Any of you have (mild) OCD habits?

[Peepa]

I do.
I''m constantly checking the toilets, oven, if my jewelry is in it''s rightful places, if Petrie''s collar is too snug and the doors.

 

[mtlgal]

I always thought I was along the lines of "everything in its place and a place for everything...". DH says mild OCD. Constantly checking lights, kids when they''re sleeping, certain items in their designated spots on kitchen counters,etc...

Just tidy, right? And I''m sure mostly normal.... hehehe

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[nytemist]

I must wash my hands... if I come in from the outside world into my office or the apartment I have to before I do anything else. At least for a good 30 seconds in water that is pretty hot, more than it needs to be. DH thinks I''m nuts about it. I touch the cats, I wash my hands, go to the mailbox, deal with money, open mail, use someone else''s pen, anything like that I am compelled to wash my hands. I''m a mild germaphobe about that since we all know some folks don''t care what they do with their hands.

I also picked up the habit from my father years ago I have to check the front door and patio locks before I go to bed. I can check them once, go do something else and them check again before I go into the bedroom. Even though I KNOW I checked them ealier.

Can''t think of anything else, but I''m sure there are more that don''t occur to me at the moment.

 

[FrekeChild]

I have to wash my hands all the time. And cabinet doors have to be shut. I get really upset when they aren''t. BF was doing it the other day to tease me, and I totally freaked out. I know there are more, but I can''t think of them right now...

 

[zoebartlett]

I have certain things that drive me crazy if they''re not done my way. Cabinet doors have to be closed -- not really a compulsion but it looks messy to me if they''re left open. I think the main thing that I obsess about is the alarm on my clock. I think I check to make sure the alarm is set at least 5 times before I can finally rest. I''m so afraid of not waking up to my alarm and getting to work late. Here''s a dumb one -- I have to have mug handles facing towards the right in the cabinet. I don''t know why but it bothers me a lot if they''re facing the "wrong" way.

 

[Sabine]

FI and I were just fighting about this yesterday. He hates that I leave dirty dishes on the counter right above the dishwasher in the morning. He asked why I couldn''t just put them in the dishwasher. I said that I didn''t have enough time in the morning when I''m on my way to work. He countered that it wouldn''t take any longer than just laying them on the counter. So I then had to explain that every time I open the dishwasher, if dishes aren''t straight, if the silverware cups aren''t filled from the back to the front, or even if bowls are facing the wrong way it bugs me and I have to fix it. Although we both made jokes about me wanting things my way before, neither of us realized that it might be mild ocd until I started talking about how it would weigh on my mind if I didn''t fix it, so it was easier for me to just not look in the dishwasher.

 

[diamondfan]

Mine are not that mild. I have an obsession about putting certain things away. I have to do it or else it makes me nuts. When I buy make up, I have to take it all out of the boxes before I bring it home. It is very odd. I also like to organize my closet in types of clothes, color and season but cannot anymore as I have little room. But I absolutely have issues with o.c.d.

 

[MoonWater]

I always check the doors to see if they're locked. I hate visiting people with crooked pictures/paintings on the wall because I always fix it. I also fix cds in music stores (which I no longer visit). I'm obsessive about color. I can not stand a house full of white walls so I must paint every time I move. I forget what else I do, but I hate it. I keep hoping it doesn't get much worst as I get older.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/23/2008 7:07:55 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
I think I check to make sure the alarm is set at least 5 times before I can finally rest.

When I was a kid, I had VERY bad OCD and rechecking the alarm on my clock over and over was my big thing! Also, checking the locks on the doors and that the oven and fridge were off/closed were other issues.

Now, my fixation (and this is going to sound REALLY weird) is whether or not I have any white streaks from deoterant on my clothes!!! lol I will check my shirt seven or eight times to be sure none of the white accidently smeared onto it.

 

[FrekeChild]

I have to fix stuff in stores too. Now I physically turn away from messed up displays to avoid dealing with it. But then I think about it all day. I''m actually more obsessive than compulsive. Which is the major distinction with OCD, there is obsessive, compulsive and obsessive compulsive I think, and I fall under the obsessive type.

But I also have ADHD-so you can imagine how my brain works...

''close cabinet doors...no, watch tv...no, close cabinet doors...no, wash hands'' and then hours later ''close cabinet doors...did I wash my hands?''

It gets confusing sometimes. And I drive FF nuts.

 

[MoonWater]

Oh wow...I forgot about that one. I check the alarm constantly. Sometimes having a bad nights sleep because I keep waking up in a panic. Ugh, I hate it!!

