46 replies to this topic

[amjzz]

Im making this topic on the 18+ area because...it requires mature people for understand it.

Im also making this topic because i have read that many on this forum have it.

Quote

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.

People with OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. They may be obsessed with germs or dirt, and wash their hands over and over. They may be filled with doubt and feel the need to check things repeatedly.

Kinds of OCD attitudes:

-Washers are afraid of contamination. They usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions.

-Checkers repeatedly check things (oven turned off, door locked, etc.) that they associate with harm or danger.

-Doubters and sinners are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right something terrible will happen or they will be punished.

-Counters and arrangers are obsessed with order and symmetry. They may have superstitions about certain numbers, colors, or arrangements.

-Hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don’t need or use.

More info about it:

http://nimh.nih.gov/...ocd/index.shtml
http://helpguide.org...isorder_ocd.htm
http://en.wikipedia....ulsive_disorder

Spoiler

Personally, i have suffered OCD all my life, sometimes i spent days without eat because of the deep anxiety it causes, apart that it quite embarrasing to tell someone i suffer it because is not a "normal behaviour" to feel anxiety for something like this.

I have read many have it, i wonder if they were joking or if they really suffer it.

[Punky]

I'm diagnosed with it (Checker, Counter, and Hoarder). It makes simple daily chores and activities a living hell.

[amjzz]

RailGunner, on 13 June 2011 - 08:11 PM, said:

I'm diagnosed with it (Checker, Counter, and Hoarder). It makes simple daily chores and activities a living hell.

I can understand how you feel.

I fit in the category:

-Checkers.
-Doubters and sinners.
-Counters and arrangers.

Do the simplest things like wash the dishes can be extremely frustrating.

The constant feeling of guilt/anxiety for the guilt/anxiety for do something a certain numer of times can make life quite annoying.

[Kirei]

I'm not diagnosed with it but I wouldn't be surprised if I had it. I make lists of everything, and I mean everything. I have a list of every movie I own, every book in my house, every game I currently own or have owned in the past, all the files on my computer are organized neatly and I have a list for pretty much every folder filled with stuff I access often. There's much more.

Course, I'd never get diagnosed because my mom refuses to take me to see anyone.

[NegativeZeroZ]

I check to make sure I never lose anything, forget anything, or leave anything behind.

I do it when I leave my house, when I get in the car, when I get out of the car, when I enter a building, when I leave a building, I do it several times whenever I leave a place I won't be able to come back to without permission (like someone's office) and I do it when I get home before I even go in the door. Then I do it once more when I put everything away.

I do it every time someone bumps into me in a crowded area. Sometimes, I just do it randomly for no reason at all.

I also take obsessive pleasure in scratching things off my to-do list. Sometimes I'll put something I forgot to put on my list (which I just did) just to scratch it off. Even though I don't really need the list because my memory is really good, I'm obsessed with making sure not to forget anything.

My desk is covered in papers of reminders of things I have to come back later to do in RPGs. I'm an obsessive 100% completionist. Even when playing a game for the first time, the first thing I do is acquire a list of permanently missable items, monsters in the bestiary, sidequests and etc. and the game is never finished until there's nothing left to do.

I've never been diagnosed, but I seriously doubt I need to pay someone to tell me I do.

[Punky]

NegativeZeroZ, on 13 June 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

I check to make sure I never lose anything, forget anything, or leave anything behind.

I do it when I leave my house, when I get in the car, when I get out of the car, when I enter a building, when I leave a building, I do it several times whenever I leave a place I won't be able to come back to without permission (like someone's office) and I do it when I get home before I even go in the door. Then I do it once more when I put everything away.

I do it every time someone bumps into me in a crowded area. Sometimes, I just do it randomly for no reason at all.

I also take obsessive pleasure in scratching things off my to-do list. Sometimes I'll put something I forgot to put on my list (which I just did) just to scratch it off. Even though I don't really need the list because my memory is really good, I'm obsessed with making sure not to forget anything.

My desk is covered in papers of reminders of things I have to come back later to do in RPGs. I'm an obsessive 100% completionist. Even when playing a game for the first time, the first thing I do is acquire a list of permanently missable items, monsters in the bestiary, sidequests and etc. and the game is never finished until there's nothing left to do.

