OCD much?

[ruthiechan]

We're all mild. Very mild. Our little quirks do not impede our ability to function in normal society. There's nothing wrong with order, but the closer we are to the character Monk the more problematic it is.

I'm okay with odd numbers, but only if it's artistic. I like things to be even, or in other words, I prefer symmetry. For example, if my husband kisses me on the right cheek I want him to do it on the left. But it's not so bad in that if he's in a hurry and does a quick peck on the cheek that I'm going to demand him to do the other one. I can make myself ignore the desire for symmetry and therein lies the difference between quirks and OCD, IMO (hey, look at that IMO is in alphabetical order! )

[Mahone]

Ha, I was going to avoid replying to this thread - when I suffered with OCD it wasn't exactly a very nice time in my life and didn't want it published on the interweb to be constantly reminded of it, but there you go lol.

Mine started in college (around 2002?) where I had to check my pockets continually throughout the day. I knew my phone, , keys, wallet and ID were supposed to be in my pockets and if one of them was missing, I had to go back home to get it even if I didn't need that item that day. That was bearable.

After college it became considerably worse. I had a series of "rituals" and went through several different phases ranging from hand washing (my hands became sore around my knuckles from washing so much), checking all doors and windows were closed before I went to bed (this process ended up taking over an hour each evening, which resulted in me refusing to go to bed, to avoid having to do this), checking the gas was switched off on the oven at night (about 20 times) and checking the front door was locked before I left the house each morning (about 50 times - this resulted in me not wanting to leave the house and actually got the better of me several times).

I also obsessed over the number 4.

The strange thing about OCD is that you know what you are doing is stupid, but you have to do it anyway.

After my job at the time suffered from that door checking one, I saw a program on TV featuring three people with OCD. The first was a young lady who refused to touch any food that was she going to eat with her hands. The second was a man who was terrified of throwing his new born baby in a bin and swapping it with another baby. The third was a woman who only left the house once a week to go shopping, she couldn't cope with leaving any more than that. The doctor on the program encouraged the first girl to wash her hands in the toliet (yes, actually in the toliet bowl) and then eat a packet of crisps in a normal fashion. With the guy, he made him take his baby for a walk every day, purposely walking past public bins and not asking anyone if they'd seen him throw his baby in the bin (sounds crazy, but you have to have OCD to understand). These two both made a successful recovery. The third woman, he tried to make her leave the house every day without checking anything, however she refused, claiming it was too hard.

After this I realised two things. At no point in my life did I want to be a hermit like that third woman was. And also that program had taught me how to recover from OCD - just force yourself to do what you fear doing. So I did, and within a month I was fully recovered and I don't think it's ever affected me since. It's flipping hard to do at first, but it works.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Mahone

[Wingnut]

The strange thing about OCD is that you know what you are doing is stupid, but you have to do it anyway.

Interesting. I never realized that before. Must be frustrating.

The third was a woman who only left the house once a week to go shopping, she couldn't cope with leaving any more than that.

There's a guy in my parents' ward who is kind-of the opposite. He has OCD, but he has to go to the grocery store every day. He can't skip a day.

After this I realised two things. At no point in my life did I want to be a hermit like that third woman was. And also that program had taught me how to recover from OCD - just force yourself to do what you fear doing. So I did, and within a month I was fully recovered and I don't think it's ever affected me since. It's flipping hard to do at first, but it works.

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing. This thread was more humorous and tongue-in-cheek than your experiences, but I appreciate you sharing them. I learned from them.