Obsessions are persistent ideas or thoughts or impulses that intrude on your thoughts, and cause significant distress in your life.
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that are performed in an effort to reduce anxiety.
Approximately 2 percent of the population develop an obsessive compulsive disorder during their lifetime. It is important to note that obsessions are not just excessive worrying about real problems, as that would be a generalized anxiety disorder. Also, the person with OCD typically tries to ignore these thoughts and ideas. An individual with a psychotic disorder may ruminate on a single idea, but would not try to avoid thinking about it, as obsessive ideas do not generate the same kind of personal distress when they occur as part of a psychotic process. This disorder results in significant distress.