I've never been diagnosed, but I seriously doubt I need to pay someone to tell me I do.

It doesn't sound like you have it anyway. Most of the crap I do I wonder why the hell I do them to begin with because they don't help in any way at all, I just have to do them otherwise they'll continue to bug me mentally until I do. Maybe when I have more time, I'll make a list of all the rituals I must do in order to get through the day.

[Mikhael]

My dad has a serious case of OCD, so I clean like someone with OCD by force of habbit.

[amjzz]

RailGunner, on 13 June 2011 - 09:18 PM, said:

Most of the crap I do I wonder why the hell I do them to begin with because they don't help in any way at all, I just have to do them otherwise they'll continue to bug me mentally until I do.

I feel exactly the same.

Im aware that what i do don't help, but if i don't do it i will be anxious about it.

And once i do it i can feel "peace in my mind".

Its a "everything is fine now" feeling.

[NegativeZeroZ]

RailGunner, on 13 June 2011 - 09:18 PM, said:

It doesn't sound like you have it anyway.

I'll just have to disagree. I don't know anyone else without it who checks their stuff so much even though absolutely nothing has changed. Heaven forbid I do end up forgetting something, too, or it'll eat me alive for several days, and even past that I still won't forget my mistake, even if it was rather inconsequential.

[Katsukai]

Been there, never sought professional help though. On top of OCD I had issues regarding existentialism to. (Read to much philosophy =w=) It consisted of doing actions 2 times or more until I had done it "right". If not I would wake up in a world where everything is not real (Simulated reality, Dream world etc) If done right I would stay in the "Real world". Fucked up thoughts I know. I was scared shitless that this world might not be real. The reason I even had OCD was because of that.

My life was empty. Everything didnt matter anymore, because what use is there if everything is not real anyway I thought. Eventually after watching the ending of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Where they talked about different worlds aka multiverse, I realized that my thoughts and OCD might as well be a illusion created by myself. I said fuck it. There might be a chance that this world is real anyway. This OCD is just a illusion created by me. Nothing is going to happen if I dont carry out these actions in the "right" way. After that the OCD vanished and the worry regarding existentialism to.

Now I can look back at it in a positive light. Something I overcame and what made me stronger then ever.
OCD is really just a illusion created by yourself. Nothing bad will happen if you dont carry out these rituals. But in the end it's a fight you have to win.

[amjzz]

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a anxiety disorder, its not a "good" thing.

People with OCD often do things that have no sense, even for the person with OCD, but still do it because is an obsession and a complive attitude that causes anxiety in the case said obsession is not made.

Like the main topic say it, people with OCD have "rituals" that "normal people" may find unnecesary or weird.

For example:

Wash hands 4 times.
Open the door of a room 4 times.
Open a web browser 4 times.
Count until 4 before do something.

If said action is made in a number that is not 4, then the person feel anxious and have the need to do said action 4 times.

[andrena]

I've had several compulsions that have been defined as OCD, and it took quite a bit of discipline to reel them in. When I'd stop one, another would start. It started with nail biting as a kid, then a very brief but extremely difficult battle with trichotillomania, cleaning which is now within reason, but now I have a hand washing routine, that while not excessive and damaging, is required for me to feel comfortable. I've left it alone since it hasn't been as detrimental as the others. Regimental OCDs involve diet, exercise, and very precise tanning. The best way to keep it in control, for me, has been excessive physical exhaustion on a daily basis...which is kinda good because it keeps me in shape.

[Zephiel]

amjzz, on 13 June 2011 - 10:25 PM, said:

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a anxiety disorder, its not a "good" thing.

He never said it was a good thing, he said overcoming it made him stronger.

[amjzz]

Zephiel, on 13 June 2011 - 11:08 PM, said:

He never said it was a good thing, he said overcoming it made him stronger.

I wasn't talking to an specific person, i just wanted to make sure people notice its not something good.

[Zephiel]

amjzz, on 13 June 2011 - 11:11 PM, said:

I wasn't talking to an specific person, i just wanted to make sure people notice its not something good.

Ah alright, my bad then, though I don't know how someone could consider something with "disorder" in the name good.

