Obsessive-compulsive personality (OCPD)
A pervasive preoccupation with order, perfectionism and control at the expense of flexibility, openness and efficiency: rules and lists matter more than the goal, work crowds out leisure, standards are rigid and moral, and tasks are delegated reluctantly. McWilliams: the obsessive-compulsive style at a healthy level is the conscientious, reliable professional; at neurotic level, rigid and anxious; at borderline level, controlling and harsh with paranoid edges.
What drives it
Controls anxiety, anger and dependency by controlling detail and by keeping emotion out of action. Doing it right is a way of being beyond criticism.
How it shows
Work
Rewrites colleagues' work, cannot delegate, misses deadlines because the work is not yet perfect, moralises about process, stubborn in disagreements, works long hours without enjoyment, hoards information or objects, says 'if you want it done right, do it yourself'.
Relationships
Rigid about routines and money, criticises the partner's way of doing things, finds emotional expression awkward, plans holidays like projects, struggles to relax or be spontaneous.
Self
Irritation when others do things 'wrong', difficulty leaving a task incomplete, guilt when resting, and a belief that strict standards are a moral duty.
What tells it apart
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): OCD involves unwanted intrusive thoughts and rituals the person experiences as alien; OCPD traits feel right and justified. Ask whether they would like to stop: people with OCD usually would; people with OCPD think others should change.
Conscientiousness: High conscientiousness is flexible and serves the goal; OCPD rigidity costs the goal. Watch whether a deadline can override perfection.
Perfectionism: Perfectionism is a trait that can be confined to some areas and often comes with fear of failure; OCPD is pervasive, includes rigidity, moralising and miserliness, and extends to controlling others.
A test
Give a task with a hard deadline that can only be met by accepting imperfection, and watch whether they meet it. From outside you can name the pattern; a diagnosis needs a clinician, a full history and evidence of impairment across settings.
Questions to carry
- With a hard deadline that only an imperfect version can meet, what happens to the work and the deadline?
- Which task do I refuse to hand over because nobody else will do it right?
How strong the research is
moderate. Among the most common personality disorders in community samples and retained in the DSM-5-TR Alternative Model; ICD-11 captures it as the anankastia trait domain.
Where it comes from
Sigmund Freud, 1908 ('Character and Anal Erotism'); Wilhelm Reich, 1933; David Shapiro, 1965; DSM-III, 1980
On the family tree: Sigmund Freud
Sources
- David Shapiro, Neurotic Styles (1965)
- Fritz Riemann (translated by Greta Dunn), Anxiety: Using Depth Psychology to Find a Balance in Your Life (English translation of Grundformen der Angst, 1961) (2008)