It’s only when their obsessions and compulsions start becoming an overwhelming primary focus in a person’s life that a person has clinical OCD.Questionnaire compiled by OCD Action (ocdaction uk; helpline 0845 390 6232). If you are experiencing psychological distress, it might be advisable to see a clinician for evaluation. Select the most appropriate response that applies to you.For how much of the day are you affected?Mild (less than one hour)Moderate (one to three hours)Severe (three to eight hours)ExtremeHow much distress do they cause you?NoneMildModerateSevereExtreme (disabling)How difficult is it for you to control these thoughts? Do you have:Complete controlMuch controlModerate controlLittle controlNo controlHow much do they interfere with school, work or your social or family life?NoneSlight interferenceDefinitely interferes with functioningMuch interferenceExtreme interference (disabling)The more questions you have answered “yes” to in the first section, and the more extreme your experience as shown in the second section, the more likely it is that you have OCD. Do you feel a need to confess or repeatedly ask for reassurance that you said or did something correctly?Consider your experience of repeated thoughts, images, urges or behaviours during the past 30 days.

Do you repeat routine actions (getting in/out of a chair, going through a doorway, relighting a cigarette) a certain number of times or until it feels “just right”?10. Do you perform excessive or ritualised washing, cleaning or grooming rituals?7. Do you check light switches, taps, the oven, door locks or your car’s hand brake?8. Do you collect useless objects, or inspect the rubbish before it is thrown out?9. Do you worry about harm coming to a loved one because you weren’t careful enough?5.

Are you concerned about physically harming a loved one; pushing a stranger in front of a bus; steering your car into oncoming traffic; inappropriate sexual contact; or poisoning dinner guests?6. Do you have personally unacceptable religious or sexual thoughts? Do you worry about accidentally hitting a pedestrian with your car or letting it roll down the hill?4. Are you over-concerned with keeping objects (clothing, shopping, tools) in perfect order, or arranged exactly?3. Do you have concerns with contamination (dirt, germs, chemicals, radiation) or getting a serious illness such as Aids?2. Certainly men are far more reluctant to admit to being OCD, and it is to be hoped that Beckham speaking out will help more of them come forward to ask for help.”Do you have OCD?Write down “yes” or “no” in answer to each of the following questions, based on your experiences in the past month.1. “Who knows,” says Salkovskis, “it may become fashionable to admit to OCD tendencies. I’m still shying away from the prospect of getting better.”In any case, effective treatment for OCD is still not widely available and, Morgan says, it could become even harder to find, with primary care trusts currently “asset-stripping mental health services” – the result of a failure to take mental health problems sufficiently seriously.It is to be hoped that David Beckham’s revelation might change that.