I'm not as obsessed as you, in terms of washing my hands that much and scrubbing like that, but I do wash my hands a lot, try to get every spot of my body, and I'm very detailed in brushing my teeth. I wasn't taught or made to brush my teeth as a kid, so I now suffer a lot of problems, but at least I got into brushing my teeth regularly, albeit late.

I'm on medication, although going off it, so that helps a bit. I put lotion on my hands, too, even though they're not as bad as you describe. I get into times where I don't use lotion much, and then they get much drier and crack and bleed. Even unmedicated lotion stings.

OCD is a b***h. And so many people don't get it. I can tell people about it, but I have a hard time when they don't get it, which is always. I don't like touching or being touched, in terms of OCD (I always desire touching and hugging, but my OCD makes it undesirable). I remember, when I was a teen, I read some advice, in a self-help book, I think. I think it referred to hugging, but it said to say to people who wanted to hug you when you didn't, "I'm uncomfortable with touching." I thought it was brilliant! I told that to one of my mom's religious friends, and she said, "That's okay--I'll touch you!" and she did. I never used it again.

There are people who, if you tell them these things, especially if they get mad at you, will use them against you. I've had people go, "You mean, if I touch you like this..." and then they touch me, or whatever I don't want touched, etc. I mean, WTF???? How much clearer could I be? And like I said, there are people who, if they become angry at you, use your problems against you. If you had a physical problem, like a broken leg, it would be considered cruel to kick your leg, but if you have a mental problem, it's ok to use that weakness against you.

We're about to move to a new house, and I have a lot of OCD concerns. My boyfriend thinks it's going to be a lot easier than last time, and it will be, but there's still a lot I'm going to have to go through.

OCD makes life hell. You have to spend so much time to make the thoughts go away, and they don't always, even when you do what you feel you need to.