You Know You Have Obsessive Or Compulsive Tendencies When You.....

[JGS1980]

So it's no secret that a lot of MMM adherents have some Obsessive Compulsive tendencies as we slowly but steadily count our pennies toward FIRE.  There also happen to be a lot of engineers, librarians, mathematicians, advanced STEM degrees around here, who also happen to have a lot of the same characteristics.

So in the spirit of celebrating our unique personality quirks, I thought it would be fun to point out some of my own.

You know when you have OCD when you....

*Make a perfect sandwich, then bite off every bit of all the lettuce, sandwich meat, and tomatoes hanging over the edge of the sandwich before actually biting down properly.

Calling out @nippycrisp and @mathlete and @soccerluvof4


[MOD NOTE: changed title from "You Know You Have OCD Tendencies When You....." to "You Know You Have Obsessive Or Compulsive Tendencies When You....." to fit more in line with OP's idea per discussion below regarding the clinical term "OCD."]

[Blackeagle]

You Know You Have OCD When You.....

Are bothered by the ellipsis in the title of this thread having too many dots.

[jinga nation]

You Know You Have OCD When You.....

Are bothered by the ellipsis in the title of this thread having too many dots.

and double-bothered by each word of OP's statement having an initial letter in upper case.

[simonsez]

...have unread emails in my personal email and it gives me anxiety.  I make an effort to unsubscribe as necessary to the junk so that I can focus on the ones from friends and family.

...always rearrange your playing cards so that the club, heart, and spade pips always face the same direction.

Those are my two big ones, I can be pretty sloppy with most other things.

My friend doesn't do odd numbers on TV volume.  That was something.  Years ago we were on vacation with a group of people and were relaxing about to watch a movie.  We get it set up and then after the initial movie comes on, it wasn't loud enough so someone with the remote turns it up.  A couple minutes go by and then my friend gets up and goes to the tv in a hurried manner and knocked it down one notch so it would be an even number.  You could tell she was mildly stressed by it.  Poor thing.

[Metalcat]

You sure you want to go with the term "OCD" here?

[JGS1980]

...have unread emails in my personal email and it gives me anxiety.  I make an effort to unsubscribe as necessary to the junk so that I can focus on the ones from friends and family.

...always rearrange your playing cards so that the club, heart, and spade pips always face the same direction.

Those are my two big ones, I can be pretty sloppy with most other things.

My friend doesn't do odd numbers on TV volume.  That was something.  Years ago we were on vacation with a group of people and were relaxing about to watch a movie.  We get it set up and then after the initial movie comes on, it wasn't loud enough so someone with the remote turns it up.  A couple minutes go by and then my friend gets up and goes to the tv in a hurried manner and knocked it down one notch so it would be an even number.  You could tell she was mildly stressed by it.  Poor thing.

I do the cards and unread emails thing as well. Volume management, not so much.

[SquashingDebt]

You sure you want to go with the term "OCD" here?

+1

signed, someone with actual OCD

[simonsez]

You sure you want to go with the term "OCD" here?

@Malcat @SquashingDebt I'm not the OP and do not have an OCD diagnosis but what would be the PC way to go about asking for quirks?  Is that it - just replace OCD with quirks?

From the wiki page: "The phrase obsessive–compulsive is sometimes used in an informal manner unrelated to OCD to describe someone as being excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated."

I guess you're are saying it is incorrect to use the term in the informal manner.  I think this is a good learning opportunity to know the preferred terminology.

[Metalcat]

You sure you want to go with the term "OCD" here?

@Malcat @SquashingDebt I'm not the OP and do not have an OCD diagnosis but what would be the PC way to go about asking for quirks?  Is that it - just replace OCD with quirks?

From the wiki page: "The phrase obsessive–compulsive is sometimes used in an informal manner unrelated to OCD to describe someone as being excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated."

I guess you're are saying it is incorrect to use the term in the informal manner.  I think this is a good learning opportunity to know the preferred terminology.

