Does anyone have OCD? : Obsessive compulsive disorder

I have OCD; I've had it since I was about 14, I was only diagnosed 3 years ago (I'm 37 now). I would like to explain, that having OCD is a severe life hindrance. My OCD morphs into other forms and it can be mentally draining, not only getting caught up in the thought cycle, but having to notice these thoughts and do nothing with them. I would not wish this upon anyone; the kick the pants so to speak is that at the end of my treatment, I asked, "will I have this for the rest of my life?", "Yes" they said.

I'm not here to damn the people who make light of OCD, because we all have a right to chose how we react to certain subjects. But I think a lot more research and may I say awareness needs to be implemented, not only for the professionals but also the public, that also goes for mental health, in general. I'd go into more detail, but being my first post, I think I will take it easy.:D
 
Fortitudine said:
I have OCD; I've had it since I was about 14, I was only diagnosed 3 years ago (I'm 37 now). I would like to explain, that having OCD is a severe life hindrance. My OCD morphs into other forms and it can be mentally draining, not only getting caught up in the thought cycle, but having to notice these thoughts and do nothing with them. I would not wish this upon anyone; the kick the pants so to speak is that at the end of my treatment, I asked, "will I have this for the rest of my life?", "Yes" they said.

I'm not here to damn the people who make light of OCD, because we all have a right to chose how we react to certain subjects. But I think a lot more research and may I say awareness needs to be implemented, not only for the professionals but also the public, that also goes for mental health, in general. I'd go into more detail, but being my first post, I think I will take it easy.:D
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Welcome, good first post. My other half has OCD so I know it is hard for the sufferers, as well as those who are close to them.
 
I mentioned earlier in the thread about suffering from OCD relatively badly at times, but I was wondering whether anyone has successfully used CBT?

I saw someone about it a few times, and obviously it works for some, however almost immediately said "this isn't for me". Fortunately it turned out that I was able to overcome OCD without it, but I was wondering whether anyone has found CBT ultimately productive?
 
toshj said:
I mentioned earlier in the thread about suffering from OCD relatively badly at times, but I was wondering whether anyone has successfully used CBT?

I saw someone about it a few times, and obviously it works for some, however almost immediately said "this isn't for me". Fortunately it turned out that I was able to overcome OCD without it, but I was wondering whether anyone has found CBT ultimately productive?
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Hi toshi

Yes, I had CBT! That is how I'm able to manage my symptoms; it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of repetition, plus modifying the techniques helped me.

It is noticing the thoughts as just thoughts and doing nothing with them, it takes a lot of practice and patients. I had CBT for 3 years; not the usual time frame, usually 6 months or so.

The more you try to get rid yourself of the thoughts or neutralize them with another thought, the more they torment you.

It's a battle. It's worth it though. :D
 
I have aspects of it. For example I bought 70 wooden hangers from Amazon last week for my shirts as I got tired of seeing 70 different hangers all over the place, different heights etc. I also constantly move things on my office desk to get them tidy and uniform and I always have to have BOTH heating controls at 21 degrees in the car and all my shoes have to be aligned on their cupboard.
 
Jegethy said:
I don't have diagnosed OCD but I believe that I do.

Some people think to themselves "On Minecraft I need to have the walls all the same block. Damn OCD!", but yeah, that's not OCD, that's just attention to detail.

I believe I have it as I cannot use plates, knives, mugs, etc without washing them first, even if they're already clean. I wash everything except plates with bleach because I believe it to be dirty unless I do that. I also don't use anything that someone else has used, like sharing a drink or food. I wash my hands after touching anything in public such as door handles or shopping basket handles.

Oh, and I never eat or drink in public unless there is nobody around because I think it's going to get dirty and make me sick.

There's a list of other things too. May just be weird mannerisms rather than OCD...
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All of this is highly ironic, because if you limit your contact with germs and bacteria, your body won't get much chance to familiarise itself with fighting it off when it needs to.

So you're increasing the likelihood of getting ill by the very thing you're doing that you believe will stop you from getting ill (which is pure irony).
 
spoffle said:
All of this is highly ironic, because if you limit your contact with germs and bacteria, your body won't get much chance to familiarise itself with fighting it off when it needs to.

So you're increasing the likelihood of getting ill by the very thing you're doing that you believe will stop you from getting ill (which is pure irony).
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There was a documentary on ITV a few months ago with some of the worst cases in the country and one lad was wearing his hands away with washing them so much which meant he was open to all sorts of infection.
 
Dimple said:
There was a documentary on ITV a few months ago with some of the worst cases in the country and one lad was wearing his hands away with washing them so much which meant he was open to all sorts of infection.
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I might have watched the same one, or the one I did watch covered the same subject.
 
