Getting Unstuck from OCD Technology Compulsions

Technology is woven into daily life, so it makes sense that OCD often finds ways to use it too.

For some people, phones, apps, news, social media, or wearable devices quietly become tools for checking, monitoring, reassurance, or avoidance. Because these behaviors are so normalized, it can be hard to tell when technology is supporting your life and when it’s supporting OCD instead.

This page is here to help you notice those patterns clearly, without blame, and to understand how ERP applies when compulsions show up through screens and devices.

OCD technology compulsions

How technology can become part of OCD

OCD doesn’t care whether a compulsion is physical, mental, or digital. If something promises certainty, relief, control, or reassurance, OCD will try to use it.

Technology-related compulsions can include:

  • repeated checking or monitoring
  • searching for certainty or reassurance online
  • tracking thoughts, feelings, or symptoms in ways that increase self-criticism
  • consuming news or media to feel prepared or protected
  • using devices to try to regulate anxiety rather than respond to it differently


The posts below explore some of the most common ways technology can quietly pull OCD into the driver’s seat, and how to respond with more intention and clarity.


Posts about OCD technology compulsions

Using AI for OCD recovery? How to use AI without OCD taking over
My newest post on tech and OCD explores how AI can become a reassurance tool for OCD, and ways to use it thoughtfully without letting it reinforce compulsive patterns.

Are You Handcuffed to Your Devices, and Is OCD at Fault?
This piece looks at how everyday device use can slide into compulsive checking or monitoring, and how to tell when your phone is serving OCD more than it’s serving you.

Marrying Intention and Attention
This post explores how phones can unintentionally sabotage OCD recovery by pulling attention toward reassurance, distraction, or avoidance, and how to bring more intention to how you use them.

OCD technology compulsions
OCD technology compulsions

Posts about OCD technology compulsions, cont.

3 Questions About the Impact of Media on Mental Health
Here, I look at how constant news and social media consumption can affect anxiety and OCD, and offer questions to help you notice whether media use is helping you stay informed or keeping you stuck.

Positive News: The Opposite of OCD
This piece explores how intentionally engaging with positive or balanced news can counter OCD’s negativity bias, without turning positivity into another rule or requirement.

OCD, Self-Criticism, and Wearable Technology
This post looks at how fitness trackers, sleep monitors, and other wearable devices can sometimes fuel self-criticism, monitoring, or perfectionism, especially for people with OCD.

You don’t need to relate to all of these for this page to be useful. Even recognizing one familiar pattern can help you start responding differently and bring ERP into places it may have quietly drifted away from.