Table of Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Features of OCPD
  3. Obsessive-compulsive personality style vs disorder
  4. OCPD traits from adaptive to severely disordered
  5. Resources & FAQs

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) prototypic description:

Obsessive-compulsives are perfectionists and need to get every detail right. As such, they are anxious and want to be in control of situations, so to avoid mistakes. They find comfort in schedules, rules and details, but their devotion to perfection interferes with their relationships and life outside of work or school. They have a tendency to hoard and are unusually tight with money, just in case.

Features of OCPD

  • Triggering Event(s): Unstructured situations; meeting other’s standards (in all aspects of life: work, family, etc)
  • Behavioral Style: Perfectionists; workaholics; dependable, stubborn, possessive; indecisive, prone to procrastination
  • Interpersonal Style: Very aware of social hierarchy; deferential to superiors and haughty to subordinates; polite and loyal; insist that their way is the right way to do things, because they are anxious to ensure perfection; stubborn; devoted to work which interferes with relationships
  • Cognitive Style: Rule & detail oriented; difficulty with prioritising; inflexible, unimaginative; conflicted between assertiveness & defiance vs obedience & pleasing people
  • Affective Style: Sombre, difficulty expressing feelings; avoids emotions that will make them vulnerable; comes across as stiff and stilted
  • Temperament: Irritable, difficult, anxious
  • Attachment Style: Preoccupied
  • Parental Injunction: “You must do/be better to be worthwhile.”
  • Self-View: Responsible for anything that goes wrong, so they must be perfect
  • World-View: Life is unpredictable and expects too much, so they manage this by being in control and being perfectionists
  • Maladaptive Schemas: Unrelenting standards; punitiveness; emotional inhibition
  • Optimal Diagnostic Criterion: Perfectionism that interferes with life
  • Defining Strategy & Belief: Ritualism; details are crucial.

While OCPD is on the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum, it's a separate disorder from OCD.

Subtypes: Bedeviled; Conscientious; Parsimonious; Puritanical (Millon)

Often comorbid with: anxiety disorders, OCD, depression, bipolar disorders, eating disorders

Often confused with: OCD, hoarding disorder, NPD, AsPD, SzPD

Obssessive-Compulsive Personality Style vs Disorder
Style Disorder
Likes to have things done right the first time. Perfectionists, to the point that it interferes with finishing tasks.
Takes pride in getting the small details right. Overly concerned with details, rules, lists, order, organisation, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost.
Wants things to be done "just right", but is able to compromise. Unable to compromise, and things must be done the right way.
Dedicated and hard-working. Dedicated to work so much that it interferes with life and relationships outside of work.
Able to make decisions after considering the pros and cons. Unable to make decisions, as it needs to be the "right" decision.
Has strong moral values and doing the right thing is important to them. Overly inflexible and rigid about moral and ethical values.
Puts aside emotions to get work done; "cool, calm and collected". Struggles to show affectionate/warm emotions.
Careful with money and time, but not overly restrictive. Lacks generosity with money and time if there is no personal gain.
Tend to be collectors, struggle with throwing away sentimental items. Tend to be hoarders, to a disruptive degree.

This table shows OCPD traits from adaptive (not an issue) to severely disordered:
Trait Adaptive Subclinical Disordered Severely Disordered
Perfectionism “I take pride in what I do.” “I feel I have to work on things until I get them right.” “I can’t stop working on something until it’s perfect, even if it already satisfies what I need it for.” “Because nothing is ever good enough, I never finish anything.”
Hard-working “I believe in work ethic.” “I rarely take time off for leisure or family.” “It drives me crazy if something is unfinished. I have never taken a vacation.” “I panic if I leave the office with something left undone. I work so late that I usually end up sleeping there.”
Planning “I like to consider my choices before I act on something.” “I have to analyse all the alternatives before I make up my mind.” “I try to consider so many eventualities that it becomes very difficult to make a decision.” “I get so lost in trying to anticipate all the possibilities and details that I put things off and never commit to anything.”
Morally conscious “I like to do the right thing.” “I am sometimes intolerant of people whose moral standards are less than my own.” “I am disgusted by the moral laxity and indulgence I see in 99% of humanity.” “I think anyone who deviates from the straight and narrow should be punished swiftly for their sins.”
Conscientious “I like to take my time and do things right.” “Sometimes I think others will disapprove of me if they find even one small mistake.” “I find it hard to stop working until I know others will be satisfied with the job I’ve done.” “I check and re-check my work until I’m absolutely sure that no one can find a mistake in what I’ve done.”
Emotionally constricted “I rarely get excited about anything.” “I don’t believe in expressing much emotion.” “There are only a few things I enjoy, and even with those, I can’t let myself go.” “I have never found any use for emotion. I have never felt any enjoyment from life.”