[PsychSearcher0]

Hello.
I've registered on the forums because I have a question. I've spent many hours googling (mostly motivated by curiosity), and asked in a few different forums but never got a satisfying answer.

It is not a big problem for me, I ask mostly because I am curious about what psychology has to say about that.
I don't know if it matters but I am diagnoed with OCD that I manage via therapy and self-management.

Okay but what is "that" ?

Well when I was a young child I used to play in a strange way. I used to shake my hands rapidly but not too fast in front of my chest and imagine things - superheroes fighting, war scenes I've seen on TV, scenes from cartoons I watched...they were always VERY alive to me, and it instantly REPLACED what I saw or heard at the time, like a superior version of daydreaming. It never worked without the element of slightly shaking my hands. When anything that required my attention happened I was instantly brought back to normal, kinda like when reading a book or just daydreaming regulary. I know it sounds very strange but to me it was normal. It was an instant gateway to a fantasy world to me. Any world I wanted to see.

The most important thing IT STILL IS. I am now 20, and I could not get rid of this. Of course I hide it because I know it is not normal. I do it in the privacy of my room most of the time.
I fought many times to stop it because I was afraid I am crazy and that someone might see and ask what I'm doing but it was too strong of a habit to me.

I have noticed when we were both kids that my cousin, who is 3 years younger also does the exact same thing as me. I don't know if he has OCD too or not we are not that close.

Can anyone tell me what medicine has to say about that ? Does anyone else do this ? Is it because of the OCD ?
I am an anxious person, and I'm kind of afraid I will get attacked for posting this. I really hope this is the right forum to post such a question. On another forum I've got answers stating that I am "bent" etc. which was not very pleasing to me.

[kaliope]

hi psychsearcher
I don't believe anybody will tell you that you are bent here. this doesn't sound like it has anything to do with OCD to me, but then I am not OCD so I don't know for certain. Maybe posting it in the OCD forum would get you more responses. Im am trying to think of what the best forum to put it in but I am at a loss. I will ask some of the other liaisons to take a look to see if they have an idea. welcome to psych central. you will find we have several forums where you can post about your concerns and receive feedback from other members. you will get a lot of support here. again, welcome

[pegasus]

Hello PsychSearcher0, welcome to Psych Central.

It does not sound that strange to me. As a child you found a way to find comfort through doing something where you could escape to a fantasy world. As a child I would dissociate due to abuse that was going on at the time and that was my way of escaping. It was a useful tool to cope with what was happening.

As an adult I no longer need to dissociate and escape but because I learnt that trick as a child it is difficult to control. It sounds like your escaping/fantasy is similar. Incidently OCD is also a way of coping that gets out of hand.

Please see your doctor and let them know about this ability you have and if it is troublesome they can refer you for therapy/treatment.

Hmm, one thing that came to mind when reading your post was regarding the shaking of your hands. Don't know if you already thought of this or not, but the shaking of the hands might be a way of distracting you from any negative thoughts currently in the mind by putting attention on the feeling of your hands and the sensation they are physically feeling. Drawing your thoughts to a more physical and grounded state of mind, freeing up your mind to have creative and more positive thoughts.
One thing you might be able to try is changing the physical sensation you use to something more visually appealing to others, you could try out various different physical techniques associated with meditation and anything else that comes to mind, and see if with practice you can shift to something else.
It sounds to me like it might be an intense form of concentration and imagination/ meditation. There's nothing wrong with being able to do that, it is a gift you acquired though hardship. Many people have to try very hard to do what you can do. Something else that might help is doing daily meditation for 5-15 minutes, which has been proven to help change the brain positively. I attached an article that might help.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/op...anted=all&_r=0

Please let me know your thoughts PsychSearcher0, and what you have tried/ not tried.

Hello PsychSearcher0: Welcome to PsychCentral. PC is a great place to gain support, learn strategies for handling mental health concerns, & to make internet friends. There are many wonderfully supportive members here on PsychCentral.

Rest assured you will not attract any of the abuse here you attracted on some other websites. While we may not have experienced specifically what you have, we all have other similar experiences. So we can relate to what you've posted, or may yet post. (Hopefully you will decide to stay with us & continue to post.)

Personally I'm not going to offer an opinion with regard to what's going on with you. I prefer to leave this to the professionals. And I would like to encourage you to seek professional advice with regard to it. Have you shared this with your current therapist. If so, what has this person said?

The reason I think it is important for you to pursue this is because my personal experience, with my own mental health problems, is they have tended to become very gradually worse as I have gotten older. I see, by your post, you are now 20 & you are managing your OCD well via therapy & self-management. This is great! However (without meaning to scare you in any way) I would have some concern, whatever is the source of the experiences you describe, it could very gradually grow to cause you more difficulty as you get older than it does now. Obviously, I don't know this for sure. But it is a concern I would have based on how my life has progressed over the years.

All new members' first 5 posts are reviewed before they become available for viewing by the community. So there may be a delay between the time that you submit your first 5 posts & the point at which they become available for viewing. However, once these initial posts have been reviewed & approved, your posts will become available for viewing as soon as you click the submit button.

There are quite a few forums in which you will be able to post. If you have not already done so, be sure to look through the listing in the Forum Index:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/

Each forum is listed in the Index along with a brief description of it's purpose.

Also, once your first 5 posts have been reviewed & approved, you will be able to participate in our chat rooms where you'll have the opportunity to correspond with other PC members in real time. These chat rooms are listed on the community calendar showing the dates & times they meet:

Forums at Psych Central - Calendar

Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact any member of the Community Liaison Team. Best wishes...

