Hi George. It affected me differently and evolved since I was a teen, although I suspect the causes were rooted way before that. Symptoms began with an eating disorder I had all through my teens, between 13 to 18. It had a lot to do with controling my food intake and exercise. You can look up 'eating disorders' as I had all the symptoms and ocd is a common development and part of it. When my mom got sick I was 20 and although I had worked through my eating disorder to some degree, my ocd continued to manifest through concerns of contamination being that my mom was in the hospital for long periods and when she was home, I was always afraid of her getting sick. It involved a lot of hand-washing that became compulsive. It also manifested as a fear of something bad happening, like a fire or other catastrophe. I remember while I was at work, I would go home to check on her or to make sure nothing was left on like an iron. It's far too much to go into a lot of detail here, but now it seems to have settle down a bit since I don't have all of the same stressors in my life. It was triggered a little when my granddaughter was born, more through the concern of contamination and protecting her. I still have to check things multiple times before I go to bed or go out, but it's far better than it used to be as I try to be logical about it, think it through and have some faith in myself and the Divine. I was thinking just yesterday that a 'checklist' might help. Printing out copies of all the things one checks before going out and check it off each time. It's worth a try ... My daughter has it too so there is probably a genetic component but I'm sure part of it is environmental factors as well. She also has the same thyroid issue, though not as bad as mine, and fibromyalgia.