Just Right OCD: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
We all understand what it feels like to have that instinctual feeling that something just isn’t right, it just feels a little bit ‘off’.
We can’t always explain why, but we have that overwhelming desire to go and ‘fix it’ in some way. We do this until we feel as though things are as they should be.
Everyone experiences this, but for someone with Just Right OCD that feeling is relentless and hard to shake.
Unlike most other OCD subtypes, Just Right OCD is driven by a sense of incompleteness or incorrectness.
Whereas those with more typical symptoms of OCD experience high levels of anxiety and uncertainty in response to their obsessions, someone with Just Right OCD may describe their symptoms as high levels of discomfort, tension, and unease.
People with Just Right OCD get stuck in a loop of compulsive behaviors trying to achieve a feeling that things are ‘right’, complete, or correct. These compulsions are known as ‘fixing behaviors’ in the case of this particular subtype.
This OCD subtype can have detrimental effects on day-to-day life, as someone with this subtype can lose hours of time and mental peace to making things feel just right.
However, like all OCD subtypes, it is treatable and possible to fully recover from Just Right OCD.
Let’s explore this subtype further…
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What is Just Right OCD?
A feature of most OCD subtypes is an overwhelming feeling of anxiety of uncertainty. This could be the fear of what might happen if you don’t lock the door to your house properly. It could be the fear or uncertainty of a parent or a loved one. It could be the fear that you are responsible for a negative outcome.
In the case of Just Right OCD, the obsessions and compulsions are guided by the immense need to avoid things that feel incomplete or incorrect.
It is common for people with Just Right obsessions to feel like their obsessions are a ‘moving target’.
They may feel like the rules keep changing and they have to do compulsions differently each time to create a feeling of being just right.
Just right OCD examples:
- Turning the light switch on and off until it feels ‘just right’
- Having multiple showers until you feel you’ve cleansed yourself ‘properly’
- Adjusting the volume of the TV until it feels ‘just right’
- Re-writing emails and text until it feels ‘perfect’ and ‘just so’
- Arranging and lining up books/paper until they feel ‘just right’
- Balancing out behaviors – For example, brushing your teeth on one side the same number of times as you brushed your teeth on the other.
In this particular subtype, the OCD sufferer is wanting to avoid or get out of the feeling that something is just ‘off’.
For someone with just right OCD, it’s a feeling of unease that cannot be shaken that drives them to perform compulsions.
Symptoms of Just Right OCD
I’d imagine what comes to mind when you think of this OCD subtype is the scenario of someone turning the lights on and off multiple times.
Or checking the door lock multiple times.
Or organizing their workspace so everything is exactly 1cm apart and aligned with the edge of the desk.
And you’d be correct. However, some forms of Just Right OCD – such as the second example above – can be confused or overlap with other OCD subtypes. For instance, checking the door is locked multiple times could be a symptom of Just Right OCD where the sufferer performs this act until the door is locked just so.
However, this compulsion could be a symptom of Harm OCD. Where the sufferer fears the consequences of what might happen if they don’t lock the door properly. This is an example of how Just Right symptoms can be found in other OCD subtypes.
Other Just Right OCD symptoms include:
- Perfectionism
- A need for control and predictability
- Ordering/arranging/the need for things to be symmetrical
- Reassurance-seeking
- Avoidance
- Counting rituals
- Checking behaviors
- Procrastinating
- Inflexibility
Common Just Right obsessions
The intrusive thoughts in Just Right OCD are fuelled by the sense that something is off-kilter.
- I can’t send this email until it feels right to send
- I need to trim and shape my fingernails until they feel just right.
- Something about me today makes me feel ‘off’. Let
- The curtains don’t look right, I can’t tolerate them this way.
- Every other garden tile feels off, I’ll only step on the ones that feel right.
- I can’t begin my day of work until everything is placed in a just right fashion.
- If someone taps me on my right shoulder, I have to tap my left so that everything feels balanced. I can’t continue with what I am doing until I do.
Common Just Right compulsions
The single most common compulsion for Just Right OCD is what we call ‘fixing behaviors’.
In Just Right OCD, something will appear out of order, incomplete, or incorrect, and the sufferer will feel compelled to fix it and make it right.
