Genital Staring or Compulsive Staring

Genital Staring or Compulsive Staring

Also known as Peripheral Staring, Private Staring, Ocular Tourettic OCD (OTO), Visual Tourettic OCD

There isn’t a whole lot of research on genital staring or compulsive staring. People who have difficulties with compulsive staring struggle with looking at people’s genitals or are believing themselves to be looking at a person’s genitals even though they may not. Both groups of people experience tremendous emotional difficulties as many are worried, they may get called out for their staring or perceived staring. The compulsions for this OCD subtype include looking for evidence that people may have noticed their staring or perceived staring, wearing sunglasses, controlling their gaze, seeking reassurance, and active avoidance of particular situations where they could be scrutinized for doing so (e.g. work, school, family gatherings., etc.). Important to note is that sufferers do not want to stare or have any sexual desire to stare. The staring is not limited to genitals, but could also be of other parts of the body that may be socially unacceptable such as moles or scars (Grayson 2021).

As mentioned above, some people experience difficulties with genital staring that do stare. Their staring may have influenced their lives negatively. The two groups are treated differently. The first group who don’t stare but are scared they may stare has to learn to live with the uncertainty of not ever knowing if they do stare and get caught (treated similarly to other OCD subtypes). The other group (those that stare) are taught coping strategies to help manage the symptoms. Within this group (those that do stare) there is often an overestimation of how often they stare, which could influence the anxiety they experience (Grayson 2011). The treatment features working on exposure around the possibility of getting caught and learning to cope. This is treated similarly to Tourettic OCD where the central focus is exposure, habit reversal training, and relaxation skills. Cognitive Behavioural Treatment is not the standard treatment for this type of OCD (Manseuto 2021).

Individual sufferers who experience difficulties with Peripheral Staring OCD will describe finding objects within their peripheral vision impossible to ignore (Grayson 2021). This is treated similarly to other sensory forms of OCD where hyperawareness is an issue.

Grayson, Jonathan,. 2021, Staring OCD or VTO. Presented at: OCD Conference July 2021. Video Presentation.

Manseueto, Charles,. 2021, Tourettic OCD: Exploring the OCD/Tourette Interface: Presented at the 2021 Tourette Conference. Video Presentation