my flatmate has OCD and idk what to do

Hello, Iam an Psychology student finishing my schooling, and I know its a big claim but im 95% sure my 40 year old new flatmate has OCD ( probably unaware or untreated) and its affecting us a bit.
I know its a big claim but ill explain myslef, he does from 5 to 12 laundries a day ( all with the same clothes), to the point that he goes around the house in just his underwear- all are 1:30 h and all follow each other. He checks the laundry consistently ( every 5 min ) if someone is in the kitchen and if there is no one he just stays there looking at it without distractions. He can do them from 5 morining to 3 morining no stop. When it finished he takes the clothes one by one and goes to put them to dry in the other side of the appartment one by one, very meticulous and delicately.

There come two problems, we pay for electricity and the laundrymat is old, wstes a ton of energy and its becoming finantial. Other ting is, im pretty sure this guy is not aware he has ocd. I have talked a bit to him but he is a bit shy and reserved, a bit of a hipoco driac too, and im a 20 yo female student there and im going away soon but im wondering if i could help him.

When he is asked why he does it or if everything is alright, he just says he needs to do it and that the clothes are not clean enough, but one day i pried a but and turns out he wasnt sure he put on detergent ( he had put detergent 3 min ago i had seen him)- clear sign of ocd as far as i know. I reassured him and he was very happy but this compulsions are clearly affecting evey part of his life.

I dont know how to tackle the situation but would love to tell him that he needs professional help, i dont know how to.

Posted Jul 7, 2026, 10:09 PM UTC

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