[Naturefreak]

On my latest disability extension report my new psychiatrist diagnosed me with OCD , along with GAD , and major depression , and bipolar.
I never had the chance to ask him about this diagnosis yet and I was reading up on the illness on wikipedia . I don't wash my hands a lot and don't have a germ phobia and I don't hoard things. Why do you suppose he done this? Guess I will have to ask him at my next appointment.

[Ascension]

I agree, that asking your psychiatrist diagnoses is a good idea. OCD is tricky sometimes. I can't decide if I am OCD or not. Sometimes I feel I may be and other times I don't. I think for me it's more mania but not sure.

P.S. - I am interested in your signature.

[birdcrazy]

Yeah... my doc last visit said I had OCD too, probably because I used to word obsessive in describing how I like birds... I think he was totally wrong. I am seeing him again on Monday, I guess I get a chance to ask him what's up.

[PeculiarGroove]

OCD emcopasses a wide range of symptoms, some more uncommon that others. Depression can also fuel OCD and vice versa. So it can be very difficult to diagnose. I would definately ask about the basis for the diagnosis. Do you have any "strange" habits? For example, I always turn my pillow over before i go to sleep, re-read words a certain number of times, always make sure knives are pointing away from me at the dinner table etc and if so, what compells you to take these actions?

[polarsmom]

My T has said that I have a touch of OCD. I don't count things, wash my hands over and over, or check locks several times before leaving. I don't have intrusive thoughts. One thing in particular is that I have to have things orderly. I can be very **** about it. Things have a place and it must be in that place. And I tend to surface clean. ALOT. I can't leave dirty dishes in the sink and go to bed. I have a hard time ignoring the dirty laundry. Even though there is barely enough to do a small load. (I'm getting better) The funny thing is I don't care about what the inside of a closet or drawer looks like. They are usually a wreck and I can't find a thing! Hmmm....kinda like me. I look all put together on the outside but I'm a mess on the inside. Hadn't looked at it like that before.

[loveregardless]

I definitely have OCD. I grind my teeth when I read. I focus on patterns and numbers. I check my email and social sites (like this one) repeatedly throughout the day in cycles, almost constantly. I have frequent intrusive thoughts of varying natures. Fearful, sexual, harming self and others, and random strange thoughts that range from disgusting to humorous. I go through stages of moderate germ obsession, especially in regards to my son, and when he was first born I did go through a brief excessive hand washing phase that resulted in very, very dry cracked hands. I cannot have things that I consider as not "normally" going together sprung on me, or it sends me into an attack. For example, if I manage to agree to letting my husband cook (which rarely happens) and he puts something in a dish that he knows I'm not expecting, I can't eat it. I have certain ways of doing certain things and it can be very difficult for me to be open to different approaches.

I used to have it worse before I was medicated as a child (I am not currently medicated). My clothing had to be color coordinated, sleeve length coordinated, and all turned inside out and facing the same direction. I used to "collect" things that I found out of place around the house and got made fun of for "stealing" them like a ferret. My desk in school was arranged a certain way every day. And now I find it difficult to deal with organizing things at all if they are "messy". It's like I can't even see it all just blurs together. I feel like the meds messed up some part of my brain. It interferes with my helping with chores around the house. I think I preferred my obsessively organized ways to my confused by attempts at organization experience now.

I also pick at things on my skin and my husbands skin and I am making every effort not to do it to my child. (Again, this was REALLY bad as a child for me, so I guess I'm glad that got better)

I also rub my feet together in a certain pattern when I'm tired or upset and trying to stop is a real concentrated effort, and then as soon as my focus wanders I go right back to it again. I will sometimes rock back and forth and pace, as well as spin in circles when I'm having an attack. Also I will sometimes wring my hands together. But that's more the anxiety/panic aspect than the OCD, although they are obviously connected.

There's a lot more, but speaking of babies.... <3

[loveregardless]

Ok, he's calm now.

When I was a child I had to use those plastic plates that separate food because I could not eat anything if it had touched. I can use normal plates now but it still makes me uncomfortable when my food touches, but I can deal with it now.

A few years back I became obsessed with my husbands ex-girlfriends and would cycle through their myspace/facebook pages multiple times a day and search through our apartment in a frenzy looking for some sort of "proof" of his preference and affection for them over me. This was extremely bad at the time. I was also having hallucinations and "flashbacks" to anything I had seen or thought I knew. I would also go into an attack anytime I saw asians for example, because one of his exes was asian. (I lived in NYC at the time, so, you can imagine how often this was a problem. Constantly. - This still happens but to a much lesser degree.)

Ok, he's upset again... I think you get the idea. Hope this helps.

[polarsmom]

I have certain ways of doing certain things and it can be very difficult for me to be open to different approaches.

I like things done a certain way. I have been caught many times rearranging the dishes in the dishwasher because they weren't placed the way I like them to be.

I check my email and social sites (like this one) repeatedly throughout the day in cycles, almost constantly

I will do this when I find a new website or something. Like when I first started clipping coupons and looking for freebies I was obsessed. I would search the web for coupon sites and freebies. That would be all I'd do for the entire evening.

At times I can be obsessed with certain foods. For awhile it was freezer pops. I'd have 5 or 6 of them after dinner. Right now it's hot chocolate. I have to have a cup with a ton of marshmallows every night.

[BearForever]

It's hard to know with OCD, sometimes I think I have it, but today was a good day, and I'm not so sure. I will check sites and things repeatedly, and hate it when I can't do things "my way". when i was younger I would always have to put my right foot on the ground first in the morning, but I don't seem to obsess over things like that to much lately.

[nvr_mnd]

For me, the way it is... It's hard for me to write this out because it's not part of my normal 'routine'... And any time I do something a different way (not just a little different, but like, noticeably different I mean) I get panicked and worry that I won't be able to sleep that night because I did it a different way. I don't know why it all goes back to being about sleep but it does for me haha... And sometime when I feel that I'm sliding back into my old ways I worry too... I just don't know what to do anymore.

[Moreta]

Quote:
I have certain ways of doing certain things and it can be very difficult for me to be open to different approaches.
I like things done a certain way. I have been caught many times rearranging the dishes in the dishwasher because they weren't placed the way I like them to be.

Quote:
I check my email and social sites (like this one) repeatedly throughout the day in cycles, almost constantly
I will do this when I find a new website or something. Like when I first started clipping coupons and looking for freebies I was obsessed. I would search the web for coupon sites and freebies. That would be all I'd do for the entire evening.

At times I can be obsessed with certain foods. For awhile it was freezer pops. I'd have 5 or 6 of them after dinner. Right now it's hot chocolate. I have to have a cup with a ton of marshmallows every night.

I totally have the problems with the dishwasher and the e-mail too. Also, the food thing. I was obsessed with Lucky Charms and Swiss Rolls. Not a good combination.....

Personally, I have a huge problem with calculations running through my head all the time. When I was in school, I would count the number of cement blocks that made up the walls, to then calculate what the area, surface area, volume, etc... Then of course you have to do another calculation to subtract the value of the windows and the door, because they weren't part of the wall. We also had those stupid ceiling tiles that have tiny lines of dots, and of course more calculations.

Hence, I became an accountant, so now I can do calculations all day and actually get paid for it.