Avoidance may seem like a way to manage OCD, but it often acts as a compulsion that reinforces fears and worsens symptoms over time. The most effective way to break free from avoidance is through ERP therapy, which helps individuals face their fears, reduce compulsions, and regain control over their lives.
When you think about common compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you might think of some of the more obvious rituals like excessive handwashing, checking, or counting. But compulsions aren’t always active behaviors. In many cases, compulsions take the form of avoidance—steering clear of situations, objects, or even thoughts that could trigger distressing obsessions.
Avoidance may not seem like a compulsion at first, but it serves the same function: to reduce anxiety and prevent a feared outcome. While it might feel like a protective measure, avoidance actually strengthens OCD in the long run, reinforcing fears and making symptoms worse over time.
In this article, we’ll explore how avoidance becomes a compulsion, why it’s harmful, and how to break free from the cycle.
What is avoidance in OCD?
To understand how avoidance functions as a compulsion in OCD, it’s important to first understand obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) itself on a deeper level.
OCD is a mental health condition where people experience repetitive, intrusive thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, or urges that seem to take over their mind. These thoughts—called obsessions—are distressing and often feel impossible to ignore. In an effort to escape the discomfort or prevent a feared outcome, people with OCD engage in compulsions, which are repetitive mental or physical actions meant to neutralize or suppress the obsession.
Compulsions might bring temporary relief, but the problem is that the relief doesn’t last. Instead, compulsions reinforce the OCD cycle, making obsessions return even stronger, leading to more compulsions, leaving you trapped in an ongoing loop of anxiety and temporary fixes.
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How avoidance becomes a compulsion
Avoidance in OCD happens when a person actively steers clear of situations, objects, people, or even thoughts that could trigger their obsessions. Rather than engaging in a ritual like checking, someone using avoidance as a compulsion may restructure their entire life around dodging discomfort.
As Tracie Ibrahim, Chief Compliance Officer at NOCD, explains, “compulsive avoidance is avoiding something because you’re afraid of it, or avoiding something because you think something bad might happen, even if nothing is wrong.”
Compulsive avoidance is avoiding something because you’re afraid of it, or avoiding something because you think something bad might happen, even if nothing is wrong.
Tracie Ibrahim
For example, someone with sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD), who experiences intrusive thoughts and doubts about their sexual identity, might feel a surge of anxiety when they find themselves in a crowded bar. Seeing people having fun and flirting may trigger doubts and uncertainty about their own sexual identity. At that moment, leaving the room to get fresh air might seem like the best way to calm down. Instead of helping in the long run, this type of avoidance reinforces the idea that their fear is too unbearable to face. Over time, they may start staying home altogether, not just avoiding the trigger but also isolating themselves from experiences they once enjoyed.
Signs and symptoms of compulsive avoidance
Avoidance as a compulsion can show up in many ways, and it’s not always obvious. While some people may physically avoid situations or objects that trigger distress, others may engage in more subtle forms of avoidance—like distracting themselves or mentally pushing thoughts away.
Here are some of the most common ways avoidance as a compulsion can occur:
- Physically avoiding triggers. Staying away from specific places, people, or objects that could bring up distressing thoughts or feelings.
- Mentally avoiding distressing thoughts. Internally suppressing intrusive thoughts or trying to “think about something else” to avoid discomfort.
- Distracting yourself to escape discomfort. Constantly using entertainment, social media, work, or other distractions to avoid engaging with intrusive thoughts.
- Avoiding information or media related to fears. Not watching the news, reading certain articles, or engaging with topics that might trigger OCD worries.
- Avoiding uncertainty. Seeking excessive reassurance or making rigid rules for yourself to prevent feeling unsure or anxious.
- Using substances to avoid distress. Relying on alcohol, drugs, or other substances to numb anxiety and avoid intrusive thoughts.
Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward breaking free from avoidance and confronting OCD in a healthier way.
Examples of avoidance compulsions in OCD subtypes
Avoidance compulsions can look different depending on the specific fears and obsessions a person experiences. While the core pattern of avoidance remains the same—steering clear of situations, thoughts, or feelings that trigger distress—the way it manifests can vary across different OCD subtypes. Below are some examples of how avoidance compulsions may show up in different types of OCD.
