Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health problem. Symptoms typically include recurring thoughts and repetitive behaviours in response to the recurring thoughts. A common example is recurring unwanted thoughts about germs and dirt, with a need to wash your hands repeatedly to 'clean off the germs'. This can be not only very distressing, but also very time consuming and intrusive into daily life.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/mental-health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-leaflet