A rare form of obsessive-compulsive disorder may leave sufferers questioning their sexuality and religion.
Pure Obsessional OCD, nicknamed Pure O, is a type of OCD that causes repetitive irrational thoughts.
Unlike typical OCD, which affects about three million adults in the US, Pure O solely affects the brain and does not exhibit physical behaviors such as handwashing or flicking the lights.
Instead, the patient tends to replay events repeatedly and silently frequently speak phrases in their mind as well as become hyper-aware of normal bodily sensations.
Though Pure O is relatively unknown, it came into the spotlight this week after country singer Luke Combs revealed he had been suffering from this ‘wicked’ condition for over two decades.
He didn’t provide any more details.
While there no specific data on how many people have Pure O in the US, research indicates one in 20 Americans who already have OCD may develop this subtype.
Country singer Luke Combs recently got candid about living with Pure O OCD but did not provide any details about his condition including his sexuality
Dr Nicholas Farrell, Director of Clinical Development and Programming at NOCD in Chicago explained that at times, patients would have a distressing thought and as a result, convince themselves that it is true about them as a human being.
For example, some sufferers may have a dream where they hurt someone and immediately conclude it as they may be a violent person.
Due to this constant questioning, Pure O may also pave the way for them to develop sexual orientation OCD, often called homosexual OCD.
Homosexual OCD refers to the constant obsessions and compulsions that make you doubt your sexual orientation and can affect people of any sexuality.
This type of OCD can cause constant thoughts about a change in your sexual orientation, being perceived as another orientation than the one you currently identify with and being in denial about your sexuality.
Experiencing ‘gay thoughts’ or fears of gay thoughts, for example a straight woman excessively thinking, ‘Why am I thinking of women all the time? I don’t want to have sex with women’ and concluding that she may be gay is one of the first signs of be sexuality-related Pure O.
Similarly, developing extreme fears or anxieties about religion, including fears of sinning, breaking religious rules or offending God may be signs of religion-based Pure O.
It leads the patient to replay events repeatedly and silently frequently speak phrases in their mind as well as become hyper-aware of normal bodily sensations
Combs, 35, a North Carolina native was first diagnosed with OCD at the age of 12 with his most recent public episode occurring in January.
Speaking with 60 Minutes Australia, he opened up about how Pure O affects his day-to-day life .
Combs explained: ‘It’s thoughts, essentially, that you don’t want to have,’ he said, adding that the thoughts can turn into a downward spiral.
‘They cause you stress, and then you’re stressed out, and then the stress causes you to have more of the thoughts, and then you don’t understand why you’re having them, and you’re trying to get rid of them, but trying to get rid of them makes you have more of them.’
‘I just have to accept that they’re happening and then just go, ‘Whatever, dude. It’s happening. It’s whatever,” he relayed about how it feels to go through a flare-up.
‘It’s weird, sucks, hate it, drives me crazy, but… the less that you worry about why you’re having the thoughts, eventually they go away,’ the star shared.
Throughout his more than 20 years with the uncomfortable disorder, Combs has learned coping mechanisms.
He now considers himself an ‘expert’ on combating the tumultuous phases.
‘When it hits, man, it can be all-consuming. If you have a flare-up of it… you could think about it 45 seconds of every minute for weeks,’ Combs said.
The exact causes of Pure O are not clear but it is likely due to a combination of factors including family history, genetics, stress and trauma.
According to the International OCD Foundation, OCD can run in families with about 10 to 20 percent of children developing the condition if their parents also suffer from the same.
It cans also be developed through learned traits that tend to run in families, such as the language spoken and religious beliefs.
Treatments for Pure O include antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention.
Combs now considers himself an ‘expert’ on combating the tumultuous phases
Combs is hopeful that in the future he can use his experience to help others going through the same thing.
‘I definitely want to spend some time at some point in my life doing some outreach to kids that deal with this,’ HE said.
‘Because it held me back so many times in my life, where you’re trying to accomplish something, you’re doing really great and then you have a flare-up and it just ruins your whole life for six months… and then you’re back to where you started,’ he reflected.
Experts recommend reaching out to mental health professionals if the obsessions or compulsions take up at least an hour every day and are causing significant distress.
