Magical Thinking OCD (MT-OCD*): a subtype of OCD where one’s obsessions are centered on superstitious or magical thinking- a concept in psychology defined as believing that unrelated events are causally connected despite the absence of any plausible causal link between them. This is different from spirituality or believing in magic- magical thinking simply means that one believes that doing something will cause something completely unrelated to happen, although people with magical thinking can also be spiritual. People with magical thinking don’t necessarily have OCD; it is a psychological trait related to other disorders such as psychosis and may be unrelated to any disorder in some individuals. In MT-OCD, the imagined results of the superstitious threat may be specific fears such as “if I don’t make the bed my wife will get into an a car crash” or general fears “if I don’t turn my phone on and off three times a day, something bad will happen to my cat”. The fear may even be as general as “something bad will happen”. Because of the fact that magical thinking involves unrelated events, there are nearly infinite combinations of obsessions and compulsions that are possible- all forms of OCD vary in presentation, but MT-OCD particularly does. People with MT-OCD may also have compulsions to perform “counter-actions” to neutralize a percieved superstitious threat- for example, if they see the number 13 and obsessively fear it, they may attempt to neutralize it through a compulsion that the individual with MT-OCD believes will protect them from the imagined danger or “bad luck” that they associate with the number. According to my sources, this particular subtype can be exacerbated when negative events happen in a person’s life- they may attribute the negative event to something unrelated, forming a new obsession-compulsion coupling based on this superstitious thinking to avoid the same event from occurring again. Like all forms of OCD, people with MT-OCD have varying levels of insight- they may be fully aware that their obsessions are unreasonable, may accept that their obsessions could be true or not true, or may have a delusion-like conviction that they are true.
Colors are to represent magic/superstition.
Learn more about Magical Thinking OCD.
*MT-OCD is a shorthand to go along with the other subtypes that have them.
