OCD: General Discussion Thread

I don't think I have a disorder, but I definitely have some weird compulsions...

It’s just little things, like skipping cracks in the sidewalk on my street
adding up digits on license plates
counting makeup products
feeling like I have to go through every single one of my browser bookmarks in order every half hour
and I'm totally obsessed with those old MSN emoticons

Oh, and I have ritualistic behaviors too—like having to say something specific or touch something just to feel okay

It’s intense. My mom is exactly the same way; she knows the exact count of everything in the house, from sewing needles to cabinet doors, and she's completely fixated on the numbers 7 and 13.
🙄

I have a massive amount of this nonsense running through my head, and I can say from experience that I mostly deal with it on my own. It doesn't even cross my mind to take pills or go see some psychologist when my girlfriends can provide much better support just by knowing and understanding me. I’ve missed out on so many good things because of my rituals, and I waste a ridiculous amount of time thinking I have to complete certain tasks—like checking my purse ten times to make sure everything is there, or checking the front door a million times, only to lie awake at night wondering if I actually locked it. Then there’s the constant need to write numbers like eights or nines on scraps of paper (just imagine what a letter would have looked like back in the day) and all sorts of other stuff. But I’ve realized that I have to fight against it every single day, and it has started to decrease. I suppose it will never truly disappear, but if you decide to resist it every day, I think your condition will improve day by day.

I also forgot to mention that I used to have this ritual where every single time I stepped into a restroom, I felt compelled to count every individual tile on the floor. I’d even double-check my math just to be absolutely certain I hadn't missed one. I was constantly counting stones whenever they caught my eye, too. Now, that urge has subsided by maybe 99 percent entirely on its own. I suppose it happened through some sort of self-awareness or deep reflection, though I honestly don't know why I ever did that in the first place. It lasted for a long time, but things are much better now. On top of that, I’ve been so obsessed with the number 4 that people around me have actually started calling me out on it. To cope, I try to intentionally do things only 3 times instead of 4. When I notice that nothing bad happens, I feel a little bit of anxiety at first, but then I realize I feel much lighter afterward. I guess doing this little bit every day is a good way to handle it.

I hope I’m in the right spot to ask this...
Over the last year or so, and especially lately, I’ve been feeling this growing urge to constantly readjust things around the house. It’s things like straightening out the rugs, smoothing out any tiny wrinkles, or making sure the bottles in the bathroom are perfectly aligned. I find myself doing it over and over again until my brain finally feels like everything is just "right." Then, a little voice of reason kicks in and tells me I’m overthinking it and that I should just stop, but then I get this nagging anxiety that if I don't fix it, something bad might actually happen because things aren't exactly where they should be. 🤷
I wouldn't say I've reached a point where I need professional help quite yet, but I suppose I’d really like to get ahead of this before it ever gets to that stage...

I honestly think this disorder is kind of wild
Why isn't it just locking the door three times and repeating everything three times? Or some magic number😁
The real problem is how I end up late every single day because I have to scrub everything to kill bacteria, then I’m stuck checking my clothes for any tiny speck😕
And it’s totally wrecking me
Today at school I was lining up chalk by size and everyone was staring at me. How am I supposed to explain anything to those idiots?
Plus I'm constantly double-checking if my phone, iPhone, keys, and everything else is in place on the way to school, like a hundred times over.
It just makes life miserable
Man, 2% of us are really going through it
I spend hours arranging my stuff until it's perfect, I've even used a ruler to measure distances...😂
The worst part is that it feels ridiculous, but if I don't get it right, I just spiral and punish myself

So, I asked this psychiatrist I know and she told me I’ve got OCD. Now I’m hitting up this group 😁
I’ve got this wild obsession where the lights can't stay on if I'm not there 😁
Man, it's driving me crazy 😁

Ronald Morales2, I have to hand it to you—your ability to find the humor in absolutely everything is truly impressive.

Does anyone here actually know anything about OCD? I'm looking to hear about your personal experiences, what you think, any specific therapies that worked... Thanks.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%27NASA%27&meta=

Or just search in English. You'll find way more useful links there.

http://www.google.com/search?q=ocd&hl...R265HR268&sa=2

Check the bottom of the first page on this subforum. This is what's there.

http://www.americanforum.com/showthread.php?t=192739

Thanks, Laura Booth5, I think I'll start by checking out that last link first... just to see how everyone else is navigating through all this.

