OCD: General Discussion Thread

Hey Thomas Harris, just give me the lowdown—do you have any siblings? A brother or maybe a sister? I’m deep in the weeds working on some theory about how personalities actually form.
I’ve got a hunch you’ve got at least two, either brothers or sisters... tell me if I'm totally off base here!

I've got a sister, she's about a year and a half younger than me.

Richard Murphy6 said:Hey man (Thomas Harris), just tell me, do you have any siblings? I'm working on a theory about how these character traits develop.
I'm guessing you've got at least two—a brother or a sister. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have a younger brother and an older brother. 👍

I've copied over everything I deal with regarding my OCD:

-superstitious beliefs
-tics
-avoiding stepping on cracks
-being distracted by things that aren't perfectly aligned—like a floorboard being slightly uneven, which I can't stop thinking about.
-hand washing (it used to be more frequent, but I've got it under "control" now)
-counting my steps while walking
-an obsession with symmetry; everything needs to be symmetrical and parallel
-everything has to be a round number, or an even number, or unwashed if it's a number like 7. There are "good" and "bad" numbers. For example, 7 and 15 are good, but 6, 16, and 13 are bad—ugh. Just writing them down makes me feel uneasy and I'd rather delete this, but I won't—I'm fighting it. J
-always turning around to check if someone is behind me.
-compulsive touching of various objects
-repeating movements multiple times
-depression
-sometimes a specific word pops into my head and I feel this overwhelming urge to say it out loud; I just have to.
-repeating words internally several times

I went to see a psychiatrist to talk things through because my symptoms get a lot worse whenever I'm stressed. For instance, I'll sit down to study and realize I'm counting lines on the page instead of actually reading.
Basically, the doctor said it's only classified as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder when it interferes with your "normal" daily functioning and lasts for more than... I don't remember the exact timeframe, but maybe more than an hour a day. Everything else is just obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
She compared it to how some people just stare out the window when they're bored, whereas people with compulsive behaviors are doing something else—counting, making sure they don't step on cracks, etc. Anyway, she sent me home and told me not to worry too much about it, but said if things get worse, I could always come back to talk.
I have to say, that conversation really calmed me down, and the compulsions have actually decreased since then; I feel like I can control them. Unfortunately, they do flare up under stress.
And yeah—my mother has compulsive behaviors too. She only admitted it after I opened up to her first.

Eh, it’s always the old folks calling the shots, isn't it?
But look, if you’re over 15, it’s time to step up and own your stuff. That's just my two cents.
It takes a massive amount of grit and hard work—and let's be honest, nobody actually likes doing that.
You also need a huge dose of self-tolerance and being brutally honest with yourself.
There’s this old psychiatric maxim out there: THERE ARE NO FORBIDDEN THOUGHTS!!!!
I mean, seriously, you can think about killing your neighbor or whatever crazy stuff pops into your head. Our imaginations are wild, and humans are basically just walking, talking engines of pure imagination.
It's like that subconscious rule: EVERYTHING YOU TRY TO BURY COMES BACK LOUDER THAN BEFORE.
Here is my golden rule! Don't be afraid of anything. Just try to stay calm... eventually, that peace will lead you somewhere warm, quiet, and safe.

Beyoncé said:I start studying, and then I catch myself counting the lines on the page instead of actually reading them.

Exactly.

It usually takes me about an hour just to get my head in the game, but instead, it takes five minutes before I realize I'm drifting, so I just have to restart. Don't even get me started on how much time I need to prep for an exam... 😁 Oh well, life happens.

We actually have an American site dedicated to OCD

Hroc

And I don't think OCD is really about being responsible, at least not by choice.

..me too... I’m constantly double-checking if the doors are actually locked, or if I turned the stove off... and sometimes I just find myself breaking down sentences into tiny little pieces just to make sense of them..........🙂

OCD is a mental health disorder, plain and simple.
At its core, it’s all about anxiety.
But wait—what even is anxiety, really?
If you're someone who naturally leans toward obsessive thinking, you’ll probably see the fine line between feeling anxious and just being straight-up terrified.
Quick question though...
Is there anyone out there who actually knows?

Ugh, Men in Black, your situation sounds absolutely brutal!!

So, here’s my fresh little disaster... today (well, technically yesterday) I finally went out to grab some glasses. My first pair ever! And then, only once I got home tonight, did I notice all these weird asymmetries. Those little nose pads? They’re supposed to be adjustable, but my nose is actually pretty straight right there (can't say the same for the part further down, haha), so I immediately tried to tweak them. I managed to get them somewhat balanced, but honestly, I have to rush to an eye doctor tomorrow morning... if they don't fix this, these glasses are going straight into the trash. And those little arms that go behind the ears? They aren't even symmetrical either, and that *has* to be perfect.

It seriously ticked me off, just a total catastrophe. It’s the same thing with pictures on a wall, too—whether it's in people's apartments or at coffee shops, the second I notice a picture hanging even slightly crooked, I can't help myself. I just have to walk up and try to level it with the floor or a door frame. I've definitely had waiters give me some really weird looks before 😁

