Counting is a common compulsion for people with OCD, performed in an attempt to neutralize intrusive thoughts, or try to prevent a “bad” thing from happening. Counting compulsions are often related to the OCD subtypes magical thinking OCD and “just right” OCD.
Do you ever feel the need to count the number of steps you take, the items in your grocery cart, or the amount of times you blink or breathe? Compulsive counting, sometimes referred to as arithmomania, can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
OCD is defined by intrusive thoughts, sensations, images, feelings, or urges that cause significant anxiety. In response, people with OCD perform compulsions—like counting—which are repetitive behaviors or mental acts done to alleviate distress, or try to prevent something bad from happening.
If you have OCD, you may experience intrusive thoughts, such as: What if something bad happens if I don’t count the number of steps I’m taking correctly? Or, if I don’t tap my knee four times, it doesn’t feel “right.” You may find that the need to perform these counting rituals feels almost uncontrollable, and can take up significant time and energy.
Fortunately, repetitive OCD-related behaviors like counting are treatable. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy can help you learn to confront the fears triggering these compulsions, and respond differently. Here’s what you need to know about ritualistic counting and how to manage it.
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Common OCD counting behaviors
Some common, specific types of counting compulsions include:
- Counting to a specific number. This can be done once, or over and over again.
- Counting to whatever number happens to feel “right” at that moment.
- Doing actions in sets of a particular number (e.g., tapping your leg three times).
- Preferring odd or even numbers.
- Trying to avoid numbers that don’t feel “right.”
People who count as a compulsion can end up counting anything—from thoughts, to actions, to numbers, alone. It can be common to count:
- Floor or ceiling tiles
- Road signs
- Steps taken
- Words in a sentence or on a page
- Letters in words
Why do people with OCD count?
“Counting is a common compulsion,” says NOCD Therapist Tracie Ibrahim, MA, LMFT, CST. While compulsions are generally responses to obsessions, or intrusive thoughts, they also feed the cycle of OCD. This means the more you engage in compulsive behavior, the more your obsessions are likely to re-emerge. Counting as a compulsion can lead to its own obsessive fears, like, “What if I can’t ever stop counting?”
Ibrahim goes on to explain that while counting can show up as a compulsion in many types of OCD, it is commonly tied to specific subtypes, such as magical thinking OCD and “just right” OCD.
Magical thinking OCD
If you rely on counting as a compulsion, it’s possible that you’re driven by a desire to attach meaning to specific numbers. You may find that engaging with certain numbers relieves anxiety, while other numbers seem to induce anxiety. These behaviors are often associated with a subtype of OCD known as magical thinking OCD, which is defined by obsessions and compulsions centered on superstitions. Magical thinking OCD can make you think that you’re responsible for something awful happening if you don’t perform certain actions or rituals—like counting.
For example, if you assign special meaning to the number three, you might count your steps by threes, or lock and unlock your car three times before driving—or any variety of other actions ruled by this “magic number.” If you’re dealing with magical thinking OCD, counting may provide a temporary sense of safety for yourself and others—even if it doesn’t make logical sense.
You might have an intrusive thought like, “What if my loved one gets into a car accident?” In response, you feel an overwhelming urge to count. However, the reassurance you would get from counting is always temporary, reinforcing the OCD cycle by reinforcing your fears. This is the paradox of OCD: your mind knows the compulsive behavior may be irrational, but the anxiety and fear of something terrible happening can feel so real, that you feel compelled to act.
“Just right” OCD
Just right OCD is a subtype of OCD characterized by intrusive thoughts and compulsions around perfection, and making things feel “just right.” If you’re dealing with just right OCD, you may feel the need for something to be done a specific amount of times, or according to some rigid rules. If an action isn’t done in this way, you may experience significant distress over the fact that it doesn’t feel “right.”
For example, if you have just right OCD, you might feel a need to check that the light switches are flipped in a certain sequence. Or, you might feel the need to count steps as you walk, always ensuring you reach a specific number. If you don’t, you might feel an overwhelming sense of unease or “wrongness” that leads you to repeat the behavior, or count again until things feel “just right.”
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How to treat counting OCD
OCD can be tough, and compulsions—such as counting—can lead to frustration, fatigue, shame, and isolation. However, it’s important to know that your symptoms can be treated regardless of how they manifest. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the most effective treatment for OCD.
ERP is a specialized form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that was created to treat OCD. This evidence-based therapy has decades of research supporting its efficacy for managing and reducing OCD symptoms. In ERP therapy, you’ll work with a trained therapist to gradually expose yourself to situations that cause anxiety, while resisting the urge to do compulsions to alleviate that distress.
You’ll start by working with your therapist to identify your fears. Then you’ll create a list of exposures (exercises that trigger your anxiety, fear, or disgust) and rank them by how much anxiety they cause you. Then, you’ll slowly work your way through your exposures, starting with those that cause the least anxiety, and gradually building up to more challenging situations. The purpose of these exercises is to learn new ways to respond to your obsessions, instead of resorting to compulsions.
For example, if you feel compelled to count the number of steps you take, your ERP therapist might have you deliberately walk a certain number of steps and then stop before reaching the “right” number—or, try not counting at all. If your counting compulsions are related to fears of bad outcomes, ERP exercises might involve learning to notice and sit with these intrusive thoughts, without trying to count or perform any action to neutralize them.
Learning to confront anxiety without performing compulsions, like counting, is the key to managing OCD. Because compulsions feed obsessions, learning new responses often reduces distressing intrusive thoughts.
Key takeaways
- Compulsive counting, sometimes called arithmomania, is a common compulsion for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and can feed intrusive thoughts.
- Counting compulsions can appear in OCD subtypes such as magical thinking OCD and “just right” OCD.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the most effective form of treatment for all subtypes of OCD, because it teaches you how to resist compulsive behaviors, like counting—allowing you to disrupt the OCD cycle.