[Punky]

amjzz, on 13 June 2011 - 09:23 PM, said:

I feel exactly the same.

Im aware that what i do don't help, but if i don't do it i will be anxious about it.

And once i do it i can feel "peace in my mind".

Its a "everything is fine now" feeling.

Hit the nail on the head there.

NegativeZeroZ, on 13 June 2011 - 09:39 PM, said:

I'll just have to disagree. I don't know anyone else without it who checks their stuff so much even though absolutely nothing has changed. Heaven forbid I do end up forgetting something, too, or it'll eat me alive for several days, and even past that I still won't forget my mistake, even if it was rather inconsequential.

It's not so much the compulsion themselves as it is how you feel when you're carrying them out. The obsession that's there isn't there for a purpose as in the case of say, you don't want to forget your homework so you make a list for that, or anything else for that matter. It's a literal feeling of anxiety. For instance, in the case of checking and counting, I must always look at my watch before going to bed. Once I do, I must immediately close my eyes on an even number, it can't be odd(because my brain doesn't like odd numbers for some reason), and whenever I'm walking, I must always count my pace and when I stop walking it must always be on an even number. Why? I sure as hell don't know but whenever I try to resist the urge to do these things, the thought of it consumes me until I eventually give in. I make lists as well and in the case of computers, I make folders for everything. However, I have no reason for doing any of this. I don't care much for organization like a perfectionist would and I honestly wouldn't do it if I could, yet it plagues me horribly if I try to resist. Of course I'm not a psychologist, nor a psych major while you are but from the things you said in your post, it honestly doesn't sound like OCD, more like just an extreme case of perfectionism, but I guess it still wouldn't hurt to get it checked out or anything.

[NegativeZeroZ]

RailGunner, on 13 June 2011 - 11:23 PM, said:

It's a literal feeling of anxiety.

My own fault for not putting emphasis on this. If I forget something, my entire day is pretty much a failure as far as I am concerned. On the flip side, filing away that list and putting all my stuff back is such a relief. I don't have to worry about forgetting anything anymore...

It definitely has its roots in perfectionism, but it feels like there's something more to it. As long as something is done on time, should it matter? I'm probably doing all of these things at least a week in advance beyond what is even practical. Is it really so horrible if I have to put something from yesterday's list on tomorrow's list? For me, it is. It's the worst.

[Punky]

NegativeZeroZ, on 14 June 2011 - 01:53 AM, said:

My own fault for not putting emphasis on this. If I forget something, my entire day is pretty much a failure as far as I am concerned. On the flip side, filing away that list and putting all my stuff back is such a relief. I don't have to worry about forgetting anything anymore...

It definitely has its roots in perfectionism, but it feels like there's something more to it. As long as something is done on time, should it matter? I'm probably doing all of these things at least a week in advance beyond what is even practical. Is it really so horrible if I have to put something from yesterday's list on tomorrow's list? For me, it is. It's the worst.

Well in that case, sure. Like I said before, never hurts to get it checked out. I'm not even sure mine as an official diagnosis since it was just my school's psychologist who did it. Yet either way, my parents refuse to get me medicated (well they refuse to believe in the existence of disorders altogether) so I'm basically left to my own devices on how to cope with it. At any rate, it's very annoying and my underachievement in school is partly to blame for it(would've aced a specialized high school exam if not for constantly checking and making sure the bubbles on the answer sheet were perfect and only ending up finishing half of the exam, despite only getting two incorrect out of the problems I had completed. That sure was fun.), but there's no use whining what I can't change, but yes. It's overall a rather irksome disorder. Sorry if I went off on a tangent there lol

[zjhentohlauedy]

There's also the part where people online fake it to "fit in"

funny enough cuz it works the opposite in real life

[amjzz]

RailGunner, on 14 June 2011 - 02:17 AM, said:

Yet either way, my parents refuse to get me medicated (well they refuse to believe in the existence of disorders altogether)

I can understand that.

My parents don't believe that depression exist, they always say "you are depressed because you want to".

And i don't need a diagnosis for know i have a OCD, its quite obvious after see the descriptions in many medical sites, since they describe what i feel perfectly.