Fixing behaviors might look like this:
- Editing an email over and over again, and needing someone to confirm that it’s been done ‘correctly’ before sending.
- Needing to touch every lamppost on your way to work, in the specific order that you walk past them each day.
- Switching a light on and off 10 times before leaving a room because that number feels right.
- Tying and re-tying shoe laces until they’ve been tied ‘correctly’
- Avoidance behaviors – avoiding people, places, or things that you know will have you trapped in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions.
- Reassurance-seeking – Repeatedly asking friends, family, or peers if they think something looks or feels right.
These particular compulsions can range between quick actions or activities that take minutes or even seconds to perform to behaviors that demand an inordinate amount of time.
Someone with Just Right OCD can find themselves losing hours of a day to these compulsions.
Some may be tempted to dismiss the severity of this particular subtype due to the absence of fear and uncertainty that arises in other OCD types.
However, those who experience Just Right symptoms typically struggle with just as many difficulties in their everyday lives compared to those with other OCD symptoms.
If you experience this subtype, please know that your experiences are valid and support is available so you can free yourself of the compulsive behaviors that may steal hours of your day.
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What triggers Just Right OCD
The triggers for Just Right OCD could be endless.
Ultimately, every individual is different and so is the context. However, the triggers can be grouped into the following categories according to the IOCDF:
- Sight
For example, a person who looks at their wardrobe and notices their clothes are not in order. They proceed to rearrange their clothes until they feel they are ‘in the right place’.
- Sound
For example, a person who is practicing guitar may feel the need to play a note or chord over and over again because the chord feels ‘off’ in some way, so they may keep playing until it sounds right.
- Touch
For example, a person may be tapped on the shoulder and feel the need to tap the other shoulder so that they feel balanced and even.
- Personal Expression
For example, a person may feel the need to express themselves using the ‘correct’ and ‘precise’ wording either verbally or in written text.
Is Just Right OCD different from perfectionism?
Some people call Just Right OCD, perfectionism OCD. Many people have perfectionist tendencies but a defined psychological diagnosis is given to those with OCD.
People with perfectionism often – but not always – gain a sense of reward from making things neat, tidy, correct, complete, and ‘perfect’.
Those with OCD, on the other hand, do not gain this sense of reward. They achieve relief from the discomfort and unease of feeling that something isn’t quite right, but that feeling is short-lived.
When comparing the two, the difference really lies in the intention behind your behaviors and rituals.
Perfectionists can find enjoyment in the sense of control and order their behavior offers them. The need for things to be perfect aligns with their beliefs and values. Whereas, those with OCD feel compelled to engage in compulsive behaviors. However, these behaviors don’t align with their values and people with OCD want to stop doing them, but feel as though they can’t.
As you have seen above, perfectionism can be associated with Just Right OCD symptoms and studies have even suggested that perfectionism (along with intolerance of uncertainty) are predictors of OCD symptoms.
NOTE: This does not guarantee that you will develop OCD if you believe yourself to be a perfectionist.
The two can exist together and separately.
That being the case, it makes complete sense when thinking about Just Right OCD logically: the need for things to be just right, just so, complete, correct, and… perfect.
Is Just Right OCD the same as Tourettic OCD?
To the untrained eye, someone who has Just Right may appear to have similar symptoms as someone with Tourettic OCD (TOCD).
People with just right OCD often perform behaviors repetitively until things feel just so. To an observer, this may be confused with a motor tic similar to those that appear in TOCD.
However, TOCD is a behavior done to remove physical discomfort or a physical behavior done to neutralize obsessions. IOCDF states that, “…symptoms of TOCD, like those of many tics, are preceded by prodromal sensations characterized by somatic discomfort, not anxiety”
This means that people with TOCD suffer from discomforting sensory experiences such as tension in body parts such as hands, eyes, stomach, etc. To alleviate that discomfort they engage in a variety of motor responses such as ‘evening things up’, touching, counting, and more.
This is different from those with true OCD whereby compulsions are done to relieve the fear and uncertainty brought about by their obsessions.
