Obsessive/Compulsive ...are they illogical?

[annegal]

This is what is crazy about the incident.....in a couple of days this huge rack of dozens of various ribbons will be in complete disarray. When we are super busy, noone, and I mean noone but her, will put it back in the exact same location. ....sorting the ribbon is rather silly for that reason.

 

[JadenLayne]

My DH is that way about cleaning. I don't think he is OCD I think he just needs things to be a certain way. My house stays immaculate because of this. You open his closet and you have all the white shirts, then the blue, then the red, then the dress shirts, etc. EVERYTHING is orderly. Me, on the other hand, I can spend 10 minutes looking for a specific shirt because I have no idea what I did with it.

I have a weird fascination with the number 4. I think I have to do things 4 times.....the phone has to ring 4 times, I have to brush eat side of my teeth 4 times......just really weird but I'm just crazy, LOL!!!!!!

 

[Allison]

This is what is crazy about the incident.....in a couple of days this huge rack of dozens of various ribbons will be in complete disarray. When we are super busy, noone, and I mean noone but her, will put it back in the exact same location. ....sorting the ribbon is rather silly for that reason.

Yes, it may seem silly to you. But, if she truly has OCD it certainly is not silly to her. OCD can make it extremely hard to function.

My sister has OCD. Her condition is fixated around germs. She went from being an outgoing, popular, person whose appearance was very important to her to being someone who is afraid to brush her teeth because she thinks the toothbrush is contaminated. Her hands are raw and scarred from using bleach all the time and she doesn't cut her hair because she is afraid for someone to touch it. She won't take medication to help the condition because she is afraid something is wrong with the pills. She cannot function as most people do and it is heart-breaking.

So, please understand it is not something that a person can just turn off and what seems like nothing to most of us can be extremely traumatic for a person that truly has OCD.

Of course, there is a big difference between someone that has OCD and someone who just like things to be very neat and orderly. OCD isn't something to be taken lightly. Hopefully, she is not dealing with this condition because it is a terrible way to live. If she is, I wish her the best and hope she gets treatment.

 

[luvdzny]

sorting the ribbon is rather silly for that reason.

It may seem silly to you, but if this woman has OCD it is not silly to her. My DD has OCD and it is a very hard illness to deal with. There are certain things that she cannot help even with medication and spending 4 weeks in an intensive inpatient program to learn to deal with her symptoms. People just don't understand how the mind of someone with OCD works. Please don't make fun of her or consider her behavior silly, she can't help it, believe me no one wants to be like that!

 

[annegal]

Please don't make fun of her or consider her behavior silly, she can't help it, believe me no one wants to be like that!

Thank you for all the replies. I think I understand, but maybe she is not as compulsive as these really sad cases everyone is quoting.

 

[DawnCt1]

This may not have been the most tactful way of dealing with her. It does sound as if she was inappropriate with you, but what you said is very derogatory.

True OCD is an anxiety disorder, obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or "rituals") which attempt to neutralize the obsessions. Part of this can be crazy neatness.

Exactly, the behavior is an attempt to bind the anxiety. It can't be easy for people with OCD. I think we all know some "neat freak" or a continueum of them. I like my kitchen and refrigerator clean before I put away groceries or make supper. That's me. Can I do those things without a clean kitchen? Sure. But for some people, if they can't complete their rituals, their lives are very uncomfortable. There may actually be a biochemical pattern in the brain so "talking therapy" isn't usually effective. Behavior therapy works, as does certain antianxiety drugs that specifically target OCD. It's better to 'be nice' as you suggested.

 

[Allison]

Thank you for all the replies. I think I understand, but maybe she is not as compulsive as these really sad cases everyone is quoting.

OCD is really hard to understand. Honestly, I still get very frustrated with my sister and "think" she should just get help and get over it. This is after years of seeing her struggle and I still lose my patience and find it hard to deal with.

 

[Karel]

As with all things, there is a fine line between 'normal' vs. 'abnormal'. When it starts interfering with your life and mashing up relationships, it's headed towards abnormal.

