[lunaticfringe]

I'm beginning to wonder if I may also have OCD. For years I have suffered from intrusive thoughts and obsessions. It's like no matter what I do these thoughts will not go away. It feels like a ball and chain attached to me, weighing me down every day. How do I know if this is symptom of my bipolar and not OCD? Everything I've read about OCD describes what I experience to a T.

What are your experiences with obsessions? Does your level of obsessiveness change depending on your mood? Mine has pretty much been at a constant, except now it is a little more in check now that I'm on meds. If you have OCD too, how did you differentiate that from your bipolar cycles?

Thanks in advance!

[BipolaRNurse]

I don't have OCD---well, I do have some traits but I've never been diagnosed with it---yet I get those intrusive thoughts and the obsessiveness. I hate them. Sometimes I get on this unending loop that continuous plays in my head and I have to make a concerted effort to get off of it. But I have been told that it's only a part of my bipolar and not due to another mental illness.

[Mrs. Mania]

I can't stop obsessing over a bathing suit I left behind during a move in 1996! I would pay $ to never think of that stupid day again, UGH