Where to Begin...

OCD for me is definitely involving the compulsive part. I'm compelled to do things based on obsessions I have. For example, I count how many drinks I take (it has to be 6 drinks or 10) because of the feeling that if I don't, it'll be bad luck. I do like order, too. I constantly feel the need to pray to any special powers there are out there to keep myself from getting hurt, because I obsess that certain things will cause me pain (even though I know that this is really odd and something I probably shouldn't do). I'm constantly trying to align things and make things look perfect... I also need order and things have to stay the same. Routine, you could say.

I'm really curious to know how OCD affects others, as I have never met anyone else who has OCD. At least, to the degree that I do. I understand it's different for all, so I'm curious, if you don't mind sharing, how is it for you?

And yet we meet again, hydrophobic!! Bwahaha :P

My OCD was a lot worse during my earlier teenage years, but as my bipolar has gotten progressively worse, it is almost barely worth mentioning other than the intrusive thoughts. I only say that because it was bordering on crippling when I was a few years younger.
For the most part, I'm apparently what you would call "abnormal" OCD. It's mainly based in obsessions. I count things obsessively & attempt to find patterns in random things, such as the time or a list or etc. A lot of my time is also spent constantly organizing & redoing things until they are done perfectly or neatly, but I've recently been able to get over the doomsday feeling I get when something isn't TOTALLY perfect.
Uhm, my only fatalistic compulsion was that if I didn't knock on wood after having a negative intrusive thought about a loved one, that it would happen to them. Perhaps it's also a mockery of my belief in the power of thoughts/suggestion. But that one didn't really last all that long.
Intrusive thoughts are the worst, though. And somewhere beyond 2 1/2 years ago, I developed trichatillomania. I'm not exactly sure how or why this ever happened to begin with, but I just started pulling my eyelashes out when I get stressed... That one is really hard to stop, as I barely realize I'm doing it while it's happening. It's almost trance like. And for some reason, before I do it, it's like I get this psychosomatic pain on the follicles of my eyelashes as if I have a stye. I suppose it's my mind's way of making sure I do it, even if I want to talk myself out of it. :/

Blah. I hope that helped some! You're definitely not alone

Ha, ha! So we do!

Wow. I do that all the time, the knock on wood thing. Only, it's the prayer thing I was talking about. I worry that once I get a thought, if I don't 'pray' for that to not happen, it will happen. It's really, really nice to know that I'm not the only person who has done something like that. I mean, I know I wasn't, but it's one thing to know another to see it.

Thanks!

Hello,

My OCD is mainly the obsession part. At my worst, I used to have intrusive thoughts regarding homicide and suicide that hospitalized me 4 times. I thought that I was this horrible person, but it turned out to be good old OCD, tricking my mind over and over again. I received TONS of therapy (specifically Exposure Response Prevention) and overcame the intrusive thoughts. Yay!

As far as compulsions go, I double check things such as locks, the stove, etc, to make sure they are locked or turned off. When listening to music, I have to pick a song, then quickly restart it again before I can listen to it. (2 seems to be a number I like).

I always check to make sure I have all my jewelry I wear and I have specific pieces that I have to have all the time. I also check my punch card at work all the time to make sure it's mine.

I've had those kinds of thoughts before too, though. For homicide, but I've never been hospitalized before. That must not be fun at all.

Thanks for sharing!

Melissa: Yeah, I get the homocidal/suicidal thoughts as well. I've thankfully never been hospitalized though, as I've never ACTUALLY had any suicidal ideations or attempts. It's mainly I find myself thinking things like "What if that happened right now & I just did it?" for no reason in particular. As for homocidal thoughts? They're particularly troubling because they always seem to be about someone I care about, even though that's the last thing I would think of doing to them. But I suppose that just adds fuel to the "intrusiveness". Hah

It's really interesting to see that those kinds of thoughts coincide with OCD. I never knew that before.

This would be a long post if I went into detail about how my OCD affects me, but I'll share a few things:

Dust is a problem for me. I dust most things in my room every few days (it used to be every day, but I've recently made an improvement), because I can't handle dust collecting on things. I have a dusty lamp, for instance, and can't clean it, because the dust will be spread around. I get very upset if a bug gets on my lap and flies around in it, spreading the dust. I keep most stuff of mine in Ziploc-type bags and if I think dust has gotten on them, I have to take my stuff out of the bags and put them in new bags.

Right now, with the hurricane we're supposed to get, I'm worried that windows will break (and get stuff on my things, including dust, and pieces of glass would touch my stuff, which is a problem for me), or even just shake dust all over the place (my curtains are dusty), I worry about possibly a tree falling onto the roof and it would likely be in my room, and I could lose my stuff because of all the stuff coming in contact with things I consider dirty.

I obsess mostly about being dirty, but I don't mean dirty in the classic way, at least not totally. I don't like to touch people for fear of getting their body oils, skin flakes, etc., on me. I don't worry that I'm going to get sick and die if I touch germs, but just the touching of dirt or germs bothers me; I just don't know why.