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- Postpartum OCD: A mother with postpartum OCD might avoid holding her newborn out of fear that she could harm them. The fear feels so overwhelming that staying away seems like the only way to keep the baby safe. But over time, this avoidance only strengthens the fear, making it harder for her to bond with her child.
- Incest OCD: Someone with incest-related OCD may experience distressing, sexual intrusive thoughts about a close family member. As a result, they might avoid being around that person altogether—sometimes for months or even years.
- Health concern OCD: Someone with health-related OCD might be terrified of getting sick or developing a life-threatening illness. To avoid this fear, they might start skipping social events, steering clear of public places, or refusing to spend time with friends who seem even slightly unwell.
- Relationship OCD: ROCD often makes people question their feelings, their partner’s feelings, or whether their relationship is “right.” In an attempt to get rid of the distress, they might start avoiding their partner altogether or steering clear of situations that bring up intrusive thoughts.
- Pedophilia OCD: POCD causes people to experience intense fear that they might be a danger to children, despite having no actual desire or intent to harm anyone. Teachers, childcare workers, and medical professionals struggling with this subtype might avoid being around kids altogether, even if their job is something they love. They may quit their careers or withdraw from meaningful roles in their family out of fear that their mere presence could put a child at risk.
- Pure obsessional OCD: “Pure O” is a term often used to describe a presentation of OCD where compulsions are mostly mental rather than physical. Avoidance behaviors in pure O often revolve around steering clear of anything that might trigger distressing thoughts or uncertainty.
- Harm OCD: People with harm OCD experience intrusive thoughts about harming others, even though they have no actual desire to do so. A college student struggling with this fear might start avoiding school altogether, terrified that being there could somehow make them act on thoughts they don’t want. Or, they may fear that they are at risk of being harmed by others. They might avoid school, public places, or social interactions in an effort to feel safe. But in both cases, avoidance doesn’t bring real security, it only reinforces OCD’s hold while making everyday life even harder to navigate.
The problem with using avoidance as a coping strategy
While avoidance may seem like a way to protect yourself from distress, it often comes at a cost. “A lot of people end up isolating themselves because they’re avoiding things. It can lead to relationship and family problems and so many different types of issues. It can take the joy out of life.” says Ibrahim.
A lot of people end up isolating themselves because they’re avoiding things. It can take the joy out of life.
Tracie Ibrahim
The more avoidance becomes a habit, the more it starts shaping your daily life—limiting relationships, work, education, and overall well-being. Two of the biggest risks of using avoidance as a coping strategy are the loss of meaningful relationships and the inability to maintain employment or complete an education.
Treatment for avoidance in OCD
The most effective treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. ERP is a specialized form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that helps people gradually face their fears and resist the urge to engage in compulsions—including avoidance.
Ibrahim notes that an OCD therapist will never make you do something you are not ready for. “It’s a collaborative process,” she says. “We work with you to build a plan for therapy together and we never ask you to do anything that we wouldn’t do. We start very small and easy. If you say no to trying something, we say okay and think of something else that can work instead.”
ERP is tailored to each person’s specific fears and avoidance patterns. For example, if someone with relationship OCD avoids spending time with their partner because they fear their feelings aren’t “right,” an ERP therapist might encourage them to lean into those moments rather than pulling away. They might practice sitting with uncertainty about their relationship without trying to analyze or avoid it.
Similarly, someone with pedophilia OCD who has been avoiding places where children are present might work with their therapist to gradually reintroduce themselves to those settings while resisting the urge to leave or mentally check their thoughts for reassurance. Over time, this helps rewire the brain’s response to fear, proving that avoidance isn’t necessary to stay safe.
Bottom Line
Avoidance might feel like a way to protect yourself from distress, but in reality, it keeps OCD in control, leading to greater anxiety, isolation, and missed opportunities. The good news is that OCD is highly treatable, and breaking free from using avoidance as a compulsion is possible, regardless of what OCD subtype you have.
Key Takeaways
- Avoidance can be a compulsion in OCD. Instead of providing real relief, avoidance reinforces fears and keeps the OCD cycle going.
- Avoidance can take many forms. It may look like physically avoiding places, mentally pushing thoughts away, distracting yourself, or steering clear of uncertainty.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the most effective treatment for OCD compulsions, including avoidance.
