I have obsessive compulsive disorder.

Let me tell you of my own little problem.. that I had in my teens for a couple of years until I learnt how to handle it.... Hope I won't sound too crazy here...

I had to count the number of letters in every word that I said or thought. I guess it started out like a little game or something, and then I couldn't stop. All the time the secret counting of letters was going on in my head. It made everything more complicated and I had problem concentrating and doing other things because (7) I (1) just (4) could (5) not (3) stop (4) ! As if that wasn't stupid enough I had to complicate things. I also had to count the total number of letters in sentences. (49). But the worst was that sometimes I had to make sure the the total number of letters were even. If they weren't, I had to change several words in the sentence and count again.

A simple task such as brushing my teeth in the morning could take 30 minutes, as thoughts popped up in my head and I just stood there, looking at myself in the mirror and counting.

I (1) should (6) put (3) my (2) gym (3) clothes (7) in (2) the (3) bag (3) for (3) school (6). (39) ODD.

I (1) have (4) to (2) remember (8) to (2) take (4) my (2) gym (3) clothes (7) to (2) school (6). (41) ODD. ARGH!

I (1) must (4) remember (8) to (2) bring (5) my (2) gym (3) clothes (7) for (3) school (6) today (5). (46) EVEN!

I did this ALL THE TIME. Actually it became even more complicated later on, but I think I'll stop here. :) Eventually I realised that this was a big problem for me, a big, stupid problem that made my life complicated for absolutely no sane reason at all and it had to stop. Every time I started counting I just said "SLUTA!" (stop!) and I went and did something else to take my mind off it. It was difficult, the counting started without me thinking about it, and I had to make a conscious effort to stop it. thankfully the problem went away, and now I'm almost sane. :)
 
Hmm... I sort of have OCD, very mild though. It manifests in the form of counting in my head. Specifically patterns of 5's and 3's. I do it when I walk, run, chew, crack my knuckles, at completely random times, etc. It's not conscious either, I'll suddenly realize I'm doing it.

Also, when putting something somewhere or something, even if I'm just throwing it under my bed, I have to do it just right. If I don't like the way it "feels" (it's hard to explain) I will crawl under my bed, grab whatever it was, and do it again until it feels right. It drives me nuts sometimes... Yet I can't stop.

I also deal with general anxiety issues. Sometimes I don't notice, but it's when I'm afraid to hug my girl that it pisses me off. Thankfully that is a rare issue.
 
Nice to know we're all nuts!!!:D

Stubby, I get exactly the same thing, with doing something just right. Anything, like closing a door, or zipping my jacket up. Sometimes it's sort of the opposite, today, I went out to work in my shop, planning on working on some knives I'm in the proces on, and I hit the door wrong. I went out and couldn't bring myself to do anything. Luckily, it hasn't affected work or anything badly, but geez.

A bunch of the others as well.

Getting out of a hotel is a complete pain, I have to look under the bed, through the closet, in the bathroom, through the dresser and desk drawers(I never, EVER use the drawers, but still have to look), etc, half a dozen times. Problem with that is, I travel for work fairly frequently. I'll try to pack the night before I'm leaving, to minimize the crap in the morning, no good, makes no difference.

At least my wife is good, if occasionally a little patronizing about it.

I'm a little surprised to see so many people with similar responces.
Odd

Jon

I have to add, I read all my posts, several times, and always end up editing for spelling, or because I didn't like the way something was worded.
 
Man i am glad Needleremorse started this thread. It's good to know that i'm not alone with this.

I hear you Jon. I went to a hotel a couple of weeks back and then went in the room and put my stuff down and within a minute or 2 the hotel concierge came by and told us she accidentally gave the wrong key. I didn't even unpack or even do anything in the room and i had to check everything again.

A day after that i visited someones house for awhile and before going off i had to check everywhere and the dude actually asked my wife whether i was like that all the time.

Now a new problem has come up. Since i got Sky+ which is something like Tivo for you people in the US, i've been rewinding so much. Even little words than i wasn't sure i heard right i have to rewind. So much so that my wife has resorted to taking away the remote sometimes.

I think i've always had this sort of thing to an extent. When i was 12 and i went to the Outward Bound School i remember just before going back i lost 1 stupid sock and i was like hysterical about it. I think i cried.

Now that i've seen documentaries on OCD i'm trying to conciously try and not do these things once in awhile. I really am quite afraid it'll spiral out of control. It really is no way to live.

