Help for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is characterised by a pervasive preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control that affects many areas of life.

OCPD is a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with:

• Orderliness
• Perfectionism
• Mental control and
• Relationship control
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At the expense of:

• Flexibility
• Openness and
• Efficiency
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Beginning in early adulthood (or earlier) and presenting a variety of situations, individuals with OCPD experience:

• Preoccupation with details, rules, lists, order, organisation, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
• Perfectionism that interferes with task completion (for example, they may be unable to complete a project because their own overly strict standards are not met)
• Excessive devotion to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (in the absence of financial necessity)
• Being overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (outside of their cultural or religious norms)
• Inability to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
• Reluctance to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly their way of doing things
• A miserly spending style toward both self and others as money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
• Rigidity and stubbornness
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Examples of OCPD symptoms include:

• Excessive perfectionism
• Excessive studying
• Overworking
• Excessive tidying or organisation
• Emphasis on lists and routines
• Rigidity/inflexibility
• Restricting or dieting behaviour
• Compulsive exercise
• Excessive doubt
• Excessive caution
• Excessive contentiousness
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While individuals with OCPD often feel positive about striving towards their goals, they also find it extremely fatiguing and are left never feeling good enough. The persistent preoccupation with productivity often leaves them:

• Feeling empty
• Feeling that their life lacks meaning
• Socially isolated
• Experiencing feelings of imposter syndrome

Treatment for OCPD

There are a number of therapies that can be used target OCPD, including Compassion Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Schema Therapy, and Acceptance Commitment Therapy.

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