[CF17]

I may sound pretty crazy, but is that possible that some OCD traits are somehow beneficial to other health conditions?

I've suffered from severe depression since forever, but my symptoms of OCD started in my mid 20s. To me, the worst of this disorder are the thoughts. It haunts me and I can't control it.
In the other hand, the "action" part of this disease is a whole other level. For an instance, I won't rest until an object is positioned the way my brain finds it harmonized - which is excruciating; I'm extremely afraid of germs and I'm averse to any smells. I go over soaps and clorox bottles really fast. When I quit smoking (after 10 years of doing it on daily basis), It was cold turkey, and it was because of the smell on my hands and hair. I miss it but I won't do it again regularly ONLY because of the smell! One day I relapsed and smoked one cigarette and I lost it. The emotional pain was unbearable, so much shame!!!. I had to take countless baths, I had to brush my teeth till my gums bled. So I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing. OCD forced me to quit this bad habit, so I'm afraid that if I try to treat my OCD I will go back to this addiction.

Does anyone have any idea about it or similar experience? I'm feeling confused.

[Onward2wards]

From what I have read (psychology) and also observed in my own life, every "maladaptive" set of thoughts and behaviors is just a distorted, self-defeating expression of something potentially good.

For example, you wrote "...I won't rest until an object is positioned the way my brain finds it harmonized...". From a certain point of view, that's what artists, interior decorators and landscapers do! The basic impulse itself is not the problem. What your mind does with that impulse (and if it keeps on doing something long after it is desirable to stop) is the problem.