“Obsessions are unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges which cause anxiety, and the compulsions are the mental or physical rituals which someone with OCD performs in order to reduce their anxiety,” OCD Action spokesperson Olivia Bamber previously explained to Stylist.

“Intrusive thoughts can be about absolutely anything, but they typically latch onto your worst possible fears and things which you find completely abhorrent.”

Bamber gives the example that a mother with OCD might worry about accidentally harming her baby “because her child is the thing she loves the most”. As intrusive thoughts often involve unfounded fear of harming others, she adds, many sufferers are ashamed to speak up.

OCD: all the different types of obsessive compulsive disorder explained