Maybe this girl was over joyed that for once she could organize those ribbons and it gave her soooo much happiness, and then the next day, she comes in ....and it's over.

 

[drakethib]

Okay I am a little OCD myself but I think your coworkers needs to get a grip.
The myspace thing is something a 12 year old does

 

[IwasatWDWforamonth]

I was diagnosed with ocd, I had issues with cleaning the house, and I had a pneumothorax and I couldnt clean for weeks and that really helped me get better that and some meds.

For years i'd say I was 99% cured but sometimes I find myself slipping, for instance our sewer has been backed up for 2 weeks, 4 sewer guys later its still not fixed.
Im very stressed by this as anyone would be ocd or not but I flipped out when my mom hung a pair of my pants i'd just washed on the bathroom door.
I started screaming and got so hyper I felt faint why? because the pants may have touched DUST I couldnt see any dust but it COULD have touched my pants. I managed to calm down and decided the pants were fine and didnt need to be washed again. It scares me that I still get like that.

When someone would yell at me that it was just dust,crumbs, spilled soda, cottage cheese(the HORROR), it made me so upset because at that time to ME it was the end of the world.

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

PixieDustTink, excellent post. I'm glad your son got the help he needed.

It sounds like some people are confusing what OCD really is. Keeping something clean and orderly, and having to have it that way is one thing. To reclean the same spot 210 times, or having to make sure every spot is wiped, and if not wiped in the right order, in a certain way, you must start from scratch, is torturous, and is OCD.

 

[hentob]

Okay I am a little OCD myself but I think your coworkers needs to get a grip.
The myspace thing is something a 12 year old does

Yeah. The myspace "punishment" was a bit immature

While I can sympathize with those who have OCD, it is hard to imagine someone "flipping out" at me in the work place because of change that a manager implemented

Are co-workers expected to rearrange the way think/work as to not upset someone with OCD? What are employees to do every time change occurs within the workplace? "I'm sorry boss. We better not move the ribbon. It may upset Susie. We have to wait to check with her and then we will see what we should do".

 

[mickeyboat]

I am pretty particular about my work area, and if someone came and re-organized my desk and moved all the stuff I had on it, I would be pretty torqued, too.

I also cannot concentrate when my desk is a disaster. I have to put all the other work I am doing in a folder and set it aside in order to really think about what I am working on at the time. There are exceptions when I am incredibly busy, but once things slow down again, I make sure everything is put away.

Maybe instead of moving things off of her work-station, you could have told her about the manager's decision, and let her do it herself. I am guessing it was not "just the ribbons," in this case and more that you invaded her space but taking stuff off her desk.

Yes, she over-reacted and got emotional, but instead of saying "it's just ribbon" you could have explained the policy, apologized for moving her stuff around, and it might not have gotten so out of hand.

Denae

 

[Lachesis00]

My son is OCD and I could see him freaking out over something like that. <br>Heck I am OCD but not on the level he is. I freak when someone moves my stuff. I put my keys in a specific place. Or my shoes, or purse or whatever it is I am looking for (if I know it is always kept in a specific place). Please do not move it. Put it back where you found it. Period. A lot of times whatever it is, is right in front of my face, but because it got moved, I can't see it. My husband and son move stuff just to see me spazz out sometimes. REALLY not funny.<br>I am compulsive about my monitor being shut off and my rechargable mouse being hung up when done using MY computer. While not as obsessive, I do expect people to put them back as found. RARELY does it happen and people wonder why I get bent out of shape. To me, it is a big deal. I do not want monitor burn (ok ok, so the monitor goes black after 3 minutes of non-use but still) and I like a fully charged mouse when I am ready to pogo LOL.

His biggest OCD (right now) is spending $. And on stuff he doesn't need or even want. He just wants to spend $ and a lot of it. It is a true OCD issue. He is being treated for it, but man it is hard. <br>His OCD habits change. Sometimes he showers many times a day, at one point he use to get on the floor of his bathroom at 2am scrubbing it with a toothbrush. The biggest by far is spending $. It never EVER seems to go away.

I do think in your coworker's situation, knowing she is OCD, maybe a manager should have talked to her.