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View the ADAA Live Webinar with ADAA members Drs. Kissen and Greene - What Are Intrusive Thoughts and How Can You Deal with Them?

We conceptualize OCD as a biologically based mental health disorder whereby a person experiences intrusive unwelcome thoughts (obsessions) and engages in rituals (compulsions) to get rid of the anxiety (or any uncomfortable feeling) associated with these thoughts.

Ever wonder why you get “butterflies” in your stomach before doing something stressful? Or why you feel like your stomach is “tied in knots” after an argument? Ever had a meeting with a toilet that went longer than expected and it wasn’t caused by anything you ate?

As a clinical psychologist, I probably think about suicide more often and in different ways than most. I’ve read the research. I’ve been trained to ask the hard questions. I am all too familiar with the frustrating gaps in our knowledge base: what causes it, who is at risk, how do we prevent it?

Suicide rates in teens have been steadily on the rise over the past two decades, and data from the 2021 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that approximately 22% of teens reported suicidal thoughts and 10% of teens reported doing something to try to end their life in the past 12 months.