[Velouria]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but:

Sometimes I'll get random, repetitive thoughts stuck in my head, they'll just repeat over and over and over for no apparent reason whatsoever. It's almost obsessive, but it's frequently completely random and not necessarily connected to anything important. They aren't psychotic thoughts. They're just thoughts, sentences, lines. Sometimes I'll get emotional from it, though, depending on the associations I wind up making in the background. Sometimes I'm screaming at myself on the inside to stop.

Another strange thing I'll start doing is I'll out of the blue start counting my steps in my head as I'm walking. I realize I'm doing it in the middle of it, almost like I'm waking up to it, if that makes any sense. I have no obsession with needing to know the amount of steps I take, yet it seems to just happen, almost like some involuntary compulsion.

Do things like this happen to anyone else?

[Tucson]

I am no doctor, but it does sound a bit obsessive.

[~Christina]

I do a lot of "off" things .. I just accept it as my our personal quirks

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by Tucson

I am no doctor, but it does sound a bit obsessive.

Lol yes. It is. But I'm not OCD (except with food, a bit).

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

I do a lot of "off" things .. I just accept it as my our personal quirks

Yeah, it doesn't really impede me in any way (unless I'm emotional, which I think doesn't really have to do with the thoughts themselves, and could possibly be a cause along with stress), but it bugs the crap out of me sometimes! It happened to me today, I can't even remember what I was thinking of, either. Yet I know it was repeating over and over in my head. It's so odd!

[Tucson]

I have done these same things too. I do not think this is bipolar. But I will say over the years I do not do this anymore. But there have been periods of time where it seemed this behavior was returning.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by Tucson

I have done these same things too. I do not think this is bipolar. But I will say over the years I do not do this anymore. But there have been periods of time where it seemed this behavior was returning.

It does seem to come and go. Maybe it's anxiety or stress-related?

The steps counting thing just happens all the time. That same thing happens to one of my friends, he does it too. The thoughts thing doesn't happen as frequently. I'm wondering if that's the one that's anxiety or stress-related. I'm sick as a dog and have a fever, and went to work anyway. It happened on my way there.

I think I'll have to start keeping tabs on it each time it happens.

[BlackSheep79]

I know we cannot diagnose but that sounds like OCD. I have suffered from OCD since I was a young child. I have thoughts, sentences,words, etc. that go over in my head like a record player for hours. I also will hear a word a repeatedly type with my fingers like I am at a computer. When my anxiety is high it can become extreme and go on for days. My therapist, who also suffers from OCD, says it is an OCD trait. I know what you are going thru, it can be debilitating at times. The advice my therapist gave me is say you have a word in your head that keeps repeating. He told me to say it out loud over and over again until it is no longer an issue. You have worn out the word in your brain, and the anxiety attached to the word goes away. I haven't tried it yet. I've been dealing with this for so long that I've become accustomed to it and just ignore it, but I won't lie there are days when I want to scream and say stop at the top of my lungs. Go talk to your doctor there are medications that can help but I have found that CBT has helped me with the major OCD issues that made my life unbearable. Hope I was able to help. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by BlackSheep79

I know we cannot diagnose but that sounds like OCD. I have suffered from OCD since I was a young child. I have thoughts, sentences,words, etc. that go over in my head like a record player for hours. I also will hear a word a repeatedly type with my fingers like I am at a computer. When my anxiety is high it can become extreme and go on for days. My therapist, who also suffers from OCD, says it is an OCD trait. I know what you are going thru, it can be debilitating at times. The advice my therapist gave me is say you have a word in your head that keeps repeating. He told me to say it out loud over and over again until it is no longer an issue. You have worn out the word in your brain, and the anxiety attached to the word goes away. I haven't tried it yet. I've been dealing with this for so long that I've become accustomed to it and just ignore it, but I won't lie there are days when I want to scream and say stop at the top of my lungs. Go talk to your doctor there are medications that can help but I have found that CBT has helped me with the major OCD issues that made my life unbearable. Hope I was able to help. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me.

Thanks for this.

What I find odd about it is that I'm not really OCD -- not in any capacity that it really interferes with my life (I admit I do have my "quirks," ). And the things that repeat in my head aren't always associated with anything that actually makes me anxious. Do you think that sort of repetition could be the brain's attempt to calm itself down sometimes?

[BlackSheep79]

Originally Posted by Velouria

Thanks for this.

What I find odd about it is that I'm not really OCD -- not in any capacity that it really interferes with my life (I admit I do have my "quirks," ). And the things that repeat in my head aren't always associated with anything that actually makes me anxious. Do you think that sort of repetition could be the brain's attempt to calm itself down sometimes?

Your question is very interesting. I gave up understanding OCD so long ago, it makes no sense sometimes. I think you are right though. I look at it like the brain is so energized and there is all of this anxiety so the repetition is a way to expell that energy from the brain. I'm thinking in my head right now of my mom's dog that does circles non- stop. She never gets any exercise and it's her bodies way of expelling that energy. I don't know if that makes sense at all. Anyway, I'm not saying you have OCD, but I do believe that people can have traits, but it is when it interferes with your life is when it should be of concern.

[lilypup]

I think with most mental illnesses, you have to judge how much the symptom is damaging your life. If it's bothering you, get some help.

[scattergories]

I do this too but with music! It doesn't happen to me now that I'm on meds but before I was diagnosed and really manic, I would get one line from a song stuck in my head and it would just repeat and repeat for days, driving me crazy! I don't think it was the typical way music gets stuck in people's heads. It would just be the one line over and over again and it wouldn't stop. Is there an obsessive side to bipolar? My brother has OCD, maybe I have a little bit of it, too.

[PeterSO]

'Obsessive counting' is very annoying, but counting is part of normal development and everyone counts. Counting shows something is given and something is taken away. Obsession shows that something is bothering a person, precisely because we count trivialities. The trivialities that we count are not the worries -- just a substitute for them. Substitutions like this make worries more manageable in some ways, at least. So, the obsession is an attempt to master a problem; but the problem is really strong.