I've been thinking and i think the only way to solve this problem is to be filthy rich. I'm thinking if i'm rich i won't care if i've lost anything or forgotten anything or whatever. I'll just buy another. That would solve a lot of my problems.

Edited to add:
Does anyone have to take pills from blister packs in the right order? In other words taking 'em in rows/columns. Not randomly. I used to get really p'd off but now i try not to think about it.
 
I check hotels or the house before I leave pretty carefully, but otherwise I'm not too bad. (I think). I used to have several years of locker combinations in my head from school, and used to have to go through them to get the right one.

I did make a special effort to forget them, which was helpful. I think exercise is helpful, it calms the mind.
 
Yes, I do that blisterpack thing as well. It's like the pills or gum or whatever wont work if I don't take them in order.

Also, I have a problem being seen with a woman. If I'm dating them I don't want to appear to be dating them. So I wont hold their hand or if we are in a group I wont sit next to them or do anything else with them. Though I think I'm getting better about that I no longer feel as if my heart is going to explode or I'm going to cry like a little baby.

Though, the above may not have anything to do with OCD.

I also correct peoples grammar constantly. Even though sometimes, I don't use correct grammar myself.
 
Man, you're normal and you're going to be okay so don't worry about it.

Where OCD can get you in trouble is if one of your obsessions is destructive like if you fixate on drugs or sex.

I knew a guy who had OCD with regards to sex. He ended up spending a fortune on hookers. Not good. It nearly destroyed him. Good thing he went to one of those Sex Anonymous groups.
 
bigjim said:
Still even at 44 years old in every conversation with a Breast bearing human I will at least evaluate them for sex and consider porking them at least once.
Click to expand...

Guess I'm OCD too.:D I seriously evaluate every female unless she is too old or too young. Is that bad? I even list their faults in my head and think about what I would do to change them.
 
I'd like to see a study that looks at the relationship with PC use and OCD/Autism. I've noticed that most IT workers hav those tendencies.

I start getting that way myself if I spend a lot of time on-line.
 
You might check out a book called "What you can change and what you can't", by Martin Seligman. He's a good writer and a very respected psychologist. (I did notice that he tends to be pessimistic about weight loss--the one thing that he admits to having trouble with.)

There are a lot of good books out there about different mental conditions. One thing that comes through very clearly is that a lot of them have a "spectrum", i.e., they have different symptoms to different degrees. Some people are so autistic that they never speak. Others may speak and write, even in public, but they still have trouble with basic social interaction (special training can help, but it's intellectual for them, not instinctive).

And of course, if we just have a little bit of something, it's a quirk, not a disorder. :)

We all have our quirks. The more important thing is to know yourself really well, to figure out in what conditions you thrive and what conditions are unhealthy or dangerous for you. There are people who can go gambling every time they pass through Vegas and they never have trouble stopping. Other people should never enter a casino.

See a shrink if you want--it doesn't usually hurt, if you're talking to someone sensible and competent. (If you have your doubts after a couple of meetings, find someone else.) More important is to keep your friends close and informed, and take good care of yourself -- get lots of exercise and face-to-face contact, not just reading forums all the time.
 
Sharp Phil said:
I can tell you from experience that if you don't deal with the problem, it will get worse until it drives people around you absolutely nuts. Talking about the problem with a professional might or might not help. In my case, I was cured (if that's the right word" of hypochondria and general anxiety, not through psychology or psychiatry, but through -- cheesily enough -- developing greater confidence and mental fortitude through martial arts training.
Click to expand...

MA training has been hugely beneficial to me as well. The physical benefits are obvious. Where I really think it helps is in the stress relief and diversion from everyday bullshiit.

I would venture to guess that just about any strenuous physical outlet will aid in clearing the brain of crap that builds up. The trick is finding something you love to do even when it's cold (or hot), or you're tired or sick or injured etc.
 
Needle........... Hopefully you dont have anything except maybe a case of severe boredom.
Since none of us are qualified as doctors your best bet if you really concerned is to get yourself checked.
It could very well be nothing and then it could be what you suspect.
An old boss of mine was O/C , we watched as he threw a almost 3 million dollar a year business down the toilet while he painted EVERYTHING in our office two shades of blue.... Dark blue and light blue... everything. That was a mere drop in the bucket to other off the wall things he did.
And you couldnt tell him anything ! He insisted there was nothing wrong with him.
Wish you the best man,
Todd.
 
I could have written pretty much all of that myself and I'm 52.