 

[mtlgal]

Date: 5/23/2008 7:35:19 PM
Author: diamondfan
Mine are not that mild. I have an obsession about putting certain things away. I have to do it or else it makes me nuts. When I buy make up, I have to take it all out of the boxes before I bring it home. It is very odd. I also like to organize my closet in types of clothes, color and season but cannot anymore as I have little room. But I absolutely have issues with o.c.d.

diamondfan... is it just your closets you feel the compulsion to organize, or closets in general... ''Cause I might be able to hook you up with some closets that need a little extra help!
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[butterfly 17]

I do, I have a bunch, but here are a few for now..

I have to have all the pillows in my living room in order. They have to be in perfect place when I get up and if the kids mess them up, I have to fix them. I don''t care about the ones in the family room, but they have to be perfect in the living room.

All the toilet seats have to be closed. All the closet doors/laundry room doors have to be closed. All the bathroom doors have to be closed. I can''t stand it when the doors are open.

My labels in my cupboards all have to be front facing so that when I open them, I can see the labels perfectly.

All the juice, milk, soda, etc. has to be on the top shelf of my fridge.

We have a flat screen TV in the family room and although we have a remote, my husband likes to manual open the little door compartment and adjust the volume with his hand. He always leaves it open and I always tell him to close it when he is done.
The other day, I removed the little door. It was just bothering me that he was constantly leaving it open and I was always telling him to close it up.

I cannot wear any rings when I am doing housework, gardening, well, anything requiring manual labor.

Every night before I sleep, I have to make sure the kitchen is clean. The counters are wiped down, the floor is swept and mopped, there is nothing in the sink, etc.

That''s just the tip of the iceberg actually....

 

[cellososweet]

When I was a kid it was worse. I would have to put at least one foot on each tile when walking (the big ones on the sidewalk). Ridiculous.

Now it''s just making sure that the doors are locked and the stove is off. a million times. Haha. it''s just because I don''t want anything to happen to my family and cats and i feel responsible so i just need to make myself feel sure. ya know?

nothing major I don''t think. Everything seems to have a background reason that''s not off the wall (safety mainly)

 

[miraclesrule]

Hahaha, I love reading your OCD stories. Unfortunately, I am not OCD about cleaning. But I am very OCD about anything safety related.
1. Double checking that doors are locked.
2. Coming back into the house to make sure the appliances are turned off so they don''t burn down the house.
3. The dryer vent...that''s a biggie for me.
4. I have to blow my nose before I go to sleep. I will get out of bed if I forget.
5. I have to pick up anything off the ground in any public place, or clean up a spill, or have it cleaned up.
6. Dead leaves on an office plant. I have to pick them off or pick them up. I don''t know why.

I also admit to having to straighten pictures on walls too. It doesn''t matter where I am. I can be in a congressman''s office and have to straighten a picture on the wall before photos, or point it out to the staff because I just can''t ignore it. I even did it at the Rayburn Building.

 

[Miranda]

Hahaha...My nickname is OCD! Hand washing is a huge thing for me. In fact tonight I was watching a Sponge Bob episode with the kids and DH where SB washed his hands right off from the vigorous scrubbing. Of course all heads in the room turned to me and they all laughed! I''m a *bit* of a germophobe and if I can''t wash my hands or the kids'' I carry wipes and alcohol based hand sanitizer. Hubby teases that if he needs to get me in the mood all he has to do is spray bleach around the room. I love the smell. I also get a bit OCD about perfume bottles being in the correct place and all lined up. I''m a lot more relaxed about things being picked up than I used to be. A few years ago I would get very cranky when the vacuum lines got messed up. I, too, am a compulsive alarm clock checker.

 

[Linda W]

Caroline,

You are MORE Then Welcome to come over and organize my closet.

Linda

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

I have a kiniption (sp) when DH drives my car and changes the driver''s seat - it''s scooted back and the back rest is waaaay back.

It takes me like 5 mins. to get it all back the way is was and then I obsess over the next 5 mins. that it still doesn''t "feel right."

I haven''t even mentioned the mirrors but I pretty much got him to stop moving those.

Oh and I can''t stand stains of any sort. I have to wash them right away or use spray & wash.

This is especially challenging since I have a 1yr old.

 

[Haven]

I'm not sure if this really counts as mild OCD, but I have a problem with counting things and doing things a certain number of times.

- I prefer to do things in multiples of four. (Kiss the dogs four times each, not just once, that sort of thing. If FI gives me three quick kisses I wait for a fourth. I check my alarm clock four times before I go to sleep each night. I print out copies of handouts for my students in multiples of four, microwave times are multiples of four, yadda yadda yadda.) ETA: Now that I'm packing up my house I pack until I have a multiple of four boxes packed up each night. So let's say I have 24 boxes right now, if I started another one that would mean I wouldn't go to sleep until I had 28 boxes total. Oy vey.

- I count things everywhere. Ceiling tiles, DVDs, people. I ALWAYS know how many people are in a room with me. I also prefer it if the things I'm counting add up to a multiple of four, and I'll recount and add other things in to make it happen.

Now that I just typed this out I think I sound a bit crazy. Okay, so I didn't *think* I had mild OCD until I responded to this post . . .

 

[Haven]

Date: 5/23/2008 11:48:38 PM
Author: miraclesrule
1. Double checking that doors are locked.

2. Coming back into the house to make sure the appliances are turned off so they don''t burn down the house.

I do these things, too, miracles! I''m better about the appliances, but there was a period of time when I''d turn around and come home to make sure I hadn''t left anything on. I don''t leave anything plugged in when I''m gone because of this fear, too.

I also have an issue with FI''s cats--if I''m the last one to leave his condo I get really nervous that one of them snuck out into the hallway while I was leaving so I''ll often go back up and check after I''ve already taken the elevator all the way down to the first floor. (FI lives more than 20 storeys up.) Once I turned around after being in the car for about ten minutes because I was so nervous about this. They were all in the condo, of course.

Now this thread has me worried that I have some seriously abnormal behaviors.

DO I HAVE OCD?!?!

 

[allikatac]

I believe that I am teetering on the edge of "mild". My OCD is the root of many arguments at my house. It is now DH''s job to double check everything that I check before we leave the house in the morning so that a "rational" person knows things were shut off. We use to not leave the house as the same time and now he makes me leave earlier with him so I''m not the last one out haha. There were many days that I would turn around because I thought I left something on. I mainly worry about my straightener, oven, dryer, or steamer being on. At night I seem to check the doors and the alarm more. I guess most of mine are related to safety too.

Haven- I also worry about the cat getting out sometimes! This was much worse when I left last. They say the counting thing can be part of OCD. I use to count a lot when I was younger and mine was multiples of 7. I wanted to be married on 7/7/7 before I knew that would even be a Saturday! We ended up getting marrried 7/14/07 though. We can just pretend this is normal

I defintely agree that after typing all of this out it makes one sound crazy!!

 

[claireabelle]

Honestly, it''s embarrassing how many times I check if my house keys and cell phone are in my handbag before I leave the house.

...Like 7 times in 5 minutes. No joke, ladies.

I''m nuts.

 

[anchor31]

Yes, it usually comes and goes. I go through phases where I count everything. I have trouble putting down a book in a middle of a chapter or a page, or needlework in a middle of a thread. I definitely get obsessive phases about some things. Every time I do particular things I have to wash my hands.

 

[LegacyGirl]

I''m pretty bad actually. Everything has to be in it''s place and everything has to be spotless or I start getting really upset/depressed. I feel so much better when my house is clean and neat than when there are things out of place. My sister is a disgusting pig and never cleans up after herself so it''s been really hard on me these last few years.

 

[ladypirate]

I hate it when stuff isn''t organized. In general. Sometimes I avoid doing certain tasks because I know it will take me hours to get everything organized right. FF is not like that at all, so he thinks I''m crazy.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

DH has been diagnosed with "moderate" OCD--we tried more than half of a dozen different types of medication, but all of them had side effects that we felt weren''t worth it. His therapist then recommended behavioral therapy, so we took yoga to try to focus on breathing exercises and calming down. It''s really helped.

DH isn''t a germaphobe, nor does have have to have things orginzed a certain way--he worries most about safety or accidently hurting me or our dog. He''ll check to make sure he double locked the door multiple times, check the stove/oven multiple times before we leave, then when we pull out of our driveway he always looks through the rear-view mirror to make sure the door is shut. He''ll also say things like "Did I just step on Byron''s foot?" because he''s afraid of hurting anybody. About 2 years into dating, I wasn''t sure I could handle it for a lifetime, but with the behavioral therapy we both learned to cope with it. Stress makes it worse for him, but at this point it no longer causes any tension. Though we understand it''s not really "funny", we can''t help but laugh about it sometimes.

 

[Selkie]

Yes. Does checking Pricescope 40 times a day count?

I''ve been addicted to other sites before as well.

Other than that, since I was a toddler, I will twirl a strand of my hair with my left hand when I''m anxious, stressed, upset or even just bored. I also CANNOT type without immediately correcting every single error I make. I can''t leave a typo, even if I tell myself I''ll go back and correct it at the end of a paragraph.

