My OCD to a new level, how bad is yours?

[Charles Brown]

Out of curiosity are you considered hypervigilant?

I am, but I don't think that got much to do with OCD. I think that it's because I've been in law enforcement for 13 years.

 

[CrazyN8]

Not sure if OCD, but if my wife asks me whether I locked a door, any door I have to go check it again. Even if I vividly remember locking it not 1 minute ago.

 

[Charles Brown]

This is from the DSM 4. It should clear up a lot of this:

A. Either obsessions or compulsions:

Obsessions as defined by (1), (2), (3), and (4):

(1) recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress

(2) the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems

(3) the person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action

(4) the person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind (not imposed from without as in thought insertion)

Compulsions as defined by (1) and (2):

(1) repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly

(2) the behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive

B. At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable. Note: This does not apply to children.

C. The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships.

D. I another Axis I disorder is present, the content of the obsessions or compulsions is not restricted to it (e.g., preoccupation with food in the presence of an Eating Disorder; hair pulling in the presence of Trichotillomania; concern with appearance in the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder; preoccupation with drugs in the presence of a Substance Use Disorder; preoccupation with having a serious illness in the presence of Hypochondriasis; preoccupation with sexual urges or fantasies in the presence of a Paraphilia; or guilty ruminations in the presence of Major Depressive Disorder).

E. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

http://www.biologicalunhappiness.com/DSM-OCD.htm

This is a good explanation in layman's terms:

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts and repetitive, ritualized behaviors you feel compelled to perform. If you have OCD, you probably recognize that your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are irrational – but even so, you feel unable to resist them and break free.

Like a needle getting stuck on an old record, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or urge. For example, you may check the stove twenty times to make sure it’s really turned off, wash your hands until they’re scrubbed raw, or drive around for hours to make sure that the bump you heard while driving wasn’t a person you ran over.

Understanding OCD obsessions and compulsions
Obsessions are involuntary, seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again in your mind. You don’t want to have these ideas but you can’t stop them. Unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts are often disturbing and distracting.

Compulsions are behaviors or rituals that you feel driven to act out again and again. Usually, compulsions are performed in an attempt to make obsessions go away. For example, if you’re afraid of contamination, you might develop elaborate cleaning rituals. However, the relief never lasts. In fact, the obsessive thoughts usually come back stronger. And the compulsive behaviors often end up causing anxiety themselves as they become more demanding and time-consuming.

Most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) fall into one of the following categories:

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.
Just because you have obsessive thoughts or perform compulsive behaviors does NOT mean that you have obsessive-compulsive disorder. With OCD, these thoughts and behaviors cause tremendous distress, take up a lot of time, and interfere with your daily life and relationships.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/obsessive_compulsive_disorder_ocd.htm

 

[jackietreehorn8]

I'm the opposite. I seek out germs, they make you stronger. I give hotel remotes blowjobs.

 

[thetruth2709]

Because of the media

 

[Gawd]

I wash my hands just as much as you are describing dude, I think you might be OCD (or whatever you wanna call it) but because you are making youself sick... you see your "obsession" as a sickness and you MUST categorize it, you are creating your own sickness

I just call it that I like to wash my hands a lot... bite me... there is a lot worse things in the world so I will keep washing my hands

You just have not realized that you are sick yet.

 

[RSmith47]

I'm not buying that OCD can't be controlled with some will power. You are the one making yourself wash your hands or check things repeatedly, so you are the one that can stop it. People all too often act like things are out of their hands or impossible, when in fact they just don't put in the effort to fix it.

It's like saying we should feel sorry for serial killers because they have these sadistic compulsions that they can't control. You can control anything your mind wants you to do that isn't breathing, drinking water etc. It's putting in the effort to keep that control that some people don't do.

The only way you couldn't control it is if you 100% truly believed that you were going to get sick as soon as...say you touched a doorknob and didn't wash your hands a few minutes later. But I bet every one of you that does this knows in the back of their mind that it's silly. You know that it's possible you could get sick but it's certainly not probable because if it was, everyone would be sick all the time.

 

[Charles Brown]

I'm not buying that OCD can't be controlled with some will power. You are the one making yourself wash your hands or check things repeatedly, so you are the one that can stop it. People all too often act like things are out of their hands or impossible, when in fact they just don't put in the effort to fix it.

It's like saying we should feel sorry for serial killers because they have these sadistic compulsions that they can't control. You can control anything your mind wants you to do that isn't breathing, drinking water etc. It's putting in the effort to keep that control that some people don't do.

The only way you couldn't control it is if you 100% truly believed that you were going to get sick as soon as...say you touched a doorknob and didn't wash your hands a few minutes later. But I bet every one of you that does this knows in the back of their mind that it's silly. You know that it's possible you could get sick but it's certainly not probable because if it was, everyone would be sick all the time.

There's nothing that I can say to an idiot that won't get me banned. So, yea, have a nice day.

 

[Nick Kilian]

I also want to add your OCD to clean yourself to avoid sickness is probably going to lead you to an even worse sickness. Your body needs to be exposed to those types of bacteria to know how to fend it off.

 

[RSmith47]

There's nothing that I can say to an idiot that won't get me banned. So, yea, have a nice day.

You already compared OCD to cancer, so I'm sure you don't have anything important to say anyway.

 

[jukebox]

I count the corners of everything. It can be pretty annoying to count the four corners of whiteboard over and over again for example. I also have a need to tense and flex my nose repeatedly but I think my sniffing of my hands is the worst. Constantly, I sniff my hands, especially when I'm anticipating something important coming up.

