Reports of OCD among under-25s triple in 10 years

According to a BBC review of NHS data, the number of 16- to 24-year-olds in England reporting signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has more than tripled in a decade. According to statistics from a large NHS England survey, the condition is now the second most common mental health disorder among young adults.

'OCD, I like to think of it as a bully,' says Sophie Ashcroft. 'A lot of people associate OCD with cleanliness and being organised, as well as getting all your socks in a specific order. It's so much more than that.'

The 22-year-old is one of a number of young people and their families who have contacted us through Your Voice, Your BBC News, who are unable to access NHS treatment for their illnesses. Many who were seen expressed fears about a lack of qualified staff and effective treatments.

Last year, the average referral time for young people to be seen at a national OCD centre in London was 41 weeks, almost three times as long as it was five years ago. The government told us it was 'turning services around', recruiting 8,500 more mental health professionals, providing more talking therapies, and increasing access to help via the NHS App. It also confirmed that the roll-out of mental health support teams in schools was expanding.

Sophie is compelled to do small tasks, such as getting into the shower or brushing her teeth, in order to deter intrusive or troubling thoughts.

'If I had a bad thought during the day, it would ruin the remainder of my day. I'd imagine something bad was going to happen,' she says.

'Behind closed doors it's sheer panic'

According to those who have contacted BBC News, lives have been devastated, with some families who have not been able to find NHS assistance revealing that hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on private healthcare. Charities maintain there is an OCD crisis and that the figures should be a 'wake-up call' for the government.

OCD symptoms can affect adults and children as young as six, but they are often triggered during puberty and early adulthood. Sophie's symptoms first appeared when she was nine years old, but she claims that it was a decade ago, when a close friend died, that everything became much worse. She claims it caused her to repeat actions again and again, which most people would regard as normal and would do without a second thought.

'It's something telling me you have to do it all over again,' Sophie says. 'It's such an awful, awful feeling.'

Despite all of this, Sophie has just finished drama school. 'I'm really good at hiding it,' she says, 'but behind closed doors it's sheer terror.'

Around 370,000 young people in England reported OCD symptoms in the financial year 2023-24, according to our review of the latest NHS Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (June 2025). That's more than triple the figure from 2014, when the figure stood at around 113,000 people.

Why is OCD on the rise among young people?

According to experts, improved knowledge of the condition has inarguably contributed to people seeking assistance. However, charities and several of those with OCD suggest the key reasons for the increase include social media.

Many young people's lives are described as a 'pressure pot' by Leigh Wallbank, the charity's chief executive.

'They're facing financial challenges, educational problems, and global concerns; the environment is such a big issue,' she says. 'I imagine them cooking in this pressure pot and then, underneath, giving this pressure cooker heat, is social media.'

The Covid-19 pandemic played a part, says Minesh Patel, associate director of policy and influence at Mind, a mental health charity. According to him, the pandemic put a 'particular strain' on people with OCD, with disruption to routine, an alteration of social structures, and a heightened attention on hygiene.

'Barriers to social interaction, as well as medical and support services, mean that many coping mechanisms were interrupted or unavailable for a lengthy period of time,' he says.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – which can include Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) – is an NHS service that provides support to OCD patients. With ERP, patients are encouraged to control their anxiety by gradually being exposed to their fears, while still being prevented from engaging in their normal compulsive habits. Medication is also available, mainly in the form of antidepressants. But not everyone can access these treatments.

Sophie was told by her GP that it is likely she has OCD, but two years later, she has not been referred to see a consultant for a formal diagnosis. In the meantime, her GP has referred her to a restricted programme of CBT, which will come to an end soon. Sophie says she is 'completely terrified' of what the future holds.

OCD Action's Leigh Wallbank is critical of the government's failing to obtain timely quarterly reports on obsessive-compulsive disorder and its effects on patients. According to the charity, the NHS is 'blind' to the true extent of OCD, treatment success, and who is left behind.

We asked health professionals in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland if they knew the number of young people with OCD signs, but they all said they did not collect this data.

'The system could not, or would not, provide help'

A mother from the south of England who wishes to remain anonymous told us that her autistic daughter first showed signs of OCD when she was ten years old. She says her daughter is now 17 and the OCD is 'serious'.

'My daughter has gone from being a scholarship-winning student to being sectioned multiple times.'

Some medical care has been given to the teen, but her mother informs us that her daughter is often too ill to leave the house to attend appointments or even take her medication.

'The impact on [all] our children and us is devastating. Our lives have been impacted not only by the disease, but also by a system that could not, or would not, provide the assistance she needed when she needed it.'

The mother claims that the UK is failing in its care of young people with severe OCD. She claims that there are not enough specialists, beds, or treatment options.

Children and adolescents with OCD in England can be seen at a national centre at London's Maudsley Hospital. However, according to a response to the BBC's Freedom of Information Act request, the average wait time for a referral to the service increased from 15 weeks in 2020 to 41 weeks in 2024. However, the hospital trust claims that wait times are being reduced.

'We've worked really hard to eliminate delays and have reduced the average wait for assessments to around 20 weeks,' said Ade Odunlade, chief operating officer for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. 'We sympathise with anyone who has been asked to wait for their assessment because we know how difficult it is.'

The trust claims that it has now been able to obtain additional funds that will enable it to recruit more staff and push the waiting list down even further. According to the trust, it is expected that by early Spring 2026, it will have a waiting period of about 12-16 weeks for assessment.

However, even if people have access to all the available assistance, it is often not enough.

Graham and Marie Fuller of Norwich contacted the BBC to announce that their daughter was hospitalised with OCD aged 12. They described a 'revolving-door' pattern of going backwards and forwards between NHS clinics, with their daughter improving and then finally relapsing.

After years of their daughter's struggle, the family travelled to Texas to try a rare procedure. Their daughter, who is now 20, underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, where electrodes are implanted in the brain to provide electrical impulses to help control OCD symptoms.

The treatment is approved by US regulators, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom (UK) states that DBS can only be used for research studies because there is not enough data on how safe or effective it is for OCD.

'Having a loved one with OCD has taken its toll on all of us, but we had to do everything we could to help,' Marie says, explaining how her daughter debated going to Belgium to end her life.

Marie claims that her daughter is now back at university, but she admits that it is still early days in terms of the treatment's success.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment guidelines in the UK are 20 years old; they are currently being evaluated by NICE. In 2019, it was agreed that policy around OCD care should reflect current technologies and potential new drugs. However, Leigh Wallbank of OCD Action says that better funding is 'absolutely vital' if young people are to get the assistance they need.

'Policymakers and the government must invest in OCD services. [OCD] is preventable, and it is a problem that can be fixed.'

Following years of neglect, the government had inherited a failing NHS with mental health services 'in need of care', according to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care, who said that funding was now being increased by £688 million.

However, people with OCD, such as Sophie, are concerned about what the future holds. She has been prescribed a limited amount of CBT and is concerned about the recurrence of her symptoms.

'What am I going to do? What if it happens again?'