What partners can do

When pathological compulsions control your whole life

No mixing colors, opening and closing doors three times, washing hands for four minutes, only stepping on every other tile: Those affected are restricted in their lifestyle.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, stock.adobe.com)

Checking six times that the front door is actually locked. The kitchen drawer has to be opened and closed four times. And washing your hands for three minutes is on the morning program. Do you have such a "monk" at home? Where pathological compulsions come from, how to live with them and what you can do.

It may seem bizarre, perhaps even funny, when someone goes back so many times in a row to turn the front door key in the lock exactly eight times in a row. But at the latest when you are once again late for an evening event because of this, it can - let's be honest - be annoying. But what is going on in the brain of the person affected?