:

90% of people with OCD report diagnosis of an additional mental health disorder
65% report diagnosis of a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder
Impulse-control disorder: 56% report diagnosis of an impulse control disorder such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Substance use disorder: 40% report diagnosis of a substance use disorder (SUD)
Anxiety disorder: 76% report diagnosis of an anxiety disorder

The IOCDF also reports a strong association between OCD and the following mental health and/or behavioral issues:

Hoarding disorder: combined difficulty throwing away/discarding things and accumulating things – including pets – which can create unhealthy living conditions
Body dysmorphic disorder: excessive preoccupation with perceived physical flaws or imperfections
Body-focused repetitive behaviors: undesired, persistent performance of self-directed actions including picking at skin, biting nails, biting lip, and pulling hair.

As we can see in the information we share on symptoms, prevalence, severity, and co-occurring disorders, millions of people in the U.S. and the world experience symptoms that disrupt daily life. Problems associated with untreated, chronic OCD include problems at school and at work, difficulty in relationships with family, friends, and partners, misuse of alcohol and/or drugs, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicidal ideation.

Those are serious consequences. Let’s review the types of treatment that are effective in helping people with OCD.

Treatment for OCD: Evidence-Based Approaches That Work

The IOCDF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate the most effective treatment approaches for OCD include a combination of psychotherapy, medication, and brain stimulation/neurmodulation techniques.

Effective modes of psychotherapy for OCD include:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Exposure Response Therapy (ERP)
Eye-Movement Desensitization and Response (EMDR)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Effective medication for OCD includes:

Antidepressants:
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
New medications:
- IV ketamine
- Oral esketamine
Neuromodulation:
Emerging evidence indicates transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may help patients with treatment-resistant OCD.

If you have OCD, know anyone who has OCD, and you’re interested in helping them find effective treatment for OCD during OCD Awareness Week 2025, please share the information above. Untreated OCD has serious consequences, but treatment can mitigate the effect of OCD symptoms and help people regain balance and control over their lives. Also, share this fact:

The earlier a person with OCD gets the treatment they need, the better the outcome.

We’ll close this article with suggestions for anyone interested in participating OCD Awareness Week 2025.

How You Can Help During OCD Awareness Week 2025

First, you can shine a light on OCD by dispelling myths about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with the information we share throughout this article. Second, you can literally work to shine a light on OCD by participating in Light it Up For OCD Awareness Week. Download instructions here:

Light it Up for OCD Awareness

Third, you can join or sponsor a One Million Steps for OCD Walk. Initiate a walk of your own, or join a walk that’s already scheduled. Here’s a list, which may grow by the time you read this article. Click the link for details on each walk.

For our international readers, there are also walks scheduled as far away as Perth, Australia and Zaragoza, Spain.

Finally, you can arrange an awareness week yourself, and follow a templated created by the IOCDF in 2022 by assigning a different awareness objective for each day of OCD Awareness Week 2025:

OCD Awareness Week 2025: DIY Daily Themes

Sunday: Struggling in Silence

The focus of this day is to bring awareness to people with OCD who fear seeking support. The message: you aren’t alone. Events include children’s story time, yoga for OCD, and screening of a short film on OCD called “Unstuck.”

Monday: Diagnosis

The focus on this day is around accurate diagnostic procedures for OCD. Accurate and timely diagnosis is essential in helping people with OCD find relief.

Tuesday: Treatment

The focus for Tuesday is treatment. It’s important for people with OCD and their loved ones to know that OCD treatment works and can be life changing.

Wednesday: Life After Treatment

After an official, formal treatment program, a person with OCD is responsible for managing their symptoms and living independently. The focus for Wednesday is how to do that: how to create an ongoing care/self-management plan that’s effective, durable, and promotes long-term, sustainable recovery.

Thursday: Education and Support for Loved Ones

Families play a big role in recovery. That’s why Thursday’s theme is family and loved ones. When family members know and understand what a person with OCD is going through, they’re in a better position to offer productive help and support. In addition, family members of people with mental health disorders need support, too – and it’s important for them to know about the various community groups/support groups available.

Friday: Building a New Identity

When people with OCD learn to manage their OCD, they often feel like a new person, with a new identity. That’s what this day is about: the new you.

Saturday: Advocacy

The entire week is about advocacy, and the Saturday theme expands on this idea discussing all the various ways people can advocate for OCD awareness: start a club, share a meme, share the #OCDWeek hashtag – the opportunities are endless. All it takes is knowledge and the willingness to put yourself out there and talk about an issue that matters.

Stay tuned, and in the meantime, share this hashtag and theme far and wide:

Hashtag:

#OCDWeek

Theme: