OCD: General Discussion Thread

coastalskipper92 said:it's just how things are here

but I suppose I've grown accustomed to it 🥳

Ah, then we're on the same page. This stuff hasn't bothered me for like, a hundred years now...😉🧐

What exactly do you mean by that?

Heading to the kitchen to bake some cookies... honestly, if I could just loop this feeling and do it all over again about 800 times, I would 😂
🙂

casualmason3 said:My UPS symptoms have definitely chilled out since I got into a relationship (though they tend to creep back whenever we hit a rough patch)
I’ve got this thing where I have to break sentences down into chunks—say, three parts—based on syllables. The last syllable has to land perfectly at the far right edge of my mouth (if you're counting by your teeth) or right on my third finger. If it doesn't line up, I have to start over. And if I mess up and the first part lands too far left (like on my index finger), I end up having to repeat the whole damn sentence multiple times.
Here’s how I split them up: [1]I- [2]am- [3]eat-
[1]ing- [2]ice- [3]cream
[1]ice- [2]cream- [3]yum

(Finishing a sentence on time feels great. It’s the worst when a long sentence ends on "one" and I’m forced to repeat the entire thing two more times.)

I also can't stand things being off-center. I have to line up every object by size and color. If there's even a little clutter around me, I feel totally unbalanced.
I don't obsess over germs enough to wash my hands constantly, but sometimes I feel like I'll trigger a migraine if I touch my forehead. Also, I have to start any new task exactly on the hour.

That’s my deal. Honestly, I don't even know how much of this is actually UPS because I’ve never bothered seeking professional help (even though it’s driven me crazy plenty of times). I just figured this was it after reading about similar cases online.
What do you guys think?

😂😂 I was laughing so hard reading this, honestly, because I do something super similar! Except instead of syllables, I count the letters in a sentence, group them by fives, and count them out on my fingers—not that anyone can actually see me doing it, of course. When everything lines up exactly how I want it and I manage to pull it off, the sentence just feels incredibly harmonious. 😂
I actually mentioned this to my therapist the other day. She just looked at me and said, "Poor thing, you never let your brain idle for a second, do you? You never give yourself permission to just... exist without thinking about something."
And she's right. Now that I'm thinking about it, I started counting letters when I was about 17 after finishing a huge project, graduating, and moving on to the next phase of life. Once I finally went on vacation to just relax and do nothing, after a couple of days, the counting started up again...

brightmason80 said:Heading to the kitchen to bake some cookies... honestly, if I could just loop this feeling and do it all over again about 800 times, I would 😂
🙂

Welcome to the club, fellow compulsive obsessive... sending you lots of love. 🙂🙂👋

Olivia Rivera77 said:Welcome to the club, fellow compulsive obsessive... sending you lots of love. 🙂🙂👋

thanks, really... it’s nice to be among people who actually get it🙂

It seems to be dwindling over time

Besides, if you look back, some of history's greatest minds were actually dealing with OCD...

It serves as a catalyst 👍 for productivity, providing a meticulous 😂

😈

coastalskipper92 said:It seems to be dwindling over time

Besides, if you look back, some of history's greatest minds were actually dealing with OCD...

It serves as a catalyst 👍 for productivity, providing a meticulous 😂

😈

CSI doesn't mean a damn thing to me once I start cleaning myself up and polishing everything around me... 😂

I suppose I struggle with cleaning, too. 😍

But when I do clean, I CLEAN.

My hands are actually raw from all the scrubbing... and I have these odd little rituals, asking myself certain "questions" every single day... and counting everything I can, even if it means counting the bills in my wallet (since I stopped counting calories).

Then there’s the business of making the bed, where I sit there contemplating whether I’ll actually get enough sleep... only to end up wide awake.

And then...
checking the stovetop just to make sure the dial isn't lying to me.

And...
Well, before, there was the habit of checking the closets just to be absolutely certain things were still inside them—or perhaps because I’d forgotten where something was located (even though I know exactly where everything is, even if it doesn't look tidy... it’s more of a "bohemian chic" sort of order, really). If I couldn't find something, I'd go searching in the middle of the night... once, I dropped something, and a friend saw me hunting for it at all hours, even when there was practically no hope of finding it.
It’s all quite overwhelming. 😬
Now my stomach is aching, I lost a scarf recently, and well... ☕

bluejackal44 said:I went to see a psychotherapist a few times. This woman told me straight up that she’d never dealt with a case like mine before and was basically speechless... lol... hahaha... So now I've quit. I don't even bother paying attention to my own thoughts anymore. It's tough, but whatever. It's all just in my head. Total nonsense.

Get out of there immediately! That sounds terrifying—if she doesn't even know what she's doing, maybe she just got her credentials through some shady grading scandal like those professors caught in the recent Ivy League admissions scandal?! Absolute disaster!😠😲😲😲

fadedbear92 said:Get out of there immediately! That sounds terrifying—if she doesn't even know what she's doing, maybe she just got her credentials through some shady grading scandal like those professors caught in the recent Ivy League admissions scandal?! Absolute disaster!😠😲😲😲

I honestly can’t wrap my head around how someone with an actual medical degree can even open their mouth and say something like that. Seriously, give me a break... I’m speechless. Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone.😂

My OCD is finally almost completely gone with the help of the AD. Finally!

Frank Jackson5 said:My OCD is finally almost completely gone with the help of the AD. Finally!

Wait, how? And what exactly do you mean by "AD"? I'm currently on Zoloft...🤷

I've been on Zoloft for quite a while now too, and honestly... it hasn't really done much for me either..........🤷

Olivia Rivera77 said:Wait, how? And what exactly do you mean by "AD"? I'm currently on Zoloft...🤷

Does anything work better than that for you, or is it just a total wash? 😉

Olivia Rivera77 said:Wait, how? And what exactly do you mean by "AD"? I'm currently on Zoloft...🤷

I've been on Paxil for years now. I still don't really feel that spark, but at least I can manage it. It's a huge difference... I'm finally the one in control, not the meds.

brightmason80 said:Does anything work better than that for you, or is it just a total wash? 😉

The thing is, the symptoms haven't totally vanished, but they've dialed way down, and honestly, I feel a lot stronger. The depression has pretty much cleared out. When I talk about symptoms, I'm mostly referring to those physical tics...

Is inertia considered one of the symptoms? For me, that's easily the most painful part.

I suppose I'm just an "indigo" type, and OCD just isn't built for people like us...

It feels impossible to truly get rid of this—the depression and everything else—because it all just piles up on top of the OCD. We are essentially made of it. Perhaps there's a way to ease the burden, though.

Hypochondriac

You have no idea how well I can
play the part, or how deeply I can love
you don't realize how quickly I change
you'll never know what I have in store
depression is nothing new to me
it runs in the family, from my mother

So be kind, be careful
be good to me
because I am a Hypochondriac

chorus 2x
Your love is what keeps me alive
let me drink you in
at seven, at twelve, at five
your love is what keeps me alive
love is the only cure

You don't realize how quickly I change
you'll never know what I have in store
depression is nothing new to me
it runs in the family, from my mother

chorus 2x

My head aches, my soul aches
oh, I could sleep forever

chorus 2x

Love is the only cure
(3x)

I’ve just got one question on my mind. How do you actually help someone living with OCD? I care about this person deeply, so I'm trying to figure out if just offering constant support and love is enough, or if there's something more tangible I can do to make a difference.🙂

Richard Fisher13 said:I’ve just got one question on my mind. How do you actually help someone living with OCD? I care about this person deeply, so I'm trying to figure out if just offering constant support and love is enough, or if there's something more tangible I can do to make a difference.🙂

Support and a whole, whole lot of understanding... but seriously, a massive amount of it.😉