Neurotic, or obsessive, or compulsive, but not OCD, which is a specific medical condition.

It is very common to misuse it, but I think times are rapidly changing that it will go the way of "retarded" eventually.

Actual OCD just isn't common enough for people to be sensitized to how brutal it can be for people, but all it takes is one exposure and you're like "fuck, I will never toss that around casually ever again".

At least that was my experience. I'm totally guilty of having used OCD until I met a patient with life crippling OCD.

[Kem]

That is a rather weighty D @JGS1980….  Although I certainly hit the OC.

Sitting down to a workstation with any dust or clutter present – even if not in my field of view.  Nick-knacks are evil.  All must be purged or I am unable to fully focus attention on the problem at hand. 

Need for reset period after having to deal with others’ emotional and oft illogical issues.

Need for reset period after having to deal with over stimulated sound.  City’s SUCK.

Being asked to divert my attention from the task at hand or solve a problem in a less than absolutely certain way. 
 
Sleep deprivation upon knowing that I’ll have to interact in a group of more than 3-4 folks.

Sleep deprivation if I do not:
* Triple check garage door closed, car door locked, house door locked, etc.
* Read 30 pages each of 2 furthering knowledge books
* Drink 2 full glasses of water

When I re-take a yearly administered Stanford Binet and fall under 132 – almost always due to sleep deprivation impacting my working memory score.  Sends me into a study cycle until the practice rounds re-hit my minimal target.
 
Small talk.  Instantly off-putting.

Social pressure for physical contact.  Instantly off-putting.

Ensuring key items are in their designated spots. 

Writing -anything- and the need to go back and re-examine repeatedly for errors.  Not necessarily to remediate, but to file away for attempting to prevent in future writings.

A compulsion to hit physical health points at certain points of the day – when to brush teeth & for how long, when to lift weights, need to fully catalog every gram of nutritional intake, etc.

Checking car fluid levels, life/age remaining, etc.  Before every single use.

The need to find patterns and associations in – everything.  Do not get me started on 11.

A closet with more than 11 of any single type of item.  A closet not in type + color hue order.  A closet with hangers not 1 finger width apart.

[Kris]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

[foghorn]

Well, I certainly have my quirks.  Here are a few;


- When dishes come out of the dishwasher, they go to bottom of stack in the cabinet.  Even wear that way.

- Clothes in the closet are sorted from lightest color to darkest color.  The hangars are also equally spaced.

- Music CD's (yes I still have CD's) in my CD rack are sorted alphabetical by artist - and chronological within artist.

- Whenever leaving the house (especially if I will be gone overnight) - I do many checks to make sure doors are locked, most items are unplugged, water is shut off at the main, lights are off, garage door is down, etc.  I have found that taking pictures with my phone of these things helps me cope.  If worried later I can look at my phone and - "yep, the coffee maker really is unplugged".

[JGS1980]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

I am struggling to find any derogatory intent in my initial post. We are all unique beings. If anything, my initial post was designed to demonstrate the positive aspects of this particular personality trait, forgive me if this was not conveyed as well as a better writer may have been able to demonstrate. Yes, OCD is a clinical diagnosis, I would know as I diagnose people with OCD (including possibly  myself). That  being said, That does not mean we should not cherish all the qualities that make us who we are.

[StarBright]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

^ This, thank you.

I have a close family member w/an OCD DX and when it is bad his life is totally on hold till it gets under control again. His intrusive thoughts get so bad that he stops leaving his house and goes through hoarding phases. He's a had a good several years, but there were some periods where we thought he wouldn't make it.

[StarBright]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

I am struggling to find any derogatory intent in my initial post. We are all unique beings. If anything, my initial post was designed to demonstrate the positive aspects of this particular personality trait, forgive me if this was not conveyed as well as a better writer may have been able to demonstrate. Yes, OCD is a clinical diagnosis, I would know as I diagnose people with OCD (including possibly  myself). That  being said, That does not mean we should not cherish all the qualities that make us who we are.

I think it comes down to the trivializing of OCD? Like "Oh, I'm so OCD, I always double check my locks."  It also makes it harder for those with real DXs in the world in some ways, right? Like if my family member discloses his OCD in a job setting as a disorder/medical need, the boss might be like "what's the big deal? You just like to clean?"

[SquashingDebt]

You sure you want to go with the term "OCD" here?

@Malcat @SquashingDebt I'm not the OP and do not have an OCD diagnosis but what would be the PC way to go about asking for quirks?  Is that it - just replace OCD with quirks?

From the wiki page: "The phrase obsessive–compulsive is sometimes used in an informal manner unrelated to OCD to describe someone as being excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated."

I guess you're are saying it is incorrect to use the term in the informal manner.  I think this is a good learning opportunity to know the preferred terminology.

Good question!  I think @Malcat had some good suggestions.  You could also use particular, exacting, attentive to detail.  Quirks is a good one.

I have both actual OCD and what the OP was talking about - being particular about things, wanting things done a certain way, etc.  They're very different experiences.  An example of a quirk for me is wanting to fix capitalization in a list or spreadsheet so it's consistent for all of the cells.

Here's a very small example of the way my OCD makes my life harder: 

I go through phases where I worry about leaving my stove on when I leave the house.  A non-OCD person would simply check to make sure it's turned off, then leave the house.  At the peak of my stove-checking period, I would spend 10 minutes going through a complex ritual of looking at all the dials to make sure they show "off", touching the stove burners in a certain pattern and rhythm, and checking other things in my kitchen like my toaster oven to make sure they were unplugged.  I'd get through my whole routine and not be able to get the "just right" feeling that I had actually checked and confirmed that everything was off and safe.  So I'd start the whole process over again, with my anxiety ratcheting up minute by minute.  Eventually I'd have to tear myself away, still not convinced that the stove was really off.

OCD has stolen countless hours of my life through rituals like the above, and it doesn't make me better at being a Mustachian, or at any other parts of life.

I don't think there was any ill intention at all by the OP, but I agree with others who have posted on this thread that just because it's been used colloquially in the past, doesn't mean that we need to keep using it that way and inadvertently minimizing the experiences of those with actual OCD.

[SquashingDebt]

Here's a description of someone struggling from OCD, from the book Freedom From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, for more perspective:

I work in the city, and it’s such a filthy place. If I could have my way, I wouldn’t go there, that way I wouldn’t have to go near so many dirty people—people sneezing, coughing, touching everything—but that’s where my law firm is. During the day, I’m not too bad. I have dirty clothes for wearing outside and decontaminated clothes for home. I make sure to keep my hands away from my mouth during the day, and I’ll only go out to lunch at certain clean restaurants.

But when I get home, that’s when the ordeal begins. I make everyone in the family come into the house through the laundry room. That way they can take their clothes off down there, go straight to the downstairs shower to wash, and then put on house clothes. I have everyone keep house clothes separate from going-out clothes. The going-out clothes have to be washed three times before I feel they are clean. After I’m done with them, I run the empty washer two more times to get it clean enough to wash the house clothes.

My laundry procedure is as follows: I take a shower and put on gloves to take the going-out clothes to the washer. I carefully put them in and then put the detergent in and turn the machine on. I then take the gloves off, throw them away, and wash my hands. When the cycle is finished, I get another pair of gloves, put the detergent in, and start the machine. Then I throw away those gloves and wash my hands. Then I do this one more time. When the final load of the night is done, I clean the outside of the machine with ammonia during each of the two cleansing cycles.

We go food shopping on Saturday. All cans and packages that can be washed are. For boxed goods, I put on gloves and carefully open the top of the box and peel it away, so that nothing inside could possibly touch the outside. Then I put the contents in decontaminated Tupperware containers. The kids’ school books and papers used to be a problem—I didn’t want to let them into the house, but I knew I couldn’t do that, so we have a special homework room and homework clothes for them. I hate this problem and what it’s done to me. I have a great family; they put up with me, even though I put them through hell. I know none of it makes sense, but you don’t know what it feels like, trying to be so perfect to get things clean that you know don’t really have to be. No one else does this, but then I think about getting AIDS or my family getting it. And what if I was the unlucky one to somehow get it from something someone with AIDS touched. What if . . .  

Grayson, Jonathan. Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (p. 8). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[Focus_on_the_fire]

Oh, yes, checking the stove. I’ve done everything you describe including taking a picture with my phone just to prove to myself it was off after I left. This is all the while knowing it was, in fact, off. My episodes correspond to times of great stress in my life. I feel for everyone living with this condition.

[Kris]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

I am struggling to find any derogatory intent in my initial post. We are all unique beings. If anything, my initial post was designed to demonstrate the positive aspects of this particular personality trait, forgive me if this was not conveyed as well as a better writer may have been able to demonstrate. Yes, OCD is a clinical diagnosis, I would know as I diagnose people with OCD (including possibly  myself). That  being said, That does not mean we should not cherish all the qualities that make us who we are.

No, there was definitely no derogatory intent in your initial post. That's very clear!

But intent and effect are two different things. It's possible to do harm without intending to.

[moneypitfeeder]

I have found that taking pictures with my phone of these things helps me cope.  If worried later I can look at my phone and - "yep, the coffee maker really is unplugged".

Thank you, I will try this. (edited to say the stove is my nemesis too)

[StarBright]

Oh, yes, checking the stove. I’ve done everything you describe including taking a picture with my phone just to prove to myself it was off after I left. This is all the while knowing it was, in fact, off. My episodes correspond to times of great stress in my life. I feel for everyone living with this condition.

^ me too on the high stress :) I do not have OCD, but do have anxiety. Based on the genetic likelihood, I suspect I tip into OCD like behaviors in high stress times.

The worst it ever got was extreme stress at home and at work and at one point I realized I had started taking a walk every time I heard a siren (I live two blocks from a fire station). I would walk to the corner where I could see my kids' school and know that everything was okay. I was doing it multiple times a day. I had to make a conscious effort to stop and it was deeply uncomfortable.

[soccerluvof4]

you know you have OCD when your friend drops you off in HS on the road and it takes you over an hour to get into the house because even though you didnt step on a crack you doubt yourself and go back to the street and walk to the house time and time again till your exhausted.

You know you have OCD when you Iron a shirt , you live on the second floor and you get to your car and ask your self if you left the Iron on. Then you do it  again and again till the last second so you still get to work on time.

You know you have OCD when you constantly have to wash your hands and wash them raw because you feel like you havent got them clean.

The bigger problem with OCD to get over one obstacle you usually create another. So you make it to the house without walking on a crack in your mind BUT now you have to grab the door nob with all your fingers touching the door. But its works for a while then your stuck doing both things again.

You know you have OCD when your sitting in the Movie theatre and your drinking a soda and each time you have to take 4 sips without thinking you got any air in the straw. You only quit because you drink and entire large soda in a matter of minutes.

Doing all these things are because if you dont do them right you think something bad will happen to you or someone else because you didnt do it right and that creates anxiety.

The difference between having OCD and OCD tendencies is when it gets to a point it controls your life. One of the most prescribed medications is Clonazepam. Its also given to epileptics. The reason is because its kinda like your brain skips when you get a thought or idea you dont like you keep repeat it or reliving it. Clonazepam for a lot of people within a week will slow your thoughts down so you can rationally think about things. Institutions however are filled with people that meds dont help and cant even get through a doorway. So when people say " I have OCD because the chairs are not in line" it really bothers people with real OCD because they truly suffer from the disease.  I am one of the Lucky ones as almost 30 years to now I have been on Clonazepam , fortunately never had to have it to be increased and after a week of being on it almost all of my symptoms went away but that was after a years of hiding it and not been able to sleep and finally collapsing at the YMCA at 27 from lack of sleep. And the things I listed were the easier laughable ones for me. There are the bad thoughts you might do something or hiding of knives and so on. Anyhow , Over the last 30 years occasionally because I did things for so long I will catch myself doing something and laugh about it but otherwise its for the most part gone. But most people have some OCD tendencies.

[Focus_on_the_fire]

The worst it ever got was extreme stress at home and at work and at one point I realized I had started taking a walk every time I heard a siren (I live two blocks from a fire station). I would walk to the corner where I could see my kids' school and know that everything was okay. I was doing it multiple times a day. I had to make a conscious effort to stop and it was deeply uncomfortable.

That must have been terrible for you. What is the worst part is knowing that what you're doing isn't logical and yet feeling compelled to do it anyway. Fortunately, I've gotten relief from doing stress reducing techniques--deep breathing, meditation, etc.



 

[Taran Wanderer]

...have unread emails in my personal email and it gives me anxiety.  I make an effort to unsubscribe as necessary to the junk so that I can focus on the ones from friends and family.

...always rearrange your playing cards so that the club, heart, and spade pips always face the same direction.

You mean everybody doesn’t do this?  Of course, it goes without saying that all the cards need to be in numerical order and by suit. Whether suit or number is primary depends on the game.

[Taran Wanderer]

Okay, now I’ve read the whole thread, and I think maybe I’ll never use OCD the same way again. I’m definitely organized, and clutter gives me some mild anxiety, but a couple those examples are truly frightening. True OCD sounds awful.

Time to go clean up my email inbox, but only after I carefully cut equal sized squares of cheese for a snack.

[StarBright]

The worst it ever got was extreme stress at home and at work and at one point I realized I had started taking a walk every time I heard a siren (I live two blocks from a fire station). I would walk to the corner where I could see my kids' school and know that everything was okay. I was doing it multiple times a day. I had to make a conscious effort to stop and it was deeply uncomfortable.

That must have been terrible for you. What is the worst part is knowing that what you're doing isn't logical and yet feeling compelled to do it anyway. Fortunately, I've gotten relief from doing stress reducing techniques--deep breathing, meditation, etc.

I've had good luck with physical grounding exercises! Holding or sucking ice cubes or sucking on a lemon or something sour is super useful for me.

[Morning Glory]

That is a rather weighty D @JGS1980….  Although I certainly hit the OC.

Sitting down to a workstation with any dust or clutter present – even if not in my field of view.  Nick-knacks are evil.  All must be purged or I am unable to fully focus attention on the problem at hand. 

Need for reset period after having to deal with others’ emotional and oft illogical issues.

Need for reset period after having to deal with over stimulated sound.  City’s SUCK.

Being asked to divert my attention from the task at hand or solve a problem in a less than absolutely certain way. 
 
Sleep deprivation upon knowing that I’ll have to interact in a group of more than 3-4 folks.

Sleep deprivation if I do not:
* Triple check garage door closed, car door locked, house door locked, etc.
* Read 30 pages each of 2 furthering knowledge books
* Drink 2 full glasses of water

When I re-take a yearly administered Stanford Binet and fall under 132 – almost always due to sleep deprivation impacting my working memory score.  Sends me into a study cycle until the practice rounds re-hit my minimal target.
 
Small talk.  Instantly off-putting.

Social pressure for physical contact.  Instantly off-putting.

Ensuring key items are in their designated spots. 

Writing -anything- and the need to go back and re-examine repeatedly for errors.  Not necessarily to remediate, but to file away for attempting to prevent in future writings.

A compulsion to hit physical health points at certain points of the day – when to brush teeth & for how long, when to lift weights, need to fully catalog every gram of nutritional intake, etc.

Checking car fluid levels, life/age remaining, etc.  Before every single use.

The need to find patterns and associations in – everything.  Do not get me started on 11.

A closet with more than 11 of any single type of item.  A closet not in type + color hue order.  A closet with hangers not 1 finger width apart.

Sounds a bit like ASD .. not presuming to diagnose you. I knew nothing about it until my kids got diagnosed. I have a few of the traits and my husband has more.  Fixation on routines and patterns, easily overstimulated, put off by small talk, it fits. That thing with the clothes made me smile. My son used to line up his crayons and toys in rainbow order.

[mspym]

This was published in March https://thewalrus.ca/ocd-is-not-a-joke/

I recently realized that I went three months without using my stove, reasoning that, if I never turned it on, then I didn’t have to worry about checking it. If food needed to be heated, I microwaved it or used boiling water from a kettle, or else I didn’t eat it at all. That lasted until I began to think about checking the microwave and kettle, at which point I switched to sandwiches and cereal. My OCD has cost me so many moments and opportunities.

I dread my morning checking routine so much that I stay in bed well past my alarm, thinking of all the rituals that must be done. I lie in bed for as long as I can, staring at my bedroom ceiling, listening to my upstairs neighbour race around in the morning. I live in an old building, where every floorboard creaks and every footstep echoes. I can tell my neighbour’s morning routine takes her under an hour, and I envy her for it. But I’m also resentful, and not just because she appears to love wearing clogs. I so badly want to be someone who can run out the door in the morning, someone who grabs their keys and just goes.

[Kem]

Sounds a bit like ASD .. not presuming to diagnose you. I knew nothing about it until my kids got diagnosed. I have a few of the traits and my husband has more.  Fixation on routines and patterns, easily overstimulated, put off by small talk, it fits. That thing with the clothes made me smile. My son used to line up his crayons and toys in rainbow order.

No presumption assumed.  While not OCD, I certainly have my compulsive quirks.  Not fulfilling these quirks does produce noticeable discord in life and loss of focus.   

When still working in an office environment, I found that many (enjoyed?) expending their life’s energy fixated on TV and then measuring me against those characters’ traits:  I’ve been subjected to quips comparing me to Sheldon, Bones, Sherlock, Etc, or introduced by management as – “our very own savant”.  I’m not certain if these are supposed to be badges of honor or shame, but I really don’t care.

I’ve never sought relief from a label being content with my being as I am. My wife however loves labels, teaches a high percentage of SPED kids, and has mentioned that many of her students labeled with Asperger’s (which apparently is now renamed to Level 1 ASD) show more mild traits than I.

[darkskys]

I dislike when people used OCD to describe silly things like being particular about a certain way you do something. For example “my husband is OCD because he keeps a really clean desk and carefully organizes the closet”.

It’s like saying bipolar because they might be crabby one day and happy the other. These are ways of describing this behavior without using the word OCD.

I was called OCD the other day at work over a web call because my office is nicely decorated and organized.

[simonsez]

...have unread emails in my personal email and it gives me anxiety.  I make an effort to unsubscribe as necessary to the junk so that I can focus on the ones from friends and family.

...always rearrange your playing cards so that the club, heart, and spade pips always face the same direction.

You mean everybody doesn’t do this?  Of course, it goes without saying that all the cards need to be in numerical order and by suit. Whether suit or number is primary depends on the game.

Correct, not everyone does these things.  My wife's personal email ubiquitously has unread ones.  In casual convos with friends and family over the years, her method of personal email maintenance or lack thereof seems to be more common than someone with zero unread.

As for cards, I'm not sure how common it is to make the symbols what I would consider "rightside up" but no one else in my spades and pinochle leagues seem to do it nor anyone in my poker games.  I am headed to a family party this evening where there are good odds I'll play euchre.  While only six cards would have the need for flipping in that game (A9 of spades, hearts, and clubs) rather than the full 21 that might need arranging in a 52 card game, I will keep my eyes peeled.  Yes, everyone I know besides my FIL puts cards in some type of order - I meant the orientations of the pips themselves.  If you are like me, bully!  Having more order is satisfying!

@SquashingDebt thanks to you and others for the clarifications and extra info on this topic.

[Just Joe]

I have found that taking pictures with my phone of these things helps me cope.  If worried later I can look at my phone and - "yep, the coffee maker really is unplugged".

