Postpartum Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder With Compulsive Digital Picture Taking and Video Recording

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) aimed at reducing distress, often misdiagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder.¹ The peri-and postpartum periods represent particularly vulnerable times for OCD onset or exacerbation. Meta-analyses indicate that perinatal women are twice as likely as the general population to experience OCD, with higher risk in the postpartum period.² Postpartum females often report troubling obsessions involving harm or contamination of their newborn.³ Though perhaps initially protective, these acts can quickly spiral and hinder the new parent’s mental health or ability to bond with the child.⁴

A commonly reported manifestation of OCD is hoarding behavior, an impairing struggle to purge items regardless of their value. In the modern age of mass digital consumption, digital hoarding behavior has been newly defined, though reasoning behind hoarding is similar: developing an attachment, feeling like the items are an extension of one’s identity, or keeping items “just in case” they become useful later.⁵ A case study of a man who exhibited digital hoarding behavior described taking up to 1,000 new photos and spending up to five hours per day organizing them on hard drives. The impairment it caused qualified as a compulsion under OCD criteria.⁶ This report explores the case of a woman with postpartum OCD who exhibited a unique compulsion of taking excessive photos and videos of her surroundings, potentially exhibiting digital hoarding behavior.

Case Report

A 30-year-old woman completed an intensive outpatient therapy program to address her anxiety, depression, and OCD, developing symptoms after the birth of her first child in September 2022. She had been vaccinated for COVID-19, including a booster dose, prior to pregnancy. The postpartum period was complicated by her neonate developing COVID-19, requiring hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit during the first week of life. Her daughter eventually made a full recovery. The mother was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety by her primary care physician and was started on buspirone and bupropion, and her regimen was later changed to escitalopram, which she self-discontinued.

She reported developing OCD symptoms not long after delivery, though the first documented symptoms of obsessions were approximately one year postpartum. She exhibited classic OCD compulsions like excessive hand washing and rechecking locks and the stove, as well as obsessions such as fear of harm and of contamination, correlating with the unknown source of infection for her neonate. She also developed a unique compulsion to take an excessive number of pictures and videos of her door and car prior to leaving her home, delaying departure for up to an hour. There was no predetermined quantity of pictures and video she took. Unlike digital hoarding behavior, she could delete thousands of pictures without difficulty. She was observed in the clinic parking lot taking pictures and videos of her car from every angle prior to checking in

The patient was treated with fluoxetine, titrated slowly up to 40 mg, but had not reached optimal dosing for OCD due to sensitivity to dose changes. At the completion of an intensive outpatient therapy program two months later, she still engaged in compulsive behaviors daily, but they consumed significantly less of her time, spending under five minutes taking pictures prior to leaving a place.

Discussion

This case highlights a compulsion not well documented in current literature. A mother’s obsession with intense fear of harm (ie, break-ins, leaving her child in the backseat mistakenly, inadvertently infecting her child, etc.) led to the compulsion of taking excessive photos and videos of her surroundings. Her ability to delete ample amounts of her media without distress was more suggestive of checking behavior than digital hoarding behavior. This report aims to provide insight into the nature of postpartum OCD and the unique ways it may manifest, especially with the ever-changing world of technology, suggesting that clinicians should be vigilant about novel ways that classic diagnostic criteria may present.

Article Information

Published Online: March 31, 2026. https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.25cr04092
© 2026 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2026;28(2):25cr04092
Submitted: September 23, 2026; accepted December 30, 2026.
To Cite: Kaster J, DeFord D, Cunningham EA. Postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder with compulsive digital picture taking and video recording. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2026;28(2):25cr04092.
Author Affiliations: Department of Psychiatry, Community Health Network, Indianapolis, Indiana (Kaster, Cunningham); Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana (DeFord).
Corresponding Author: Julia Kaster, DO, 6950 Hillsdale Ct, Indianapolis, IN 46250 ([email protected]).
Financial Disclosure: None.
Funding/Support: None.
Additional Information: Information, including dates, was de-identified to protect patient anonymity.