What is obsessive-compulsive personality disorder?

It is a personality disorder that drives a person to make persistent efforts to meet every standard of perfection, whether through strict adherence to rules or extreme precision in noticing surrounding details. All of this prompts a person with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder to try to impose standards of perfection and order on their environment, threatening the stability of their social relationships.

Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder:

We may notice that some symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder occur together in people around us. However, it is important to understand that the presence of some of these symptoms in a particular person does not necessarily mean that they have obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. For the disorder to be diagnosed, these symptoms must have a direct and significant impact on the person's family and working life.

Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder include:

  1. This personality is characterized by excessive preoccupation with the smallest details.It is also characterized by inflexibility and adherence to the letter of rules rather than their meaning. For example, if a manager has this disorder, all that matters to them is that employees comply with attendance requirements and workplace rules, rather than the spirit of the work or productivity.
  2. Excessive perfectionism.Nothing they or others do satisfies them, and they always find a flaw in the end, however small. For example, a mother with this disorder is never satisfied with her children and always makes them feel that they are falling short and need to make a greater and greater effort. If her child receives an average of 99, she scolds them for not earning a perfect score, because she is never satisfied with anything less than perfection.
  3. Pathological perfectionism results in excessive work without relaxation.It also causes an inability to rely on others to complete work, making the person unsuited to teamwork. They do everything themselves and then complain that others are not helping.
  4. Inflexibility and stubbornness.A person with this personality is extremely rigid, so others find it very difficult to change that person’s ideas and beliefs, no matter how mistaken they may be.
  5. It is also usually characterized by stinginess.This is not out of love for money, but from the belief that money should be spent only in the correct way. The person therefore accounts for every penny and how and why it was spent. They excessively retain unimportant objects for fear that they may need them one day, so their room and home are often piled with extra, worn-out items.
  6. Extremepreoccupation with right and wrong, and a conscience so strong that it becomes unhealthy.
  7. The person spends most of the day questioning themselves: why they smiled in a certain situation, why they did not smile, why they said a particular word, or why they did not say it.
  8. Anirrational insistence that others follow their way of doing things.
  9. Or an irrational refusal to allow others to complete tasks because of the conviction that they will not do them correctly.
  10. Difficulty making decisions.
  11. The person avoids making a decision or postpones and delays it. For example, they may be unable to complete their duties on time because they think too much about priorities. Their failure to make decisions is not due to an urgent need for advice and reassurance from others.
  12. Emotionalwithholding and an inability to express emotions, causing emotional difficulties for their life partner.
  13. Excessivedevotion to work and productivity to the point of giving up friendships and leisure time.


What is thedifference between obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder differs from

obsessive-compulsive disorder

, although they may occur together in one person, or a person may have only one of them.

The difference between them lies in:


  • The natureof the thoughts that dominate the mind.


The thoughts that intrude on the mind of a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder are experienced as irrational and unfounded. By contrast, a person with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder regards their thoughts as logical and necessary for managing daily matters properly.

  • The impactof these thoughts on the person's life.


The intrusive thoughts experienced by a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder affect every aspect of life because they fundamentally influence how the person sees and defines life. By contrast, the thoughts associated with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder affect personal and professional relationships because the person wants to manage situations and people in the way they consider appropriate, leaving them unable to form social relationships with those around them.

If all the symptoms mentioned above are present and severe, a person with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder will face great difficulty forming or maintaining friendships and social relationships. They also struggle because they want to apply rules literally and have little psychological flexibility. As a result, they often live in a cycle of blame and self-reproach that frequently makes them unhappy.

The suitable husband or wife for this personality is therefore also someone with an obsessive personality. Pairing two people with these traits makes their marriage calm and free from problems, and they may plan a successful life together if their symptoms are not numerous or severe. They may also be compatible witha dependent personality, provided that person follows their instructions concerning order, organization, precision, timing, and appointments.

A man with this personality very rarely considers taking multiple wives or entering casual relationships. This personality is among the most committed to agreed ethical standards and conventions.

To learn more about obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, download theTatmeen mental health apponGoogle Playandthe App Store, and register on theTatmeenwebsite to access valuable information and practical tools for strengthening your mental health.