[Indie'sOK]

Hi everybody,

I've never posted on this before, but it's been bothering me for awhile, so I would like a second opinion. It's hard to describe, but for about a year I've had this thing. Like, I'll be writing and I'll write a letter "wrong", meaning I won't like how it looks and so I'll erase it and write it again. Sometimes I'll write it over and over until I get it looking how I want it. That's one example. Another is that sometimes I'll get a feeling that something bad will happen if I don't do something a certain number of times. Like, my mind will think "if you don't arrange these objects right, something will happen to your mom". I know this isn't true, but it's still there. I can usually ignore it and the feeling will pass, but the feeling is pretty strong at first. I asked my T about this, she said it's more than likely just tendencies of OCD rather than an actual disorder, and that my pdoc might rule it out as time goes on if it gets better. I hope this all makes sense. Any opinions?

[Maven]

It sounds like you have some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but your T is right, in that it might not be obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's only a disorder if it disrupts your life or causes you a lot of stress. By all means, if you can ignore the feelings till they pass, do so; it will help you from having it develop into a disorder if you nip it in the bud.

[deliquesce]

i think the more you learn to sit with those intense feelings, the quicker these tendencies will pass. OCD develops because people do their compulsions to avoid that intense (but usually quite brief) feelings of anxiety. the more you can expose yourself to it - rather than avoid it by doing your compulsions - the better chance you have of it not turning into a disorder that disrupts your life and causes you heartache.