Well, I may be able to give you an "idea" of what OCD is like.

Imagine if a loved one was on an airplane that crashed, and the news said that 50% of the passengers had died. Imagine what you would feel if you tried to resist the urge to find out if your loved one was among that 50% or not.

Or, imagine that you had a loved one going on a plane ride, but you had this overbearing feeling that if you didn't do something that your anxiety was telling you to do such as avoiding stepping on cracks, or checking the locks on your doors over and over again, or washing your hands, that the plane would crash. Even though you know there is no correlation and no possible way that stepping on cracks would have anything to do with a plane crashing, your mind won't let you shake the feeling that you just have to complete the "ritual" in order to ease the anxiety, and to be sure everything is "right" or "ok".

I have OCD, so I can understand how frustrated this person must feel. I am, however, pretty good at hiding my symptoms from people, so most don't really get to "see" the OCD side of me, even though I have told them about it.

The best thing you could do for your friend is to see to it that he finds some sort of help. A therapist, or even some of the good books out there that teach self-help methods of beating OCD. And also, be patient, if he does have OCD, then he is going through a very tormenting time in his life, one that is not easy to live with.