KateL

When I was taking five minutes to make sure all my car doors were locked yesterday, even though I have central locking. My son tutted and said,"your OCD gets on my nerves," so I replied, 'It gets on mine too, but it's not hurting anyone, least of all you, so it's not the end of the world.' I have learned to live with it. Why can't they just be happy for my sobriety, rather than be so picky all the time? At least I have also learned to let their comments ride over my head.

Does anyone else have OCD? How do you deal with it?

Skye2

I don't think I have the full-blown version, but little things bug me, like when I put tins in the cupboard, they all have to be facing forward and all in order (ie peas all together, beans etc). Also, it bugs me if a picture is hanging slightly wonky and I LOVE the smell of bleach all over the place

LadyBlue0527

I'm not even going to tell you how many times I walked back in the kitchen to see if I turned the coffee pot off when I was leaving for work

freshstart57

For me, the first part was learning to live with some degree of uncertainty, accepting that my worst fears could come true no matter what I do, and accepting that truth. Mindfulness has helped a lot too. Acceptance and mindfulness - sound familiar?

tgirl

I count all the time in my head. in 3s or 5s
That probably explains why I like to knit or do counted cross stitch, then I can count to my hearts content.

least

I suppose I have some degree of it. I do the same things the same way every time and hate deviation from my regular schedule.

Received

I cannot stand crooked pictures. CANNOT. Pictures hanging too high drive me nuts as well but not nearly as badly as CROOKED PICTURES.

You want to drive me NUTS?!! Put me in a room full of crooked pictures. You want to interrogate me and break me?!! Put me in a room full of crooked pictures hanging too high and I'll sing like a canary.

Other than that, I'm a perfectly grounded and rational person.

freshstart57

trudgingagain

hahahahaha! Sorry, couldn't help it....I have lots of things that drive me nuts...and lots of paranoia's as well....lol....

Received

lol, fresh!

TeriJane

I have OCD when I go to bed. My hair can't touch my neck, my thighs can't touch each other, my arm pit skin can't touch, so I have to tuck my t-shirt in my pits......it takes me about 2 hours of flopping around, diligently keeping skin from touching skin, until I wear myself out enough to fall asleep. Just when I've flopped around and got everything in order, my dog wants to go out, or wants a cookie.......
My doctor's solution? Ativan......took too many and had to detox from that too.

freshstart57

advbike

Oh man this is a great thread... some of these had me LMAO ha ha ha,.. simply because I can relate!

I also like things to be orderly and in sets, etc, my home or office will be neat but may not be that clean.... On more than one occasion I've been running late and HAD to straighten something up before heading out the door, even though I knew it was making matters worse.. I also believe that alcohol consumption makes it worse, as does stress and anxiety. Mine has gotten better lately since I quit drinking.

Mine also seems to be related to the thinking (noise) in my head being so constant that I literally don't register if I did something. Then I have a compulsive need to check on it. Did I lock the car doors (for the 3rd time), did I lock the house? The worst is leaving home for a few days. Did I lock the front door (of course I did)... did I check the stove...was the garage door down? I once drove 25 miles back home at the start of a motorcycle trip to double check something. Crazy.

Since then I have learned to cope with it better. One way is practicing mindfulness, as freshstart57 mentioned. Instead of going out of the house and thinking simultaneously how late I am, what my route will be, etc, I just stop the noise and consciously focus on the process of leaving the house. Then I refuse to think about it again. I read once that allowing it to control your behavior reinforces the pattern, so I purposely ignore it as much as possible.

ZeldaFan

I most definitely suffer from OCD. I'm always counting things and they should be done in sets of three if at all possible. I prefer things to move from right to left and add sets of numbers up all the time. License plate numbers, street addresses, the time, date and even on my DVR. When the time bar at the bottom disappears I have to add everything up (for example if it disappears on 2:36 I will say to myself in my head 11, 11, 11). It has gotten worse since I stopped drinking but I have had these ticks for a long time now and I have learned to cope for the most part.

Skye2

THAT'S MEEE too!! Only by the time I've sorted everything out, I need the bathroom, so have to get up again lol

KateL

Ha ha, me neither. I am always fiddling with them. Plus my net curtains have to hang in strict order.

KateL

OMG. I'm always in the loo. Might be an age thing though.

KateL

I walk back into the kitchen and then forget what I was OCDing about which is even more annoying lol x

Skye2

I have to be honest - those wonky leaflets are really peein me off Freshstart lol

1Dayatatyme

I have got to complete several "projects", i.e. home update/repair projects before I can proceed to my fitness regime. It really keeps me stuck... but I speak to myself with compassion and patience, knowing the core issue is trauma.