Look, I see things from a different angle, so it’s easier for me. It’s not worth crying or stressing over. At least now I know I don't have some "scary disease," just OCD. (And honestly, it’s more of an obsession than a disease anyway). If I could just get rid of these intrusive thoughts—man, I wish I could—and stop the literal physical pain, life would be great.
Plus, we’re staying home more often lately, so sometimes I "forget" to count.
I told myself if I start acting up again, I’ll punish myself—no TV and stuff—so let's see how that goes.
At least I'm at peace with the diagnosis.
She told me to go see a therapist, saying they'd teach me how to stop obsessing over it so it eventually fades away.
I asked her if she could be my therapist instead, and she just said it's better not to pick someone you already know.

I’ve been working with NLP in a therapeutic capacity for years now, and I’ve run into a massive amount of people struggling with OCD.
If it makes you feel any better, most "normal" people have obsessive streaks in their personalities, so having these tendencies isn't exactly unheard of.

From what I’ve seen on the ground, you can manage the symptoms pretty effectively with SSRIs, and if you pair that with some solid behavioral therapy, a lot of people actually get through it.
Those intrusive thoughts and compulsions can be incredibly draining and honestly just plain gross, so don't sit around—get some professional help ASAP.

Hang in there! 🙂

wearydriver20, thanks for getting back to me.🙂
I was wondering if you could shed some light on a few more things for me. What exactly does "Neuro-linguistic programming used in a therapeutic context" entail? And what's the deal with "serotonin pharmacotherapy"? Is that just a fancy way of saying medication-based treatment?
I’ve heard people get really skittish about those meds, thinking they’re just a type of antidepressant—almost like a drug that messes with your brain... and I suppose that makes sense; the brain gets so mellow under their influence. But then what happens when you stop taking them?
There’s this widespread fear that once you start, you'll be stuck on them forever, because you realize you can't function normally without them. That's obviously a heavy thing to carry.
Could something like behavioral therapy actually work on its own?
Do you happen to know anyone who has actually recovered from this?
To be clear, this isn't my own struggle; I don't have any personal history with it. It's someone close to me, and I genuinely want to help, but I feel lost. I'm trying to learn more so I can maybe wrap my head around what they're going through. Thanks in advance!😉

Look, it's all in your head.
I finally figured it out.
If you tell yourself you can't function without meds, then you won't be able to. But if you decide those pills aren't necessary anymore, you'll eventually break the habit.
Reminds me of that movie *Matchstick Men* where Nicolas Cage has OCD (it's painful, he has to do everything three times) and he goes to a new doctor claiming he can't survive without his meds, but the doc is actually just giving him some soy menopause supplement, and he's totally convinced he's taking his old prescription.
There it is.
Everyone keeps saying you need to see a therapist to find the root cause and actually get better, rather than just having a psychiatrist pump you full of pills. :-)

Hey, hi everyone... I'm 16. I've been dealing with OCD for five years now. At first, I didn't even realize what was happening to me, but then I started searching online and stumbled upon an answer. It's genuinely terrifying. Today at school, I shifted in my seat at least 20 times... I just hope my classmates didn't notice. Everything else I do, I do four times. I open and close doors four times, flip the light switch four times, turn the faucet on and off four times... I move objects four times, and when I pray at night, I have to repeat everything four times. It’s exhausting. It used to be twelve times or eight. I have this gut feeling that if I don't do it, something terrible will happen—like someone close to me will die or get hurt. That's what really scares me. I told my mom, but she doesn't take me seriously. She just told me not to tell anyone because people will think I'm crazy... and then she and my sister make fun of me. They call me crazy... and honestly, sometimes I start believing them. What kind of normal person places a glass in the exact same spot four times? I tell myself I'll stop counting, but I can't. I don't know what to do... will this ever end? I read that antidepressants might help, along with all sorts of other things. If anyone has advice or anything at all, I really need it. By the way, I wanted to see a therapist, but since I'm a minor, I don't know if I can go on my own. Does therapy actually work? I think I'll need to head to a clinic in Chicago since there isn't one in my town. 😢

bluejackal44 said:Hey, hi everyone... I'm 16. I've been dealing with OCD for five years now. At first, I didn't even realize what was happening to me, but then I started searching online and stumbled upon an answer. It's genuinely terrifying. Today at school, I shifted in my seat at least 20 times... I just hope my classmates didn't notice. Everything else I do, I do four times. I open and close doors four times, flip the light switch four times, turn the faucet on and off four times... I move objects four times, and when I pray at night, I have to repeat everything four times. It’s exhausting. It used to be twelve times or eight. I have this gut feeling that if I don't do it, something terrible will happen—like someone close to me will die or get hurt. That's what really scares me. I told my mom, but she doesn't take me seriously. She just told me not to tell anyone because people will think I'm crazy... and then she and my sister make fun of me. They call me crazy... and honestly, sometimes I start believing them. What kind of normal person places a glass in the exact same spot four times? I tell myself I'll stop counting, but I can't. I don't know what to do... will this ever end? I read that antidepressants might help, along with all sorts of other things. If anyone has advice or anything at all, I really need it. By the way, I wanted to see a therapist, but since I'm a minor, I don't know if I can go on my own. Does therapy actually work? I think I'll need to head to a clinic in Chicago since there isn't one in my town. 😢

Obsessions are those impulses that loop cyclically in your head and are incredibly hard to break; they trigger uncomfortable feelings like fear, disgust, or superstition...

