compulsive behaviors
Driven repetitive actions
Compulsive behaviors are actions performed repeatedly despite negative consequences or a desire to stop.
The person feels driven to act, often to relieve anxiety or intrusive thoughts: Her compulsive behaviors included checking the locks dozens of times before bed.
Common examples include excessive handwashing, hoarding, or ritualized counting.
The term appears frequently in discussions of OCD and addiction.
- obsessiveConsumed by fixation
- intrusive thoughtsInvoluntary disturbing mental content
- ritualisticFollowing prescribed ceremony
- hoardingExcessive accumulation of goods
- nail-bitingExtremely tense or anxious
nervous habits · scratching · skin picking · picking · hair pulling · urges · can't stop · repetitive · intrusive · addiction · counting · checking · washing · tapping · pulling · trichotillomania · hand washing · gambling
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- Mental Disordersschizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, PTSD
compulsive behaviorsadaptive behavior
Context-appropriate functional responses
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