It is important you get a thorough assessment from a qualified specialist so you can receive the correct treatment depending on what you have as these two conditions can be mistaken for one another.
In technical terms, Tourettic OCD (TOCD) is not yet recognized as an independent diagnostic entity within the DSM-5.
However, over the last several years there has been increasing awareness of the overlap between OCD and Tourette Syndrome. OCD and chronic tic disorders including Tourette Syndrome are often comorbid conditions.
“TOCD is characterized by earlier age of onset, male predominance, and specific symptom clusters such as lower tendency toward compulsions related to checking, cleaning, and reassurance seeking and higher tendency toward compulsions such as rubbing, tapping, or touching associated with symmetry concerns or thoughts of exactness.” – NCBI, Pubmed
While they are very closely linked and the lines between the two disorders can appear blurry, they are two distinct conditions.
Up to 60% of Tourette sufferers experience OCD symptoms.
It is not unusual to experience both conditions in tandem. Although there is no cure for Tourette Syndrome, if you have TOCD, treating the OCD will help manage your Tourette symptoms.
Treatment for Just Right OCD
As with all OCD subtypes, Just Right OCD is best treated with a tailored treatment plan using ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention).
ERP is considered the most effective treatment for OCD and has been found to be 90% effective.
This means the chances of a full recovery from Just Right OCD are very high!
Depending on the severity of your Just Right OCD, you may feel like it is all-consuming. Everyday things like leaving your house, making a coffee, or getting dressed in the morning can feel exhausting when you’re trapped in a cycle of Just Right OCD.
With ERP it is fully possible for you to resist the urge to do compulsions so you continue living your life without interruption.
If you have Just Right OCD, there are two ways we can help you today:
- Private 1:1 Therapy
We have an elite team of specialists who can guide and support you through your OCD recovery. Under the watchful eye of OCD expert, Kimberley Quinlan, our highly qualified practitioners will help you take your life back from these compulsions.
If you are based in California and would like to inquire about working with us, please submit an intake form here.
We know that it can feel scary to begin this process, but we also know that you want a better quality of life. So, rest assured, our team of compassionate therapists will meet you where you’re at and are fully invested in your recovery.
- ERP SCHOOL
Over at ERP SCHOOL, Kimberly has created a full online self-paced program that walks you through the exact steps Kimberly would take with her own private clients, to overcome your OCD.
You will learn how to apply all of the tools and techniques to your specific Just Right obsessions and compulsions so that you can change your relationship and response to those intrusive thoughts and stop letting compulsions control your life.
This is an accessible and affordable option for all and our students are seeing incredible results for themselves.
Join ERP SCHOOL here to begin your recovery journey.
Examples of exposures for Just Right OCD
Let’s imagine you struggle with going to bed without flicking the light switch on and off 15 times until it feels right.
Before starting ERP, you will first be educated on how to use mindfulness and self-compassion to help you navigate exposure and response prevention. In ERP you will then have an opportunity to expose yourself to the ‘not just right’ feeling and then practice resisting the urge to do any compulsions to reduce or relieve yourself from that discomfort.
When you do engage in these practices your brain learns that you are capable of tolerating the discomfort without the use of that safety behavior.
You and your therapist might decide together that you will practice going to bed and only turning the light off once while you practice building mastery over the ‘not just right’ feeling.
This might feel like an impossible task! The beauty of this work, and receiving treatment from a trained professional, is that they will meet you where you are.
If this feels overwhelming at first, you and your therapist may decide to reduce the number of times from 15 to 13 or work with a number that feels achievable to you until you reach the point where you only need to switch the light off once before hopping into bed.
Just Right OCD Conclusion
Just Right OCD is a common OCD subtype where the sufferer engages in compulsions in the form of fixing behaviors to neutralize the discomfort of something feeling not right.
The compulsive behaviors can change in response to obsessions which often feel like a moving target. For example, where one day the TV volume might feel just right on level 4, and another day the volume may feel just right on level 8.
As with all OCD subtypes, there is hope for a full recovery from just-right OCD and a chance to live a life where you can resist the urge to do those compulsions and regain control over your life.
ERP therapy, mindfulness, and ACT therapy have all been proven to aid OCD recovery with incredible results.