Compulsions are the actions you perform to try and dial down that fear or discomfort. Here’s an example from what you wrote: I get this feeling that if I don't do it, something terrible will happen... like someone close to me will die or get hurt. And that really worries me.

That sensation likely stems from certain neurotransmitters in the brain tasked with passing signals to other parts of the brain. (They aren't functioning quite right—they aren't transmitting messages properly, which leads to NASA-level interference in your head.) This is where modern medication comes in; it's very effective for OCD and helps repair that communication between the "bulbs."

You should reach out to a doctor about this because it's only going to drain you and hold you back in life. You aren't crazy, and you shouldn't let yourself think that, because this disorder is actually quite common.

P.S. I'm just saying this based on how my psychiatrist explained it to me—or rather, how I understood it. Go to a doctor and listen exclusively to them. Medication for OCD is highly effective nowadays, and it isn't as scary as it might seem at first to think you have to take a pill every morning.

hang in there👍

So, I need to see a doctor... but I’ve read that some medications just don't work for everyone. Great. Just my luck. At least I hope nobody thinks I'm losing it. Who am I even supposed to go to? A psychiatrist? Or someone else? I just need someone to tell me this is all just in my head.

bluejackal44 said:So, I need to see a doctor... but I’ve read that some medications just don't work for everyone. Great. Just my luck. At least I hope nobody thinks I'm losing it. Who am I even supposed to go to? A psychiatrist? Or someone else? I just need someone to tell me this is all just in my head.

IT IS IN YOUR HEAD! 😁 But not in the way people mean when they say, "Oh, it's all in your head, you'll get over it," as if you're imagining things—I mean it quite literally: inside your brain. It’s about how receptors function and transmit information between neurons... blah blah blah... look, I'm no expert, so I can't give you a medical lecture, I'm just speaking from my own experience as a patient. My therapist used to sit me down and actually draw out those little neurons on paper, explaining how in people with OCD, those signals travel too slow or move in the wrong direction... something like that. I remember reading somewhere that anxiety often accompanies OCD, and that it might stem from having an overly protective mother during childhood or perhaps a parent who wasn't authoritative enough... though that isn't a rule, just something I picked up once. In any case, we share almost identical compulsions 😂 I was obsessed with the number five, I was just too embarrassed to admit it 🤣 Even my best friend, the guy I spent most of my time with, never realized that while we were walking home from school, I was constantly counting my fingers up to five, or counting my steps in increments of five 😂 I’d be walking and talking, but internally, I was always counting to five 😂 🤣 ...

I honestly don't know; it's hard to explain to someone who doesn't deal with it (like what you mentioned regarding your mom), so just try seeing a doctor. I'm not sure what else to tell you, or if you're even allowed to see a psychiatrist on your own at sixteen 🤷 damn, hang in there. Is it mostly anxiety, fear, or a lack of self-confidence that's bothering you?

Honestly, I don't really struggle with any of that... though if I did, I’d probably lose my mind lol. Anyway, I asked my cousin today if she knew any psychiatrists. She said her friend is one, so she’s going to ask if she can take me on as a patient. Now I just need to scrape the money together, because apparently, this isn't cheap. I'm not telling my parents, though. If I tell my mom, she'll just tell me I'm not allowed to go. You're right, it's hard to explain this to someone who doesn't deal with it. Only one of my friends actually knows about my OCD, and she used to have it herself. But hers was a milder version and it just kind of went away when she stopped paying attention to it. I told my boyfriend about it, but I haven't dared to tell my parents yet. I'm terrified of how they'll react. But whatever, I am super happy today! I got a B in Mechanics, yay! And my math teacher graded our work and just told me I passed—and math is easily my biggest struggle. Plus, she actually praised me because I was the only single person in class who solved one specific problem correctly. Exactly. Hahaha. Weeeee

Yeah... I hate having to study. I end up repeating every single sentence four times just to make it stick, and it exhausts me so much that I eventually just slam the book shut... Or when I'm writing notes, I'll find myself bolding certain letters or words four times in a row. I actually start laughing at myself because of it. It’s honestly getting ridiculous.