OCD.

My friend is pretty OCD. She has to do 90 crunches before she goes to bed or she can't sleep. She has to have everything right.

What I am, is what I like to call OCADD. I have to have chaos, or else I freak out. I can't sleep when my room is clean, and I can't find anything in a clean locker.:shifty It makes my mom so mad, but I'm perfectly happy living in filth. :XD

I'm don't have OCD, but everyone tells me I'm pretty close.
Personally I think I'm not.

When I eat, whether it's the Snickers bar or full time meal, the amount of food in my right cheek has to be equal to the left one. To the smallest crumb, or else I'll chew it with my front teeth.
When I change TV channels, I am blinking to the programs I like and stare at the ones I don't.
If my right hand itch, I scratch both of my hands at the same spot.
The distance between folded shirts and jeans in my closet has to be the same as the distance between the jeans and sweaters, which has to be equal with sweaters/skirts, then they have to be distanced the same from the clothes I wear everyday and the ones I wear to work and the season clothes.

If I walk past a sign and start reading it, I have to finish reading it, no matter where I am.
And if I touch something with one hand, sometimes I feel a need to touch it with the other hand.
It gets really irratating sometimes :/

I can't step twice on the same stair or it doesn't feel right. I have to have one foot on one stair.
I can't step on a crack or hit something with my foot, or I have to go back and step on it with my other foot or hit the other foot.
If I type more on my right hand than my left I have to use my left hand for a while, otherwise it doesn't feel right.
When I eat I have to chew an equal amount of food in both cheeks.
Sometimes I blink one eye more than the other, because the other one feels more blinked.

Everything has to be equal.

I had really extreme OCD a few years ago...so much so that I was even offered extra time during exams because of the fact that I re-read stuff and counted letters/words/lines (although I didn't accept it because I still finished exams well before the end, so it was not needed) and it did make my life difficult because I wouldn't talk to people until things felt 'right' or I had done a particular something.

But you know what, I think I just grew out of it. I just gradually stopped...I don't know how or why, but it was just something that happened. I'm glad it did because it was making my life hell, so if anyone has OCD - don't worry. Just keep thinking positive and try to distract yourself whenever you can! You can get over it :D

Scarlett Harlott.:

Definitely see a doctor, they are the only people who can specifically tell if you are suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

How would a doctor know if you have OCD? Or they can lie to you and put shit in your body that's bad for you.

^
1) If they're a psychiatrist, then easily.
2) How many doctors do you know who would do that? :|

What is OCD? It's just a label they can give you for something that you do, probably makes people feel like they cannot control it and don't try and fix it and change.

My mom has OCD and she takes meds for it. I'm not going to lie it gets really frustrating to deal with her sometimes. She doesn't have the OCD it sounds like you have, she has the obsessively cleaning and redecorating and the need to impress and just needless stuff. So it's safe to say that I clean a room or something almost everyday because she has to do something. But I would talk to a doctor because you can control it, even if it feels wrong trying to. I know I have slight OCD because well, my mom has it. But yeah talk to a doctor and see what you can do or you could just fight the habits that you do and see if that works.

I don't understand, what does a doctor or psychiatrist know about OCD that you don't?

^ They are a trained professional and have taken courses at university on psychiatric issues.

My cousin has OCD to the point where she hurts herself and makes her body bleed because she feels the need to scrub off the germs in the shower so profusely. She takes medication for it and combined with counselling/psychiatric help has managed to lessen it to an extent where she can live a normal life again.

OCD isn't just a series of 'normal' habits (like organising your bookcase or having to sleep on your stomach etc). It's something that can completely take over your life.

. My father's a doctor and I've seen the amount of work/private reading/research he does to ensure his patients get the best care. I've seen him kept awake all night worrying over his job. They don't just give you 'shit you don't need'. They do it because research dictates it would be beneficial to your phsyical and emotional needs. I think this attitude could be in some cases dangerous where one might feel 'too proud' or stubborn to visit and doctor and end up severely impacting their quality of life needlessly.

I realise I'm biased. But why would someone who has taken an oath (Yes, there is a medical oath) do something that would intentionally harm patients? It makes no sense to me.

Aaronnn:

What is OCD? It's just a label they can give you for something that you do, probably makes people feel like they cannot control it and don't try and fix it and change.

But some people trully cannot control it? Hence it being 'compulsive' meaning you can't stop.

If you knew what is in medicine / pills etc.

Let's put mercury in your mouth! That's a good idea!

^ Medicines have been tested; doctors aren't just feeding you any old chemicals. They wouldn't prescribe something if it was going to harm anyone. Besides, they do tell patients what it is they're giving them.

lol. no comment.

^You don't have to accept their ideas, but I'm not sure if this is the right thread to debate whether or not doctors help people :)
And they are just trying to help...which is more what this thread is for, y'know?

I don't know if it's OCD or anything to worry about, but since I was 6 or 7 I've had a lot of habits/compulsions and disturbing thoughts to go with them. For instance, I have to do everything in four, I feel the need to make sure everything is clean otherwise I'm scared it will give me cancer, etc. Regarding the thoughts, I always worry that I'm going to hurt people, like either stab/hit them or give them a disease... There are a lot of things that I worry about none of them really make sense.

It's incredibly annoying because I have anxiety and depression and teamed with all my 'obsessions', this often means I feel too afraid to leave the house, etc... I'm speaking to a psychiatrist about it soon, and I'm hoping that will help.

I don't know if I have it or not but I've noticed I always:

-avoid stepping on cracks, I never step on them.
- my books have to be in perfect order by author.
- I don't like things in a messy stack, I always make it into a neat pile with the biggest thing on bottom and the smallest on top.
- I can't eat foods if it's touched another food.
- whenever I crack a knuckle, I have to crack all of the knuckles.
- whenever I bite a fingernail, I have to bite off the rest.

I think I may have it....
Sometimes I have to do things with my left hand four times, and then do the same thing with my right hand three times...

Lately I feel like I'm slightly forming an OCD when it comes to writing. It's like, anytime I'm not writing a story that I feel needs to get done, it goes through my head the whole day bothering the shit out of me until I write. And I feel like I'm unaccomplished so I would go to my room for the most of the day and do nothing but write. It's kind of bad because I don't do much of anything else anymore like exercise or anything like that.