[AstridLovelight]

Have you ever been assessed for Autism Spectrum Disorder? Hand flapping can be associated with that. I'm not saying that's what this is, it's just what crossed my mind as a possibility as I read your post.

Perhaps the posters on the ASD forum might be able to give some input.

Autism and Asperger's Syndrome - Forums at Psych Central

Oh, and welcome!

[kindachaotic]

This is a shot in the dark but have you read up on Tourette's Syndrome. To have a proper dx you have to have vocal & motor involuntary movements (tics).
Ask you T if they feel you need a psychiatric or neurological consult.
Wish you the best!!

[PsychSearcher0]

Wow I did not expect so many people trying to help me so quickly.
Seems like this is the right forum to post such a question.
I'm not going to tell my therapist about it though, I feel it is not a problem to me because I can fully consciously control when I do it. Also when I really want to do it I can tap my finger in a descreet manner (and I sometimes do when I am bored on a train for example).

I'll report it in the Autism subofrum as advised. It makes more sense it being related to that rather than OCD, although I was never diagnosed with any form of autism.

I don't think it's a way to dissociate as I was never abused as a child, but I get the logic behind that idea as well.
It seems this is quite a rare thing, but I suspect it is almost certainly related to a more common mental problem because I am sure my cousin has/had the same thing as me.

[Thunder Bow]

When you were growing up there were things going on, around you, that you did not want to hear or see. This was how you mind coped with all that. Now with that in mind, you can channel that creativity into some thing more positive.

[BeaFlower]

Hi PsychSearcher. I can say that I do a similar movement too, though I don't always imagine something during it. I too do it since I was a child, though now I reduced it a bit. I've always considerated it a tic.
I don't have a therapist and I'm not diagnosed with anything yet, but I really think to have OCD too. So maybe the two things can be related. But I'm not sure.
I think that you could talk about it to your therapist. He wouldn't judge you, and he could tell you what to do with it.
Feel free to message me if you want to talk. We seem to have something in common.
Welcome to PC I'm happy that you're here.

What you have described doesn't seem, to me, dissimilar from daydreaming in a car, staring out the window at the fence posts flying by. Like staring at something repetitive is a way to put yourself in a trance... to dissolve the outside world and let your inside world take over...a way to let your imagination and dreams run wild. Maybe?

[Durra]

@PsychSearcher0 We are meant for each other! ..Just kidding. I have the problem as you do, I can feel you, literally!

I 'm a dreamer too and I know that what you imagine tends to get clearer and better if you see things moove. For instance, you have the habit of rubbing your hands to induce inner fantasies, while as I walking around in circles to keep my 'daydream' going! And if I walk faster, I think better! It isn't OCD as you did your action due to you wanting imagination. That is you being distracted from reality and come back moments later and ceased by other distraction such as someone calling you. I'm 19 now, I had this problem since I was 10. You might want to check on ADD/ADHD. If it could be really distressful when you need work done and yet you want your 'dream' to go on or too being absorbed.

My psychiatrist said I have an OCD for placing everything to the side neatly(because I need space to walk without hurting myself) and walking around in the same direction(because I want to imagine stuff). However, the main cause is my ADD, since every OCD habit relates to it.

I'm so happy I meet people that are similar to me, because something like this needs an attendent of an experienced psychiatrist.

i have the exact same thing. i would say it is an ocd tick

[Basmith]

This is interesting because my brother and I do this, but less and less often as we got older. I am in my 40's and my brother is 53. We also have anxiety issues. Looking back I think it was more of a release than a ritual. I remember doing it in times of anticipation; good or bad. I notice my brother even to this day does this when he laughs really hard...usually when we are telling funny stories from our childhood. I also notice he rubs his hands together really fast to avoid the hand shake thing.

Honestly I think you will get past it as you get older. I think it is something we picked up in childhood as a release for stress. It's great that you acknowledge it and study the psychology of the triggers. That is what helped me in many aspects of my life. Hang in there.

Originally Posted by PsychSearcher0

Hello.
I've registered on the forums because I have a question. I've spent many hours googling (mostly motivated by curiosity), and asked in a few different forums but never got a satisfying answer.

It is not a big problem for me, I ask mostly because I am curious about what psychology has to say about that.
I don't know if it matters but I am diagnoed with OCD that I manage via therapy and self-management.

Okay but what is "that" ?

Well when I was a young child I used to play in a strange way. I used to shake my hands rapidly but not too fast in front of my chest and imagine things - superheroes fighting, war scenes I've seen on TV, scenes from cartoons I watched...they were always VERY alive to me, and it instantly REPLACED what I saw or heard at the time, like a superior version of daydreaming. It never worked without the element of slightly shaking my hands. When anything that required my attention happened I was instantly brought back to normal, kinda like when reading a book or just daydreaming regulary. I know it sounds very strange but to me it was normal. It was an instant gateway to a fantasy world to me. Any world I wanted to see.

The most important thing IT STILL IS. I am now 20, and I could not get rid of this. Of course I hide it because I know it is not normal. I do it in the privacy of my room most of the time.
I fought many times to stop it because I was afraid I am crazy and that someone might see and ask what I'm doing but it was too strong of a habit to me.

I have noticed when we were both kids that my cousin, who is 3 years younger also does the exact same thing as me. I don't know if he has OCD too or not we are not that close.

Can anyone tell me what medicine has to say about that ? Does anyone else do this ? Is it because of the OCD ?
I am an anxious person, and I'm kind of afraid I will get attacked for posting this. I really hope this is the right forum to post such a question. On another forum I've got answers stating that I am "bent" etc. which was not very pleasing to me.