Thank you, I will try this. (edited to say the stove is my nemesis too)

I recognize that apartment dwellers might have limited access to your breaker panel but could you just switch off the breaker and know that even if the dials are turned on - nothing can possibly get power then? I like the pictures with you phone solution.

[Metalcat]

I have found that taking pictures with my phone of these things helps me cope.  If worried later I can look at my phone and - "yep, the coffee maker really is unplugged".

Thank you, I will try this. (edited to say the stove is my nemesis too)

I recognize that apartment dwellers might have limited access to your breaker panel but could you just switch off the breaker and know that even if the dials are turned on - nothing can possibly get power then? I like the pictures with you phone solution.

You can't really outsmart mental illness. If something like that did work, then another OCD issue would probably take its place.

Like, the stove thing isn't really about the stove being off, just like the lock-unlock routines, or the light switch routines, or the counting aren't really about whatever it is that they feel like they're about.

The whole issue is that the overwhelmingly compulsive urge can't be satisfied.

[big_owl]

Woo hoo, OCD is such a funny thing!!  I'm glad non-OCD people understand how debilitating it can be.  Golly I shoulda just been taking some pics on my phone all these years and everything would have been fine!   Ah geez....

[BlueHouse]

My mom's cousin had OCD.  She lived with her parents until she eventually took her own life.  Parents couldn't leave her alone for even an hour or two because they would come home and find every blanket in the house would be in the bathtub soaking.  Rugs would be taken into the laundry, etc.  Sweaters, etc.  The parents were by this time in their 60s and just couldn't spend the hours to pull all these wet items out and let them dry for days.  (This was in the days before lightweight miracle fabrics, so we're talking about heavy wool blankets that smelled like dog when wet, no clothes dryer, etc.)

It was very hard on them. 

[jehovasfitness23]

Prep a car for ceramic coating that includes 2 coatings of the ceramic, then 1 coating of a topper to the ceramic.

Wash, iron remover, wash, clay bar, wax remover spray, ceramic coat, ceramic coat, topper coat, detail spray

[RedmondStash]

Very interesting thread. I'm impressed that what could have turned into a heated argument has been largely temperate and respectful, even where there are disagreements.

I bet the OP had no idea this conversation would go the way it did. Can of worms, who knew? :)

And I appreciate the info shared here. I didn't know a lot of it and am glad to know now.

So. My mild OC tendencies (not to the level of disorder):

- Disliking incorrect capitalization, punctuation, and grammar (I'm a professional editor). Don't get me started about "as such."
- Straightening things on tables so lines run parallel, like remote controls or silverware. This is a handy skill in 3D video game development, which I also do.
- Opening a big bag of M&Ms and sorting them by color. This is not a compulsive thing, but a pleasant bringing-order-out-of-chaos thing, especially in these chaotic times. It works as a calming meditative exercise for me. Plus, candy!

[EricEng]

Here's a description of someone struggling from OCD, from the book Freedom From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, for more perspective:

I work in the city, and it’s such a filthy place. If I could have my way, I wouldn’t go there, that way I wouldn’t have to go near so many dirty people—people sneezing, coughing, touching everything—but that’s where my law firm is. During the day, I’m not too bad. I have dirty clothes for wearing outside and decontaminated clothes for home. I make sure to keep my hands away from my mouth during the day, and I’ll only go out to lunch at certain clean restaurants.

But when I get home, that’s when the ordeal begins. I make everyone in the family come into the house through the laundry room. That way they can take their clothes off down there, go straight to the downstairs shower to wash, and then put on house clothes. I have everyone keep house clothes separate from going-out clothes. The going-out clothes have to be washed three times before I feel they are clean. After I’m done with them, I run the empty washer two more times to get it clean enough to wash the house clothes.

...

That's describing germaphobia/mysophobia more than OCD.  That description doesn't fit other parts of OCD too well.  I do feel it is a spectrum, not defined exclusively by the extremes.