 

[diamondsrock]

I have to say I'm pretty shocked how many people have mild ocd habits. I was affected by this greatly in college, freshman year. I was diagnosed at the college psych. office, and at the time, ocd was not nearly as known as it is today. I used to check the alarm clock several times, count my notebooks to make sure I wasn't missing any, check to make sure I had my credit cards and wallet, etc....It really used to bother my roommate becasue when we went to bed I would always get up and turn on the light to check something, usually more than once. On breaks from school at home I would check the stove multiple times to make sure it was off, along with the other ones. Also, checking my curling iron to make sure it was off as well. It really can be a debiliating disease. No one really knew what ocd was (exept for the psych. community) and so I think my friends at school just thought I was crazy or something. They probably still remember me as the girl who counted her notebooks and checked her alarm clock too many times.

Today it is much more accepted and people I think are more understanding, although not totally accepted. A lot of people still don't know what ocd is.

The stress of going away from home is definately what triggered this for me. I really don't remember even having any mild ocd at all in high school or younger, so it was quite a shock to myself that I was acting this way. The dr. gave me a rx for Prozac but I didn't take it. I ended up switching schools to one closer to home, in a much more relaxed atmosphere, and the symptoms subsided a lot, to the point where they didn't bother me nearly as much. At my first college, I remember the pscyh. asking me what percentage of my day was taken up with the ocd and I responded I think 40%.

Looking back, I know it wasn't that high, but it FELT like it. OCD becomes a problem in someone's life when it is taking up so much time that it is interfering with their life. I remember she told me of another patient of hers who had it so bad she had to drop out of college because she couldn't finish typing a paper or exam. One other thing I can mention is when I was doing the checking, I knew rationally that I checked something (say the stove for example), but it's like my mind was in a fog and I would doubt myself. Did I really see that it was off? Maybe I should check it again. It's like I didn't trust my own perception that in fact the oven knob was turned off and I had to keep checking it over and over. There is a book called Brain Lock. It's a really good book on ocd for anyone who is interested.

Classic symptoms of ocd involve intrustive thoughts, constant checking, lining up items in particular order, hoarding (this is a big one for my mother who has ocd), fear of contamination, repeating the same act several times until you "get it right" or doing it a certain number of times, etc. There are so many more that I can't list them all. However, having any of these alone doesn't mean someone has ocd. It could be part of their perfectionist personality. It becomes ocd when the person doesn't want to act this way and can't get themself to stop, even though they want to and realize their thoughts and actions are not rational. There is a guy locally who I see in the supermarket occassionally. He rubs the handrail seveal times, walks away, then goes back to rub it again. This is classic ocd. He most likely doesn't want to do this, is embarassed by it probably, but can't stop. I felt such compassion for him and wanted to go up and tell him I understand what he is going through.

So I would say those of you who think you may have ocd, the question is, is it interering with your life? Do you want these compulsions, thoughts, actions to go away so you can life your life in peace? If the answer is no, I wouldn't worry as much about it, and accept it as part of your personality. If it starts interfering with your life, then it's time to seek help. Believe me, you'll know when it interferes with your life because it's not something you will want, and you will get to the point where you despise the routines (or whatever your particular symptom is). Today, my ocd is managable and only flares up in times of stress. I also take a very low dose of an SSRI (depression med) which helps, not only with the ocd but also with the depression and anxiety that often accompanies it. Ends up my mom, my cousin on my mom's side, and my friend all have it as well, in various forms. I hope this helps some of you understand ocd better.

 

[Elmorton]

I don''t think my behaviors get in the way of normal life...but I do have certain routines that I follow. I have to have the coffee table straightened and the pillows just so before I can leave in the morning or go to bed. It drives me nuts if the blinds are pulled up on our front windows and aren''t even with each other (or if windows are open and aren''t parallel). I can''t stand to have cabinet doors, closet doors, drawers open - ESPECIALLY when sleeping. In my bedroom, I like everything put away before bedtime. My work space needs to be free of clutter for me to start working. My bed has to be made before I leave the house in the morning, too.

My parents are hoarders - my mom loves to call my little routines OCD, but when you grow up in a house that is characterized by insane disorder and clutter everywhere, I think it''s only natural to cling to certain things to make you feel like you''re in order.

 

[D2B]

wow, never admited this to anyone other than my DH, but another one here. I cant help but check that the door is locked before I leave, the stove is off, the iron unplugged, the hairdryer and toaster off, at least 5 times. I am trying to keep it under control, but have even turned back from the garage to check. arghhh

.

I actually read an article today in our local paper where teh columist said that OCD was more likely in conscientious people who didnt want to let anyone down, and thinking about it, that sums me up. I have noticed that in times of stress and great upheaval it is worse (which is something the article pointed out as well).

Anyway, so nice to know that my favourite site, is full of people just like me

.

d2b