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Old Jan 23, 2010, 12:00 PM
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Rapunzel Rapunzel is offline
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Member Since: Jun 2003
Location: noplace
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Rebound, it sounds like these behaviors are causing you distress and concern. It bothers you, and you don't enjoy life as much as you might if you didn't have these behaviors. I agree with talking to your therapist about it.

I would ask you about a couple more things. What happens if you try to resist your compulsive behaviors? Do you have thoughts that go along with the behaviors, and what are they?

OCD and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder can be really hard to tell apart. Even for mental health professionals sometimes. The behaviors and the need for everything to be just right, and to be on time, have access to a clock, be organized, etc. can all be symptoms of OCPD. The main distinction is that OCD has intrusive thoughts, like perpetuallysad referred to. They are a particular kind of thought, and usually a connection between the behaviors and trying to manage the thoughts and keep them from being too distressing or get out of hand.

If you want to overcome OCD or OCPD, you would need to work on talking back to those thoughts and tolerating not always doing your behaviors. In other words you deciding what you want to do, not letting the disorder control you. It is hard work, and help and support from a therapist is usually needed.

Why is it important to label symptoms according to which disorder they represent? Sometimes it really does run together, because you are a person, not a collection of symptoms. And what matters is you being able to get help for what bothers you and what interferes with your life, so that you can have the best life possible.
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