[seeker1950]

I think I do have some tendencies toward OCD. Interesting that while I was in summer graduate art classes which ended last week, I heard several fellow students mention OCD. I actually observed one woman who cleaned the ceramics studio compulsively, and she admitted it was her condition. But many others mentioned it also. One young girl talked about harming herself physically and having OCD, but had overcome much of it.
Is this just a psycho "fad," or do you think OCD is more common among artist types?
Seeker

[Mahali]

I do not believe OCD is a "psycho fad" as you put it. It is a very difficult and painfull condition. It creates nightmares in life for those who have serious symptoms.

However, if you are interested in mental health relating to the Artistic Temperment you could read "Touched With Fire" by Kay Redfield Jamison.

It offers interesting comparisons. It does focus more on Manic-Depressive Illness however.

place

[seeker1950]

Hi, Place...I do know that OCD is serious. I struggle with obsessive thinking, and have done so all my life.
It was just interesting to see/hear many of my fellow art students mentioning it.
Seeker

[wisewoman]

warning, NO ONE is responsible for my feelings here but me. I have a precious, intelligent, creative, loving, intuitive, compassionate, enthusiastic 17 year old who has had OCD diagnosed at 7 years old. She is a remarkable person. However, maybe part of being remarkable is learning how to live with this disorder. She is my heroe. I love her very essence as it is pure love. No, she is very far from perfect. But everyday she wakes to this illness and everynight she has to find a way to put it to sleep. She is entering a world where she can't possibly fit in with the typical college scene. She has kept herself young and pure because a lot of her issues are related to an early molestation experience. I once thought that OCD folks were more intelligent then the norm. I think not. I see a lot of OCD type stuff with people who have lower intelligence and lower functioning skills. I want to be able to define it and blame it on someone but it is a crappy illness with no one to blame. It is not a fad. It is a horrid place to be and I wish we could do better in the treatment thereof. Again, these are only my feelings and I do not mean to anger or alientate. I have watched this child suffer too much.

Hi Seeker,

Are you sure this is the forum you wanted to post this in?

Maybe a moderator could move it to Anxiety?

~~~~~~~~

(((WW)))

Sorry about your little hero. It's a tough path to walk for anyone.

Petunia

[Myzen]

Hi Seeker,

It is no surprise that the greatest artists and writers through history have struggled with their own psychological problems.

I have met some people who have believed that merely to be artistically creative is to have a psychological problem by definition!

IMHO OCD is a horrible illness, and it can ruin lives. Sometimes a person can rise above this kind of suffering, and use it as an inspiration to create and communicate to others, and sometimes they can't. It depends on the person.

At bottom, I believe that suffering is a raw material for creativity, and so I would say that OCD can inspire creativity, but it can also reduce someone to an isolated, silenced individual. OCD is a hard test.

Maybe we should ask the question, would we rather suffer and be creative, or be happy in ignorance, and just slob out in front of the TV? That's an interesting one. I think that I would choose to suffer and be creative, maybe because suffering is what I know; I'm familiar with it.

Cheers, M

[seeker1950]

Hi, Wisewoman,
I hope you didn't think I was diminishing the seriousness of OCD. I was just curious about the number of art students I encountered who mentioned having degrees of it, and made me think they were exaggerating or kidding. Reading your words about your lovely daughter, I could feel your pain, and I do apologize. Of course it's not a "fad," but hearing both young and older students mention it was what brought that word to mind in regard to them.
Sincerely,
Seeker

[OCDSurvivor]

In my case, I know that my problem with OCD is directly linked to my occupation, which is the polar opposite of the arts. I am a lawyer. My therapist told me a long time ago that OCD (particularly the obsessive thinking part) affects a lot of lawyers because of the way we are trained to think. We are taught from the very first day of law school to analyze and re-analyze minute details. So, I don't think it's out of the question that one's temperament or occupational training can correlate with OCD.

[cms39]

I kind of agree with survivor. Certain occupations lend themselves to its exacerbation. I have heard pharmacists are quite susceptible. By the way, people with OCD are, indeed, usually of above average intelligence.

Occupationally, I have done very opposite type things. One side is me the musician and artist and the other is doing things like proofreading and transcribing - the grammarian. I definitely enjoy creating and expressing myself, but I like logic and language too.

[Kalamity]

I think a lot of people inappropriately label themselves with a mental illness - perhaps it's a fad thing to do or maybe it's just a way to get attention. I do know that a lot of these people are diagnosing themselves and do not quite understand the nature of the illness they label themselves with.

I've come across hundreds of people on the internet that claim to be OCD because they think about a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend a lot, or like watching a certain show only. Simple things that while are a bit obsessive do NOT amount to OCD. OCD is a behavior that is disruptive.

I'm diagnosed with both OCD and OCD personality.