OCD: General Discussion Thread

Is there any truth to the claim that Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and George Washington all suffered from this disorder?
Does anyone know if there's actually documented data regarding famous figures who dealt with this condition?

Christian Castillo60 said:Is there any truth to the claim that Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and George Washington all suffered from this disorder?
Does anyone know if there's actually documented data regarding famous figures who dealt with this condition?

Jessica Alba, David Beckham, Woody Allen, Harrison Ford, Michelle Williams, Winona Ryder, Howard Stern, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Albert Einstein, Michelangelo, Penélope Cruz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Celine Dion, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick.

Google really is something else. I just typed in "famous people with OCD" and had an answer in less than a second...😁

🙂

Christian Castillo60, how many times a day are you washing your hands? What kind of stuff are you doing because of the Democratic Party? Are you on medication? OCD has been absolutely kicking my ass lately; I finally tossed my pills in the trash and started hypnosis, thinking maybe that might actually help me.

George, why are you coming at me with this Google nonsense? 🙂 I didn't type it in exactly like that—which is why nothing popped up—but I was searching for the names of the people I mentioned in my last post.
And honestly, you could have taken a second to actually look at this thread we're in. On page 3, I went into detail about my hand-washing compulsions... and then I just kept writing from there. I distinctly remember you mentioning Prozac and how you'd finally moved past it! And now, here you are, getting hammered by OCD all over again. It’s genuinely tough to read, because if I had my way, I’d wish everyone could just be free of this stuff. Anyway, just read through the whole thread. If you're interested, maybe we can swap stories over email; perhaps we can actually help one another out. By reading my posts, you'll see everything I've tried regarding my OCD—where I made progress and where things took a turn for the worse. Once you've caught up on all that, if you want to talk, hit me up at Christian Castillo60@email.com with the subject line "OCD is killing me." I don't open random emails from strangers, but that way I'll know exactly who is reaching out. If not, we can just keep messaging on the forum. Take care. 🙂

Are you skipping those sketchy emails because you're worried about malware, or is that just part of your whole Democratic Party platform?

What are the symptoms of that Democratic Party disorder?

Take a look at some of the posts virginiaclemm made a few pages back on this thread. It’s a pretty textbook case of OCD. For me, it was more of a moderate thing. I had this obsessive need for symmetry and counting everything in sets of five. It started somewhere around sixth grade and lasted for nearly a decade; everything just had to hit that number five. It wasn't exactly obvious to everyone else—I think people caught on once in a while that I was counting—but basically, my whole world revolved around the number five. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I find this absolutely fascinating. Could someone, please, walk me through the psychological roots of such a compulsion? What exactly goes on in your mind—what specific internal drive compels you to perform that exact action just to feel functional? Most people have little quirks or subconscious habits they fall into, but it rarely escalates into something quite this profound... I'm not entirely sure. Does anyone actually have an explanation for why that need becomes so overwhelming?

Ryan Robinson10 said:I find this absolutely fascinating. Could someone, please, walk me through the psychological roots of such a compulsion? What exactly goes on in your mind—what specific internal drive compels you to perform that exact action just to feel functional? Most people have little quirks or subconscious habits they fall into, but it rarely escalates into something quite this profound... I'm not entirely sure. Does anyone actually have an explanation for why that need becomes so overwhelming?

It’s likely tied to anxiety and deep-seated tension. Those rituals are often just the byproduct of nerves or some subconscious way of suppressing something—unexpressed emotions, desires, or viewpoints. That urge to act becomes so overwhelming that when people give you that cliché advice to "help yourself," it shows they don't truly understand the weight of it and couldn't wrap their heads around it if they tried.......

Ryan Robinson10 said:I find this absolutely fascinating. Could someone, please, walk me through the psychological roots of such a compulsion? What exactly goes on in your mind—what specific internal drive compels you to perform that exact action just to feel functional? Most people have little quirks or subconscious habits they fall into, but it rarely escalates into something quite this profound... I'm not entirely sure. Does anyone actually have an explanation for why that need becomes so overwhelming?

Perhaps there is a connection to a desire for control over one's environment—that subconscious feeling that the world is unpredictable or unsafe. It might provide a greater sense of agency. My guess, anyway.

David Nelson74 said:Are you skipping those sketchy emails because you're worried about malware, or is that just part of your whole Democratic Party platform?

It’s because of the viruses and the endless mountain of spam nonsense they send. This has absolutely nothing to do with OCD. Honestly—the more time passes, the better I feel regarding my OCD. Drop me a line sometime; I'd love to swap stories.

I’d reach out so we could grab a few beers sometime—unless you’ve stopped drinking because they started putting god knows what garbage in the hops lately 😁 😁 😁

But when I’m trying to distance myself from all this, I try to think about it as little as possible. I know I end up posting about it here, but this forum is really the only place where I actually talk about this hellish OCD. I’ll dig through your posts regarding OCD just to see what's eating at you the most. Are you living somewhere around Washington, D.C.? 🙂

I have a feeling I might be dealing with this too. It doesn't wreck my life, but I can tell things aren't quite right...

