What is emotional avoidance in OCD?

Emotional avoidance is a common challenge that can get in the way of productive healing.  Those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have a special propensity for emotional avoidance, as emotional reactivity tends to be high and resilience to distress tends to be low.  

Emotional avoidance can present as simple denial – a client may notice their compulsions but not be able to acknowledge the painful emotions caused by their obsessions.  For these clients, the compulsions have become so ingrained that they are unconsciously skipping over the emotional trigger and going straight to the behavior.  

However, as we know, denied emotions resurface in other forms.  

Denied emotions may present somatically – as a stomach ache, a back injury, or a compromised immune system.  

In its most extreme form, emotional avoidance can rise to the level of dissociation.  This means that the mind literally disconnects from the current emotional experience and there are no felt emotions, simply numbness. 

For some, emotional avoidance can cause an out-of-body experience, where they feel they are watching themselves go through the experience.  

Most commonly, however, emotional avoidance takes place in a more subtle manner.  People may feel like they can notice or label their emotions but not really be able to experience them deeply.  Some people with OCD spend therapy sessions speaking about all the positives in their lives and more casually alluding to negative emotions, which get quickly avoided with more gratitude-oriented conversation.  

While this may seem positive on the surface, emotions cannot be smoothed over with platitudes – we must process the distress.  OCD treatment is about sitting with the painful emotions and realizing that we are strong enough to manage them without our avoidance or other compulsions.   

Please reach out to schedule a session with a therapist who gets it, and can guide you through the feelings necessary to live a more full, integrated life!