As a 'youngster', I'd like to compliment you on your writing skills. I just checked your D.O.B. as you mentioned 'school'. You write well.
 
Hmmm.. i always thought I was a little weird but after reading about you guys I realise I'm ...... well.... a little bit weird too which makes me relatively normal I guess.

I think people who collect things, such as knives, for no really good reason except that they like to do it, are somewhat compulsive to start with so this is likely to manifest itself in other areas too.
 
BigJim... I too had a masturbation obsession. I seem to have it well in hand now though!

Thank you Thank you! I'll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

David
 
I have some kind of disorders, but no idea what they might be called.

I only have two speeds, full ahead and full stop, for everything. I spend 98% of my time completely bored, basically waiting for something to spark my interest, and then I go full bore and either get it done or burn out if it was some kind of hobby type interest.

I'm addicted to sugar, and would be addicted to alcohol/drugs if I was dumb enough to get started on them. My whole family is a study in disfunction and addiction. We would need a reverse intervention, as my mom is the only one not completely screwed up and would need to inverence the rest of us instead of the other way around. All of the addiction issues stem from my Dad who's an alcoholic among other things, which is why mom does not have same issues as the rest of us.

I had severe anger issues until I finally got medicated with Lexapro, and it's made a world of difference for the anger, but I still can't talk with my boss at work without laying into him....completely dumb of course, but I can't help it.
Thankfully for me he just leaves me alone now for the most part and lets me work.

I'm just glad I have a very understanding wife.
 
Needless, I'm hardly a doctor, and it may be a good thing for you to talk to a professional, but let me throw out an idea. You have all sorts of quirky behaviors, as we all do, that you point out, but those are the effects, like a sneeze could be anything from a dust tickle to avian flu. What's the cause?

Just a guess, based on my experience: something, or some things, are bugging you. You may not even know exactly what it is, but the fact that you can't seem to control or end the annoyance leads to behaviors you *can* control--counting,more and more pushups, stuff like that, or things that distract from the problem itself.

It's easy to become obsessive, but just realizing you (and I don't mean you per se but"you" generically)are doing something isn't usually enough to end it--the major reason why weight loss programs fail, IMO. Habits get formed because they are shortcuts so you don't have to think about everything you do every time you do it, and they reinforce thoughts much like thoughts reinforce behavior, for good or bad, chicken or egg. To change, really change, you need to change actions as well as ways of thinking. It isn't easy, and if you can't change them it begs the question (especially if it's a negative action or thought) why don't I *want* to change this.

A guess on my part is it's easier for most people to change if they have outside influences and feedback. It's way, way too easy to become weird if you spend too much time alone(the exact amount would of course vary for every person) which is why too much PC time(as an example) can be a trigger for odd and antisocial actions. Things that take you out of your own mind and into the real world--exercise, sports, social stuff--can often be a way to stop the bad actions and replace them with better ones. Just MHO, of course:rolleyes:
 
I can sympathize with people who have OCD, I've known people with different degrees of the disorder.

I can't understand how it can control your life, yet it does, no rational for irrational behavior.

I always believed an old saying my old man told me as a kid, Life is what happens when your busy making plans.

The only thing I can feel obsessively compelled to do is observe and analyze people I meet throgh out my life.:confused:

To all who feel the OCD devil on your shoulders, I wish you all the best of luck in dealing with your demons.
 
I saw this thing on TV about Eating Disorders and it said that almost everyone with an ED also has OCD. I wonder if that is really true. I have other addictions too; I am an addict, but I go through different phases, constantly replacing one addiction with another and sometimes going back to ones I'm familiar with. Starving, exercising, drinking, smoking, starving, loving, cutting, drinking, exercising, sex, starving, drinking...

I have recently lost weight and I couldn't seem to stop. I started losing muscle and I started bruising more and I couldn't stop. My hair started falling out and I couldn't stop. I had no energy and I couldn't stop. I couldn't eat. I felt guilty putting anything into my mouth, chewing, swallowing. I couldn't exercise anymore without feeling exhausted. And I couldn't stop. I'm trying to stop. I've been eating more.

Now I'm drinking again, but I'm going to stop. I'm giving myself two more days, before I have to start my new job on Monday. If I stop now I will feel all shakey, so I am trying to ease it off slowly. I will drink less today than yesterday, less tomorrow than today, and maybe just a little on Sunday. I need to have a plan, and I need a routine, and without it I am messed up.

Is that "quirky" or is that messed up?

~ashes
 
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