OCD - Do you know anyone who has it?

[grinningghost]

I'm curious. I think someone I know may have a pretty serious case of it. If you know someone who has it, what types of behavior do they exhibit?

 

[PrincessKitty1]

It's very common and most people hide it fairly well. My B-I-L has a hand-washing/germ obsession. I would not know he had it if my sister hadn't told me. It affects every aspect of his life (as it's associated with a severe anxiety disorder), but he's perfectly sane.

 

[JadenLayne]

I have a very light case of it. I have to do everything in 4s. Its weird. For example the phone has to ring 4 times. Pictures hang in 4s. I buy things in 4s. Just really weird, but I'm sane....LOL! 4 has always been my lucky number. I can wake up at 4:44 or look at the clock often and it be :44. Its happened my whole life. Its a small form of OCD

My son's school had a teacher who had it about germs. For example he had his sandwich in a container and would barely take the top off enough to take a bite before he put it back on. He washed his hands a zillion times a day as well as brushed his teeth. He wore those Dr. type masks.

 

[USA Here I Come]

I have a mild form of OCD. Everything has to be done in sixes for example I have to check my alarm clock is set properly six times. I have a thing with my drinking water where if i've had it for longer than five minutes or so I have to change it for some fresh water for fear of germs. When i'm in a room all of the doors have to be closed properly, although this isn't a problem outside of home.

Other than that, i'm perfectly sane!

 

[disneyfanforever]

I was (and kind of still am) the queen of OCD. Like JadenLayne, I have a thing with numbers. I like to only eat things in odd numbers 1, 3, 5. I can't eat 4 M&Ms. It must be 3 or 5. I check everything a million times before I leave (like the stove, my curling iron). I am obsessive about germs during the winter and constantly try to keep my kids well (no going to the movie during flu season for us). I have heard of others with much worse symptoms than me. My problem has been the worry that I have along with it. I used to worry from the minute I got up until the minute I went to bed. I could not make my brain shift off of the worry. I finally went on anti-depressants a few years ago, and I can't tell you what a difference it made in my life. I can now lead a normal life and don't worry every second of the day. I still have the OCD issues but I can handle it now if I do throw caution to the wind and eat something in an even number.

 

[Pop Daddy]

Im not sure what it is, but I want it

 

[barbeml]

My stepfather has it bad.

He checks locks to the point that door handles fall off.
He switches lights on and off over and over because he doesn't believe his own eyes.
He counts hairs in the drain after showering and takes so long to shave that he must get up at 3:30 AM to get to work by 8:30 (20-minute drive).

My DBIL has it too (along with a mild Tourettes).

He is almost always late because he spends so much time lining things up "just so" before he can leave the house. It's not about the house being clean, it's about it being "neat."

I've worked with a few OCDs too. All of the OCDs I know are men, interestingly.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My mom has it
She has a major fear of contamination. Actually partially led to my parents' divorce. Dad works in wastewater treatment (usually chemical waste). At the worst of it he wasn't allowed to sleep in their room, he had to sleep on the couch that wasn't used often. His clothes had to be washed separately from everything else. She's got a major fear of nuclear stuff too. We cannot say we're going to "nuke" something if we're putting it in the microwave. It sends her into practically a panic attack. If something is on the news about nuclear stuff, she runs from the room. I've been to the beach twice with my mom ever (I'm 19) because there's a nuclear power plant near the ocean in NH, and she's afraid that all of that stuff is leaking into the ocean. Now she's never banned me from going to the beach; she just barely ever goes.
Whenever we leave the house for an extended amount of time she can't be the last person out. Someone has to check the house AFTER she goes out to the car. We have to check and make sure that the toilets have stopped running (if they've been flushed), the stove/oven/coffee maker is off, and that all the windows are closed/locked and the lights are turned off. We have turned around on multiple occasions because she's not sure that the garage door is down. And no, our word is not enough.
Laundry is a nightmare. Fuzzy stuff can't be washed with nonfuzzy stuff. Even red stuff that has been washed 50 times still can't be washed with pink things, because she panics that it'll bleed. Needless to say months go by between when I can wear reds. She flipped when she found out that at school I do two loads of laundry every two weeks: one lights, one darks. She separates everything by color and texture. She will wash jeans with greys, and pastel blues/greens/purples (and sometimes even pinks) together. But everything is much more separated than the way I do laundry
She washes her hands an unbelievable amount of times a day. To the point where her hands are always dried out and bleeding, and she has to use lotion year round
She's afraid her shoes or pants or whatever have bugs in them, or that they're contaminated. In other words, when she goes to put shoes on, she shakes them out first, and looks in them. Getting up from the toilet is an ordeal, because she shakes out her pants, or shorts, stands up, looks, sits down, shakes them out, etc.
Most days it's not debilitating for her. I know all of these things sound extreme, but most days, although she does them, they're not severe. But if she's nervous about something, or hears something on the news about something nuclear, she goes into panic mode and things get worse.