Here’s what happened to me, and how it all actually started: I used to be a hyper-hygienist, and it was honestly terrifying. I felt this intense physical revulsion toward touching anything—whether it was a subway pole or just random surfaces in public. I’d go out of my way to avoid anyone I deemed "dirty." It got so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to hug my mom or sister; I’d practically walk a mile out of my way to avoid physical contact with them. Interestingly, though, I always felt fine being around my dad. I was scrubbing myself so aggressively that my face looked sunburnt and red, my neck was raw, and my back was chafed from using a scrub brush too hard. I’d wash everything with heavy-duty laundry soap or harsh antiseptic. I wouldn't even touch a doorknob in my own house; I’d use my foot to push doors open instead. I’d hide in the bathroom or my bedroom whenever my mom was doing laundry or taking out the trash. I had terrible acne, and I convinced myself that if I could just become flawlessly clean, my skin would clear up. I changed my pillowcases and pajamas every single night. I’d spend hours in the shower, and I refused to leave the house without washing at least three times a day. This went on from the 7th grade all the way through my junior year of high school. I saw psychiatrists, psychologists, and even tried some holistic healers. I was supposed to start medication, but I refused. Then, one summer, something just clicked, and I slowly started getting better. I’m clean now, more or less—I’ve managed to overcome that paralyzing fear and misery. But then, something else shifted, and now I find myself wondering if this ever truly ends. Now, I'm obsessed with eating only "fresh" food. I only eat bread baked today, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables—the kind you see in commercials. I won't touch anything that has been opened, like spreads or pâté, especially if the packaging looks nearly empty or if someone else has eaten from it before me... and there's something else even weirder. I can't say a word if it ends in a certain vowel or if it contains only one specific vowel. Unless it's a combination, like an adjective followed by a noun, such as a yellow building 😉, I end up struggling for hours just to compose a simple sentence. I have a few other grammatical rules I follow to bypass the issue. When does it all finally stop?

I have been struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder since I was in sixth grade, and given that I am currently a sophomore in high school, this has been my reality for nearly four years now. There was a period when I saw a psychologist after receiving a referral for a psychiatrist, yet psychotherapy failed to yield any meaningful results. Consequently, I am now weighing the decision of whether to begin taking antidepressants, as they are generally recommended once psychotherapy proves ineffective...

OCD—what kind of mental switch flipped to make you cut back on the hand washing?
My own hands are constantly red and peeling—it looks like I've been sunburned—all because I can't stop scrubbing. On top of regular soap, I’m even using antiseptic wipes.
I finally started my Zoloft regimen properly, and honestly, I think I'm actually seeing some slight progress.

I’ve been dealing with OCD since my elementary school days, and honestly, whenever life starts getting a bit too hectic, the symptoms tend to flare up quite noticeably...

Up until fairly recently, I was strictly obsessed with odd numbers—that was my thing. But now, it’s shifted to both even and odd, and I often find myself stuck because there’s this irrational, heavy reason why certain numbers just won't let me say them out loud...
If I open a webpage, I feel this overwhelming need to click exactly four times before I can move on... 🙂 And don't even get me started on the ritualistic "philosophy" involved in simply closing a bottle or a pipe...

It isn't necessarily cripplingly intense, but I would give anything to just be rid of it once and for all...
Sometimes I'll finish a task and then immediately have to go back and check it five more times, just to convince myself that I actually did what I thought I did, or maybe because my eyes aren't playing tricks on me... 😁

There is this unshakable conviction that if I don't complete the ritual, something terrible is going to happen, even though the logical part of my brain knows better. I know perfectly well it’s all happening inside my own head, yet there is still this persistent, nagging urge pushing me forward...
Only two people in my life truly understand this struggle, and one of them deals with the exact same compulsions, so they really do get it...

Christian Castillo60 said:With OCD, what was the specific trigger that finally led you to scale back on all the washing?
My hands are constantly raw, looking like they’ve been sunburned and peeling because I just couldn't stop scrubbing... I'd use regular soap and then go at it with some antiseptic wash too.
I've started being pretty disciplined with my Zoloft lately, and I think there might actually be some small signs of progress, if I'm being honest...

Oh, and about the hand washing... while it's definitely happening less often now, back in elementary school, I was washing my hands over every single little thing.
How much is too much, really? What's the actual limit before it becomes excessive? For all I know, even my current habits might be overdoing it... it all seems to depend entirely on what I touch, and I'm not even talking about obviously dirty stuff...

I don’t suffer from that specific disorder myself—really, I don't—but I can certainly empathize with the sheer frustration of it. It drives me absolutely up the wall when I find myself checking the front door, the thermostat, and the gas valves at least fifty times an hour. I’ve actually gone so far as to break two deadbolts just by obsessively testing them to make sure they’re engaged. And the worst part? When I try to tell someone that we seriously need to upgrade our hardware because the locks feel too flimsy, they just brush me off. They don't take my concerns seriously, which, quite frankly, makes me feel even more foolish than the checking does in the first place...

I'm curious if anyone here has actually experimented with logotherapy or paradoxical intention. Is this stuff even practiced in the States?

Andrew Harris7 said:I was wondering if anyone here has actually tried logotherapy or paradoxical intention? Is that kind of stuff even used much here in the States?

If you’re talking about Franklin’s whole "search for meaning" approach, I’m pretty sure John Doe is his official successor! But honestly, almost every therapist I know studies it during their grad school or advanced training as part of integrating different techniques together. It's everywhere!

That’s exactly what I’m getting at. I want to know if they actually administer those treatments at the psychiatric clinic over at Mayo Clinic, or if their approach is strictly psychotherapy and medication. I'm asking because, frankly, I don't have much expertise in this field.

Honestly, I wish I had the answers too! I’m actually diving into a book by Franklin right now, and man, there are definitely some nuggets of truth in there.
I’m not totally sure what the deal is or how much they really know over at the local community college, but I happened to catch a glimpse of their curriculum for the Postgrad Psychotherapy program. It looks like they really know their stuff—if not everything, then pretty close.

I’m on board with logotherapy too. I dug through his book, *Man's Search for Meaning*, looking for specifics on intrusive thoughts and anxiety disorders—that whole "fear of fear" loop. Someone mentioned his work held the answers, so I went hunting.