For instance, I have one of those laundry racks in my bedroom. If I hang something up and sit on the bed, only to notice a single piece of clothing is hanging crookedly, I feel completely paralyzed. I don't have the energy to get up and fix it, yet it eats at me so much that I can't focus on anything else until it's straight. It’s not that I’m a total neat freak otherwise...

Or how I like to organize my socks in the drawer by grouping them together. If I open the dresser and they’ve been moved, I have to reorganize everything all over again.

And most things I do follow a specific pattern, like washing the dishes. If someone interrupts my flow or messes with my system, I start getting really agitated...

Could this be OCD?

Ryan Robinson10 said:I find this absolutely fascinating. Could someone, please, walk me through the psychological roots of such a compulsion? What exactly goes on in your mind—what specific internal drive compels you to perform that exact action just to feel functional? Most people have little quirks or subconscious habits they fall into, but it rarely escalates into something quite this profound... I'm not entirely sure. Does anyone actually have an explanation for why that need becomes so overwhelming?

Well, if I may offer an explanation... I deal with similar obsessive-compulsive behaviors myself, more or less...
It’s quite simple, really. When you're dealing with overwhelming anxiety, fear, restlessness, deep dread, dark thoughts, or even full-blown panic attacks... you feel forced to perform these certain actions just to find some semblance of calm. It's a way to cope, I suppose....

David Nelson74 said:I’d reach out so we could grab a few beers sometime—unless you’ve stopped drinking because they started putting god knows what garbage in the hops lately 😁 😁 😁

But when I’m trying to distance myself from all this, I try to think about it as little as possible. I know I end up posting about it here, but this forum is really the only place where I actually talk about this hellish OCD. I’ll dig through your posts regarding OCD just to see what's eating at you the most. Are you living somewhere around Washington, D.C.? 🙂

Actually, no, I'm from San Francisco. Why don't you shoot me an email and lay it all out—how it all started, what's really getting to you, all of it—and then I'll hit you back. I'm genuinely interested in swapping perspectives.

I don't think I have OCD (at least, I don't think so 😁), but this topic is fascinating and I’ve already scrolled through most of the threads...
Some cases are easy, some are brutal. Does a mild case always spiral into something worse if you ignore it early on? Or does it just stay the same? Is there even a pattern? And does the condition actually vanish once you pin down the root cause?

I really feel for you all. Honestly, if my boyfriend were dealing with this, I wouldn't be scared off; I'd want him to open up to me. I might not have the answers, but at least I'd listen.

To be honest, I was completely oblivious to all of this until I started reading up on it. I probably ran into someone struggling with this before and just dismissed them as superstitious 😁—or worse, I misjudged their entire character by assuming these fixable issues were just part of who they were. My advice? Talk to the people you love and trust. It gets a little easier once you realize you aren't some outlier. 😉

wiredharbor22 said:I have a feeling I might be dealing with this too. It doesn't wreck my life, but I can tell things aren't quite right...

For instance, I have one of those laundry racks in my bedroom. If I hang something up and sit on the bed, only to notice a single piece of clothing is hanging crookedly, I feel completely paralyzed. I don't have the energy to get up and fix it, yet it eats at me so much that I can't focus on anything else until it's straight. It’s not that I’m a total neat freak otherwise...

Or how I like to organize my socks in the drawer by grouping them together. If I open the dresser and they’ve been moved, I have to reorganize everything all over again.

And most things I do follow a specific pattern, like washing the dishes. If someone interrupts my flow or messes with my system, I start getting really agitated...

Could this be OCD?

Sounds like it. But maybe just a milder version. For some people, it's so intense that they can't even function in daily life. (Just multiply your little habits by 100 and see what you get.)

Christian Castillo60 said:Actually, no, I'm from San Francisco. Why don't you shoot me an email and lay it all out—how it all started, what's really getting to you, all of it—and then I'll hit you back. I'm genuinely interested in swapping perspectives.

I'll send an email with the subject line "OCD is killing me" just so you know it isn't spam. San Francisco is a nice place; I spent some time stationed over in Lori back in 2003.

David Nelson74 said:I'll send an email with the subject line "OCD is killing me" just so you know it isn't spam. San Francisco is a nice place; I spent some time stationed over in Lori back in 2003.

Still waiting on that message. Is it really going to be that long-winded? 🙂

It’s not exactly an essay, but you know how I used to feel like I had to repeat every single sentence five times just to be sure. Honestly, I'm kidding—I don't have the energy for that anymore. Between everything else going on, I just can't find the time, and besides, what’s the point of this forum if we aren't actually talking? There’s no reason for us to be shy about it. It’s a relatively common disorder.