OCD is dominated by debilitating rituals.  I would spend literally hours trying to go to sleep.  I had a certain order everything had to be touched and arranged exactly.  At the worst I had about 50 items around my room I had to touch and if at any point the touch didn't "feel right" I had to start over which always happened dozens of times.  This was infuriated by a closet door that didn't quite latch and would shift a bit, double/triple/quad checking light switches to make sure they are "fully" in the "off" position for instance, arranging pictures, adjusting the position of my trash can, adjusting my blinds, adjusting items in the closet.  After all that I would lay there and pray I didn't get the urges for anything I didn't touch "right/correct" before I could pass out.

Anything askew in a place I was sitting for a while would nag at me incessantly until either I adjusted it or left the area.  From pre school age on, I had a mental map with a line following (ala Family Circus) where I always had to backtrack my steps, as if a cord was following me and not wrap it around chairs and tables, also applied to entering and exiting of builds.  So even if I was most of the way around a table I would have to go back around the long away with odd stares and comments. 

I would nearly pass out because the OCD would even affect my breathing.  I would get stuck in mental manual breathing and start trying to "breathe right", but it wasn't right so I would keep redoing this weird breathing cycle that wasn't getting enough air.  Parents and doctors thought it was asthma and gave me lots of asthma inhalers which would trigger other OCD issues.

The whole issue is that the overwhelmingly compulsive urge can't be satisfied.

My life was dominated by these irrational urges, you can sometimes satisfy them for a moment, but you are right it is so much more than "Did I lock the door".  It's more "Did it feel right when I locked the door".  Answer was always "No", now repeat 10+ times.  I sometimes envied those that just had to do things a fixed amount of times to reach the right feeling as mine was always more abstract. At times it did have to be an even number of attempts though.

Years of doctors and psychologists who failed to understand this.  It took many years of excruciating work to break free, years of darkness that I almost didn't survive while seaking release from the compulsions.  So yeah, most of what people are describing here is obsessive behavior, but not OCD which is thrown around lightly.

[catccc]

I get having a thread to talk about people's weird quirks (I certainly have plenty of them), but from what I know, OCD is actually a terrible, life-damaging disease. I'm not gonna joke about it, because when you know better, you do better.

Yeah, can we rename this thread, please?  It really is insensitive. 

This is coming from a mom who's kid has suffered from severe, debilitating OCD.  Imagine you are a kid thinking that something would never be clean enough and the only way to escape the anxiety over this alternate reality that OCD has created is death.  You would do it yourself, but you are literally paralyzed with anxiety because if you move you will spread the contamination, so you can't move from your position to hurt yourself.  So you ask your mom to kill you, and all she can do is sob and say she will not.  Seriously awful memories.  OCD is no joke, it isn't something that should be thrown around casually to mean people who choose to be unusually exacting about certain things.

And for anyone reading this that has OCD or knows someone with it.  ERP and anti-anxiety meds are your best bet to put it into dormancy.  Then be vigilant about lapse prevention.  My kid got out of the clutches of OCD once, but wishful thinking led me to be lax about lapse prevention, and a terrifying lapse occurred last week.  But we will beat this again.  Also, if you know someone that has OCD, don't try to "help" them by fixing things (cleaning, checking, reassuring) to reduce their anxiety.  It's a short term fix that ultimately makes the OCD stronger.  Rather than ritualizing to reduce anxiety created by obsessions, the person with OCD needs to realize that the anxiety will dissipate, in time, without the ritual/compulsion/response.  Stay with them until it passes, if they can stand it.  (Sometimes OCD has to win, while the person works on smaller steps to address it.)

Do I love my towels folded and stacked a certain way?  Do I check my net worth and recalculate my time to FI incessantly at times?  Yes, but I only do these things to serve me, I'm not going to be thrown into an anxiety soaked panic if I don't do them.  That is not OCD.


[MOD NOTE: Thread title renamed. Thanks to everyone for the good discussion regarding the term "OCD" and explanation of why using the words obsessive or compulsive without using the clinical term "OCD" is better. Cheers all!]