I have to wash my hands a lot and i noticed the soap is making them very dry. The reason is though i wont go near my PC without washing them as they get sweaty and i dont want my mouse getting bogged up with sweat like Razer mice always do. And i have to shower about 2-3 times a day as well as soon as i can feel any sort of grease or sweat on my skin mostly my face i feel like i want to scrub it all with brushing salts or face wash with those little beads to get it clean.

I smoke in the kitchen also and i have to hoover it everyday as i despise all forms of dust and ash on my floor or over this netbook. So everyday i must hoover the kitchen,hallways,stairs and bathroom. I run out of steam by the time i get to the bedroom. People ask why i cant live with a bit of dirt or why it got like this i really do not know i just know that mentally it will eat me up until i clean it. Only then will i feel like i can sigh inside and know i can sit down for a few relaxing hours of Battlefield 4 and mental bliss.

Sometimes it is mental torture and a real fight.
 
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I've never had OCD but I've had periods when I would repeat things but I have will power to stop.
For instance for at least 3 weeks on my commute home I've been doing a certain thing on my bike in front of the Britannia Stadium on the car park and like a lot of people it gets to the point where if you don't do it something bad will happen so at that point I break the habit.
 
Rofflay said:
I have to wash my hands a lot and i noticed the soap is making them very dry. The reason is though i wont go near my PC without washing them as they get sweaty and i dont want my mouse getting bogged up with sweat like Razer mice always do. And i have to shower about 2-3 times a day as well as soon as i can feel any sort of grease or sweat on my skin mostly my face i feel like i want to scrub it all with brushing salts or face wash with those little beads to get it clean.

I smoke in the kitchen also and i have to hoover it everyday as i despise all forms of dust and ash on my floor or over this netbook. So everyday i must hoover the kitchen,hallways,stairs and bathroom. I run out of steam by the time i get to the bedroom. People ask why i cant live with a bit of dirt or why it got like this i really do not know i just know that mentally it will eat me up until i clean it. Only then will i feel like i can sigh inside and know i can sit down for a few relaxing hours of Battlefield 4 and mental bliss.

Sometimes it is mental torture and a real fight.
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It would be beneficial for you to have a goal towards changing what you consider to be dirt, as these "skin grease" is skin oil, you don't want to be scrubbing it off the moment you notice it, it's not conducive to healthy skin.

I find it interesting that you're so concerned about what you perceive as dirt, but then smoke, which is making a mess of your lungs. Have you ever seen pictures of lungs from a smoker compared to those of a non-smoker? That has to be pretty high on the scale of things that are unclean.
 
AndyT said:
I'd rather not. Very unpleasant experience, the details of which I wouldn't want to discuss on here.

Just got a warning for that last post anyway, which is frankly outrageous considering the volume of rank ignorance on display here. Would this thread receive the same number of idiotic replies if it was about cancer, HIV, dementia or alzheimers? I think not. Serious OCD can rob a person of their life and make it a living hell. It's really not that funny.
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No one is belittling your condition. The post you quoted wasn't aimed at you, yet you still found time to throw an insult towards another member.

I gave you the warning, but yet it was only a warning. Feel free to talk openly if you so wish about OCD, but if someone has a different opinion, then abuse is not tolerated.

Any concerns, or questions, then email me and I'll do my best to clear them up.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
I've often questioned myself as I'm a little tidy obsessive whereas the rest of my family aren't. I like things back in their place and the place looking tidy. But OCD? No.

I know someone with OCD. It takes her 15 minutes to walk away from her front door and in that time she's constantly pulling at the door to see if it's shut. Her house is spotless without a speck of dust anywhere and she follows you with a vacuum cleaner or anti-bacterial wipe.

It's very sad to see indeed :(
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I'm very similar. I don't know whether or not I have OCD, but there's a possibility.

I too have to check doors, repeatedly, to ensure that they are locked. I also have certain set things I have to do to ensure that the door is indeed closed and locked (like, singing a specific song, saying a random word which will remind me that the door is locked). I'm not the cleanest of people, so I wouldn't follow you around with a hoover!

there's plenty of other quirks as well which I do and which I feel as though I have to do, else the world would stop spinning. I'm strange like that! :)

I try to not let it take over my life - it's mainly an internal battle, which sounds horrendous and at times, it can be. But I find away to plod along without whatever I have, completely taking over :)
 
In my experience, something causes you to perform OCD.

Do you think something bad will happen, someone will die if you don't complete your OCD?

What kind of cured it for me was that I was doing my OCD yet something bad happened anyway and then I thought **** it whats the point now.
 
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