DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjmcr.2025.v13i11.051

Pages: 2874-2875

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that affects 2–3% of the general population and can make everyday life very difficult. An expanding corpus of epidemiological, theoretical, and clinical evidence demonstrates a significant association between particular symptoms of OCD and traumatic experiences or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We discuss the case of a 43-year-old Syrian refugee who developed severe contamination-related OCD following a prolonged period of untreated PTSD symptoms. The patient displayed incapacitating washing behaviors in a refugee camp marked by limited water access. She got the right medicine and therapy, but her symptoms only got better for a short time. A lot of interviews showed that she had been through a lot of hard times, like seeing her brothers die and being sexually assaulted. The patient's OCD symptoms appeared to be an unproductive method for managing PTSD intrusions. They helped with emotional pain, but they also made things worse in a lot of ways. This case illustrates the complex interplay and possible reciprocal compensation between OCD and PTSD symptoms, highlighting the need for integrated therapeutic approaches rather than treating OCD in isolation. It also talks about mental contamination, which is when you feel dirty just by touching something. We need to do more research to learn more about the link between OCD and PTSD, how to spot them better, and whether there should be a certain type of OCD that happens after trauma.