 

[JadenLayne]

Mine isn't nearly as bad as those above although like disneyff I would have to eat either 4, 8, 12, 16 M and Ms all in 4s.

Barb you can say you know me and I'm a girl.....LOL!

 

[Nancy]

My Dh has it! His obsessiveness relates to door locks and things out of postition. When he leaves the house he will check the door handle ten times, walk away 2 steps, turn back and check it one more time. When getting out of the car he checks his side lock at least 5-6 times and walks around the car checking each door. He will walk in a room and know if a piece of furniture is out of place by even 1/4 inch...he has to move it back. He can tell you exactly what videos, cds, games we have and can tell by looking if one is not there. Drives me nuts, but he doesn't think he has a problem.


Had to add, we have had more than our share of broken door knobs, broken car locks, etc. On his old van he broke the handles right off the car. (they were cheaply made he claims) when he started to drive mine, he broke those handles too.

 

[MoniqueU]

We have lovingly diagnosed my oldest daughter with a mild case of it. She has had it all her life. She just can't let an idea or a thought go. It stays with her over and over and over again. As a young child she could not be redirected. If she went to bed she had to have every toy within site on top of her in her hands to hold if one fell she would cry and gather up all the toys again. After struggling with this the pediatrician finally told this tired and fed up mom why do you have so many toys out then, just leave a couple out. Oh DUH!!!!
She does her homework her way in a very methodical manner. It actually helps her in school. As I said a very mild case but I do worry for the future as I can see her carrying it a bit further.

 

[barbeml]

Mine isn't nearly as bad as those above although like disneyff I would have to eat either 4, 8, 12, 16 M and Ms all in 4s.

Barb you can say you know me and I'm a girl.....LOL!

Nice to meet you!

 

[fanofdisney]

OTHER THAN MY DISNEY OBSESSION.......


I think my ds 5 has a mild case of it. He will not finish something until it's just the way he wants it. We had a rough exit from the children's museum a while back. He was stacking these blocks, and was getting irritated at other kids who would pull them off for something else, and so ds kept putting them back. We kept telling him we needed to go see something else, and he insisted on staying. We finally pulled him away from there, and he went into a rage, screaming and kicking, and we had quite an audience. Dh carried him out to the car over his shoulder while I held his arms so he couldn't hit dh in the face.

This has happened only a few times, but it always causes him a lot of stress when it does.

Some people get into their rituals so bad, that it interferes with their daily lives. I think that is what they use to diagnose it. Other than meds, the best thing to do is try to get them away from the habit when it starts escalating, as rough as it sounds.

 

[Talking Hands]

I have to eat my M&Ms by color. My husband gets on a topic and will repeat it over and over. He is obsessive. Doesn't want me to take a bath unless someone is in the house. Scared I will fall. THe times I have fallen (I have lousy balance) he has been here and I never have fallen without someone home. I love him anyway.

 

[Charade]

I have a very light case of it. I have to do everything in 4s. Its weird. .

Hopefully your hubby doesn't fall into that catagory.

 

[goofy's friends]

We have a friend who has a DD12 that has just been diagnosed and she really is struggling. Every day is very hard. Someone on here said the worry that goes with it is the worst part and that is what they are having a hard time helping her deal with. The worst part is that she knows it's not "normal" and her constant worry and apologizing that goes with it is getting on her friends' nerves and she is losing friends. She is on medication and it isn't helping. She can't do her school work without everything being in perfect conditions and the world has ended if she makes a mistake. Really tough on her right now. Their family is suffering, because she has tried to deal with it allday and she comes home and all H*** breaks loose. Very sad. I don't think it is a mild case.

 

[Crankyshank]

I have a mild case of it. It's actually quite common for those suffering from anxiety to have some form of it. Mine gets worse when I get stressed out.

I'm a checker. I have to check the stove repeatedly (in sets of 3's) before I leave. I've been late for work many times because of this. I also check to make sure the dogs didn't run outside and I always check the door knob 3 times to make sure it's locked when I leave.

It can be extremely frustrating for DH at times but I think he's finally starting to understand that I can't help myself.

 

[luvflorida]

Just wondering, but could perfectionism be related in some way to OCD? My youngest daughter has issues with anxiety and has been called a perfectionist by teachers and others. Is there any connection?

 

[luvflorida]

Just wondering, but could perfectionism be related in some way to OCD? My youngest daughter has issues with anxiety and has been called a perfectionist by teachers and others. Is there any connection between perfectionism and OCD?


Sorry for the double post- I don't know how to fix it.

 

[goofy's friends]

Just wondering, but could perfectionism be related in some way to OCD? My youngest daughter has issues with anxiety and has been called a perfectionist by teachers and others. Is there any connection between perfectionism and OCD?


Sorry for the double post- I don't know how to fix it.

Yes!! See my previous post, but that is exactly what my friend's DD can't help and they sought treatment and that is what was diagnosed.