OCD is Baaaaaaaad...

[Photographiend]

So easy to tell when I am over stressed. This week alone I have scrubbed my shower 4 times once on tues, once on wed, and twice today... and I still don't feel like it is clean.

So hate OCD.

Curious though, does anyone else here struggle with it?

 

[TimothyJinx]

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Oops, I'm repeating again. I just couldn't get it to sound right the first couple of times.

 

[CowgirlMama]

Not nearly as bad as many people, but, yes, I have some major OCD tendencies. Not fun.

 

[Photographiend]

Yay! I am not alone :mrgreen:

 

[tirediron]

Worst OCD decision EVER!

 

[TimothyJinx]

Worst OCD decision EVER!

Yeah, that's a toughie. I would probably accidentally add .02¢ and screw the whole thing up.

 

[leighthal]

I live in OCD hell.

Me: Obsessed with doors being shut at all times. Obsessed with not having paper in the house. Obsessed about rhythmic noises (to the tune, that once i hear a noise I can't unhear it and it drives me to tears)
Son: Loves to leave every cupboard door open. Hordes paper. Obsessed with making rhythmic noises.

You would think after 18 years I'd be used to it by now..... not so much!

 

[Dagwood56]

I'm prone to it and struggle with it when very stressed .... like recently. Always need things to be in even numbers, like buying something at the store I won't buy three cans, it always has to be two or four. That is actually a constant for me and is there even if I'm not stressed. I also hate to have my routines upset or changed in any way, which is what I'm having the most problem with right now. It seems every day "something" happens that prevents me from doing a chore or whatever "on time" and then I get more stressed - vicious circle!! I'm not as bad as he is, but I guess you could say I have a lot of the same character traits as Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory....I'm also a bit of a germaphobe, especially when it comes to my food. It takes more time for me to wash my hands in between openeing the fridge and touching things than it does for me to make the meal I'm eating....yet I eat take out food with no problem, so go figure. lol

 

[runnah]

Did everyone remember to turn the iron off?

What about the stove?

I am going to wash my hands.

 

[TimothyJinx]

I'm also a bit of a germaphobe, especially when it comes to my food. It takes more time for me to wash my hands in between openeing the fridge and touching things than it does for me to make the meal I'm eating....yet I eat take out food with no problem, so go figure. lol

It's because OCD is not a rational disorder. Nothing about it makes sense - that's part of what makes it so tortuous.

I'm a VERY picky eater and I've always envied people who can eat anything, anywhere.

 

[PixelRabbit]

I'm very obsessive with random interests, I don't know what it will be that I will obsess over, in the past it has been darts, jewelry making, poker (no I never had a gambling problem, my obsessive tendencies saved me from that oddly enough) and most recently photography.
Once I start I am consumed by it daily and I struggle to get balance in my life.

 

[KenC]

I don't suffer from it (at least not in any serious way), but I know there are medications that can be extremely helpful. You (OP) should see a doctor and investigate this.

 

[Dagwood56]

I don't suffer from it (at least not in any serious way), but I know there are medications that can be extremely helpful. You (OP) should see a doctor and investigate this.

As someone who has tried a few of those meds in the past --- they make you feel really "off " and I prefer to feel like myself. Also, for me anyway, the meds made me feel so "off " that, that in itself caused me even more stress.

 

[Photographiend]

I'm very obsessive with random interests, I don't know what it will be that I will obsess over, in the past it has been darts, jewelry making, poker (no I never had a gambling problem, my obsessive tendencies saved me from that oddly enough) and most recently photography.
Once I start I am consumed by it daily and I struggle to get balance in my life.

That is like me. I will fixate on one thing then jump to the next and the next. Photography is kind of the perfect hobby for someone with OCD. No?

I don't suffer from it (at least not in any serious way), but I know there are medications that can be extremely helpful. You (OP) should see a doctor and investigate this.

I wouldn't take meds. I am abundantly aware of where my struggles lie and recently read a book written by a Dr who specializes in the field of OCD. In his career he actually developed a drug free process that can cure a person suffering from OCD. And I am talking cases waaaaaay beyond the level I experience it at.

I can explain how it works briefly as those who also suffer from it may find it intriguing. But there is a wiring in the brain just above and towards the back of the right eye that professionals regard as "The Worry Circuit", in a normal functioning brain this serves to alert someone when something is amiss in their environment. In a person who has OCD this circuit is constantly active.

So in short, there is usually something going on in our minds at all times that is telling us something is not right.

The compulsions are the tendencies we pick up to try to calm that feeling.

Any how for myself, I am trying to adopt the practice he described for myself. Nothing overly complicated. Just acknowledging when a thought I am having is triggered by the faulty wiring and denying myself a response to the compulsion in this case scrubbing the shower. It takes the mind approximately 15 minutes to let go of the urge to act on a compulsion so in that time you are advised to find something else to do like work in the yard for example. The scrubbing the shower thing is a new one for me and it wasn't until I sat down and tallied up how many times I had scrubbed it this week that I was like, 'wait a minute...' :raisedbrow:

 

[KenC]

I don't suffer from it (at least not in any serious way), but I know there are medications that can be extremely helpful. You (OP) should see a doctor and investigate this.

As someone who has tried a few of those meds in the past --- they make you feel really "off " and I prefer to feel like myself. Also, for me anyway, the meds made me feel so "off " that, that in itself caused me even more stress.

I'm sorry they didn't work out for you, but I know several people for whom meds did work (possibly not the same ones) without adverse side effects, so it still would be worth checking out for someone who hasn't tried this approach. It also depends a lot on what you mean by "in the past" - new meds are available all the time.

I've had several things prescribed for depression at various times and some of them were very helpful, some not so much. People I know have had varying experiences - anti-depressants that worked for me without adverse effects were not good for them and vice versa. It is very much a matter of individual brain chemistry, physiology, etc. Everyone needs to sort this out for themselves.