 

[Enlitened]

I also want to add your OCD to clean yourself to avoid sickness is probably going to lead you to an even worse sickness. Your body needs to be exposed to those types of bacteria to know how to fend it off.

I understand that. For me it got worse through the years when I did get sick... esp during college. I got sick every month with a cold or whatever and as the years went on I took every precautionary measure I could not to get sick because I was sick of getting sick.

 

[SkinnyWhiteGuy]

Because of the media’s reporting of this year’s Influenza strains infecting the population at a record pace this short into the winter season, this has led me to wash my hands and avoid crowds more than ever before. I am a self diagnosed germaphobe which is a form of OCD I believe and this news just raised my OCD level from a 1…to say a 3. I also have a pregnant wife which just makes things worse…for my OCD that is. I politely yell at her to wash her hands after coming home from work.

I will wash my hands on average of 10-20 times a day…especially after touching community items like door knobs, bathroom doors, subway poles (NYC,) cash etc. If I shake someone’s hands I will wait until they leave the room or if I walk away first I then make my way to the closest restroom to wash my hands.

I don’t think I’m at the end of the spectrum, but if severe is 10 I think I’m at a 6 or 7.
Do any of you have a case of this type of OCD or any other types? Has it gotten worse? How does it affect your daily life? Mine affects my training. For example, I haven’t trained Jitz since before Xmas…

Jesus Christ, it must suck to be you. You must have really dry hands. Do you realize that you actually benefit from some exposure to these "germs?" It sounds like you're not making any attempt to correct your self-diagnosed germaphobia. Just stop with all your BS hand-washing and constantly thinking about germs. I know it's easier said than done, but it's like you're not even making an attempt. I've gone days without washing my hands (although I do take a shower every morning), and I haven't been sick for years. Obviously if I get something disgusting on my hands, or if I sneeze into them, I'll go wash them. If I was your wife, I'd get so much pleasure out of telling you that I washed my hands, but not actually ever washing them. :icon_lol:

 

[SkinnyWhiteGuy]

Oh, and I didn't get a flu shot this year. Since I was a dick to the TS in my previous post, I will be sure to come back in here and post if I do get the flu. I'm sure you all will be happy to hear that I'm sick.

 

[RSmith47]

Oh, and I didn't get a flu shot this year. Since I was a dick to the TS in my previous post, I will be sure to come back in here and post if I do get the flu. I'm sure you all will be happy to hear that I'm sick.

You weren't being a dick. Too many people these days are like "Oh I can't help it because I was diagnosed with this so and so disorder". It's all bullshit. Fix the part of your lives you aren't happy with and quit trying to justify them with bullshit disorders. Instead of manning up and fixing our problems, we want to try and find some reason to say it's impossible to fix because some idiot doctor somewhere stated that it's a real disorder or disease. Fix your shit people.

 

[Charles Brown]

You weren't being a dick. Too many people these days are like "Oh I can't help it because I was diagnosed with this so and so disorder". It's all bullshit. Fix the part of your lives you aren't happy with and quit trying to justify them with bullshit disorders. Instead of manning up and fixing our problems, we want to try and find some reason to say it's impossible to fix because some idiot doctor somewhere stated that it's a real disorder or disease. Fix your shit people.

Why don't you spend ten minutes or so getting to know what you're talking about BEFORE talking about it? That way, you might not look like such a jackass to everybody else.

Do you realize that the brain is an organ? Do you realize that your thoughts, feelings, and emotions aren't just psychological; they are governed by the transfer of neurotransmitters from one neuron to another? Sometimes those transfers are hindered by faulty receptors or excesses/deficiencies of certain neurotransmitters. It obviously gets much more complicated than that. But, to a moron like you, that should be enough to absorb in one night. When you decide to actually read something, you can start with the info found on this site:

http://www.ocfoundation.org/whatisocd.aspx

Just like any other organ in your body, your brain can experience problems. It's not a matter of deciding not to have OCD any more than it's a matter of deciding not to have any other illness.

Here's some info about possible causes for OCD. I'll post the first paragraph and the link so that you can read the rest (if your comprehension allows).

Biological causes of OCD have focused on a circuit in the brain which regulates primitive aspects of our behavior such as aggression, sexuality, and bodily excretions. This circuit relays information from a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex to another area called the thalamus and includes other regions such as the caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia. When this circuit is activated, these impulses are brought to your attention and cause you to perform a particular behavior that appropriately addresses the impulse.

http://ocd.about.com/od/causes/a/Causes_OCD.htm

I provided this information as a service to you. I have no desire to communicate with you any longer. As far as I'm concerned, you can go drag your knuckles somewhere else.

 

[goleta83**]

If I sit on a chair out in public somewhere, I change pants when i get home before I'll sit on my sofa. And oh dear lord the movies... I shower and change clothes.

 

[goleta83**]

This reminds me I need to order more alcohol wipes from ebay.

 

[Ladder Master]

I take 12-14 showers a week

Worry about shark attacks and leaks-that-occur-behind-walls-that-go-undiscovered
for-2.3years-that lead-to-some-form-of-mold.

Quad-checking seems completely reasonable.

Imagine working at a hospital around people with C-diff, MRSA, VRE, RSV(for those that have kids), Acinetobacter, and blood born pathogens. You havent lived life until you have scrubbed large amounts of HIV blood off hospital equipment.


My mild OCD is under wraps currently due to extreme lack of sleep brought on by taking-care-of toddler-that-wont-sleep-syndrome.