Can OCD Really Make You Physically Sick?

Can a mental health condition like OCD really make you feel sick in your body?

Many people think OCD only affects the mind, but it can also harm your health in surprising ways. This story and the facts below show just how deeply OCD can impact a person’s life.

Georgina developed OCD at 17, beginning with intense fears of contamination. She believed she was already sick and might infect others, leading her to spend up to ten hours a day on extreme cleaning rituals. She avoided food and water to skip bathroom trips and scrubbed everything in sets of eight—eventually fainting from exhaustion and injuring her hands with bleach, boiling water, and overcut nails.

During her first year at university, she was constantly in doctors’ offices seeking reassurance. Sleep became her only relief while OCD took away her ability to study, form relationships, and live normally. It left her physically and emotionally drained.

Her turning point came when her mother called the doctor in desperation. That first appointment led to a diagnosis, therapy, and medication. Recovery was slow, and her OCD kept shifting, but she kept fighting.

Now in her twenties, Georgina is a trainee solicitor. She still has OCD but manages it with the tools she’s built over the years. She can work, travel, enjoy relationships, and do everyday things without fear. OCD is still present—but it no longer controls her life.

How OCD Disrupts the Body

OCD can really make you physically sick. When obsessive-compulsive disorder becomes severe, it doesn’t just affect the mind—it can seriously impact the body too. In one study of 98 people with chronic, disabling OCD, over 75% showed signs of severe self-neglect. They were unable to care for basic needs like hygiene and daily activities. Nearly 60% of them were severely dehydrated, and more than 20% showed signs of kidney damage. Some avoided drinking water altogether because their compulsions made it too hard to prepare drinks or because they feared needing to use the bathroom.

Doctors also found that 20% of these patients were underweight, while almost half were overweight. High cholesterol was another common issue, affecting nearly 43% of the group. These physical health problems had often been overlooked because the focus stayed on treating OCD symptoms without checking the patients' overall health. Yet the data clearly showed a connection between the severity of OCD and serious physical illness.

Another way OCD can make someone physically sick is by creating false bodily urges. Some people feel a constant need to urinate, even though nothing is medically wrong. One patient, a graduate student, felt this urge so often that it disrupted his sleep and daily life. It turned out to be a compulsion driven by OCD. His body created a strong, real feeling, but it was misleading. Once he learned to face the sensation without acting on it, the urge became less powerful, and he was able to sleep through the night again.

OCD can also cause people to focus too much on normal body functions. They may become overly aware of breathing, swallowing, or walking and try to control these automatic processes. Ironically, this can lead to real difficulty with those very functions. The compulsions meant to fix the problem create it.

Physical symptoms like these feel real because they are real sensations. But just like obsessive thoughts, they’re driven by OCD.

The disorder tricks the brain—and sometimes the body—into thinking something is wrong when it isn’t. And if left unchecked, the physical effects can be just as serious as the mental ones.

Final Thoughts

OCD can take a real toll on the body. It can make everyday tasks feel impossible and cause symptoms that seem physical but come from deep mental distress. These effects are often overlooked, even though they can be just as serious as what's happening in the mind.

That’s why understanding the full impact of OCD matters—so no one has to suffer in silence, and the right kind of help can reach those who need it most.