[mtnannie]

Do symptoms like OCD come with BP? I find myself checking locks, straightening things, needing things to be just so because I think that if it isn't I will have a panic attack. I just always assumed it was part of BP. It doesn't really mess with my life much. What do you guys think?

[franz kafka]

I'm diagnosed with both OCD and BP, and the mood state I'm in affects my OCD thoughts/behaviors. I've heard of people having more symptoms depending on their mood state.

[mindwrench]

I have both as well. When I am depressed, the compulsive behaviors are tamed down. But when I go on the upswing, I'll pace the floors, check the locks, set alarm clocks, and a host of other things that I do when I am anxious. The more anxious, the worse my obsessions get.

[*Laurie*]

*Raises hand* - I also am diagnose with BP and OCD.

[mtnannie]

Wow! I didn't know you could be both. Guess I'll have to talk to my pdoc about it. It is really mild and don't think I need meds for it but I guess it could get in the way when ip. Good to know it changes with mood too. That was why I was thinking I didn't really have OCD, cuz I don't do that when "normal" or depressed. Appreciate the help!

[NoIdeaWhatToDo]

I don't have diagnosed OCD, but I definitely need things to feel orderly. Placement of objects when I'm tidying or in control of a space is pretty precise. I can't stand when there's a square edge of some sort of surface, and an object that's near it isn't also either squared up to it or sitting at a perfect 45 degree angle. Things that are off center are totally distracting, and I will often 'fix' them if possible. I will change toilet paper rolls in other people's bathrooms so they're hanging 'correctly'.

I don't find those things to be at the level of OCD, necessarily. Sometimes it'll be an urge I can't override to correct things in my environment, but not at a particular cost to something else. I don't get panic attacks about it. I don't think something bad will happen if I don't do it; I just feel calmer if I do. There are a lot of things in my world that need to be just so in order for me to feel just right. I don't know if that's related to the BP, but I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), and a lot of this seems to me to stem from those traits.

[dangerousanimals]

I have both.

Want an exercise in futility? Be employed as an editor before your OCD diagnosis. Some of my checks revolve around grammar, and words feeling "right." How can I even judge how words feel?
Took forever to get through my projects. Sometimes I can't even post stuff online because it never seems right. I get portions of songs stuck in my head...never a whole line, but part of a line.

I get violent images stuck in my head on repeat.

Possible trigger:

Smashing my head in until there's nothing left--avoid stairs, bricks, the corners of countertops and the corners of walls, etc. Thinking I'm going to fall into traffic and get run over...almost every time I walk by a road. Couldn't leave my apartment by myself when I first moved out because I was convinced my elderly neighbor was going to murder me because she kept talking to me. So that image was stuck in my head.

I used to think I was being followed by snipers, and I'd hide from helicopters because Area 51, secret aliens, I knew too much, whatever. Now, I'm scared of submarines...thankfully I encounter those much less often than helicopters. I can joke about the submarines when I'm not near one, but when I'm around one it's no laughing matter. There's actually a word for this phobia--submechanophobia. Why is this even a thing?

Previous therapist and meds doctor thought my distressing, intrusive thoughts were BP 1 and psychosis...current doctors thought it was OCD causing my psychotic-seeming symptoms.

[mindwrench]

Originally Posted by dangerousanimals

I have both.

Want an exercise in futility? Be employed as an editor before your OCD diagnosis. Some of my checks revolve around grammar, and words feeling "right." How can I even judge how words feel?
Took forever to get through my projects. Sometimes I can't even post stuff online because it never seems right. I get portions of songs stuck in my head...never a whole line, but part of a line.

I get violent images stuck in my head on repeat.

Possible trigger:

Smashing my head in until there's nothing left--avoid stairs, bricks, the corners of countertops and the corners of walls, etc. Thinking I'm going to fall into traffic and get run over...almost every time I walk by a road. Couldn't leave my apartment by myself when I first moved out because I was convinced my elderly neighbor was going to murder me because she kept talking to me. So that image was stuck in my head.

I used to think I was being followed by snipers, and I'd hide from helicopters because Area 51, secret aliens, I knew too much, whatever. Now, I'm scared of submarines...thankfully I encounter those much less often than helicopters. I can joke about the submarines when I'm not near one, but when I'm around one it's no laughing matter. There's actually a word for this phobia--submechanophobia. Why is this even a thing?

Previous therapist and meds doctor thought my distressing, intrusive thoughts were BP 1 and psychosis...current doctors thought it was OCD causing my psychotic-seeming symptoms.

Not that I have any editing skills or sense of grammar, but I often edit my posts on this forum, and write long posts only to delete them immediately. I get an uneasy feeling when I notice the edit button is gone from a post I made when I go back to reread it for the 10th time. I guess I'm just now realizing I do that even when depressed.

Interesting food for thought about the ocd causing psychosis. I mostly think it is my bp1 mania causing mine, but I have experienced it at other times. Similar to yours, mine is mostly themed with making the wrong people mad at me for something, and them using all kinds of resources to spy on me, or catch me off guard.

[MusicLover82]

I'm OCD and Bipolar as well. My pdoc treats my bipolar only right now because he feels like the OCD is related to bipolar mood swings. I've found that AP's that help with depression (Latuda and Abilify) help me the most with the anxiety and OCD.

[Bigmike727]

Yes it is possible, I have been diagnosed with both, I used to take 20mg of Prozac for OCD but now Klonopin helps just fine.

[xRavenx]

I get some features of OCD. During a mixed manic episode, I tend to get fixated on things. When I was having racing thoughts, I was speeding to the store to get 6 keys made up. I had these thoughts that something bad would happen if I did not. I even got a speeding ticket, because I was rushing to get there. I never met full criteria for OCD though.

[mtnannie]

I found and took the quiz for OCD and it came out that I have it. It does feel, though, that it is more related to my mania than my depression times. I have so many pills that I don't really want to add another one, and the OCD symptoms don't bother me much.

Thanks for all your help with this question. I learned a lot.

[pirilin]

Bigmike; are you a poker player?.