"Confusing reality with imagination and losing contact with reality are two key characteristics that could play a role in the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)…
"…people who rely heavily on their imagination and have a strong tendency to dissociate from reality had more obsessive symptoms.
"‘Theories about OCD stipulate that it is not the content of thought that is involved in the development of obsessions but the way these thoughts are interpreted by the person,’ … ‘While most people will dismiss an idea if they feel it has no meaning, people with OCD will say that if they think that way they must be a reason.’
"‘It seems that people with OCD are so absorbed by their obsession due to inferential confusion that there is a break with reality,’ … ‘…we found that individuals no longer rely on their sensory perceptions or common sense but on their imagination. For example, they are afraid that their hands are contaminated with germs, so they wash them over and over again because they are convinced that their hands are dirty even though they are visibly clean,’
“Other factors such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, schizotypal personality, and obsessive beliefs do not seem to play a significant role in the development of OCD symptoms but in the severity of the disorder.”
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