Reading OCD

It's why I didn't survive university very long. That, and social anxiety. I would write a decent paper, then spend probably ten times the effort rereading it until I sometimes felt physically ill. Then, I'd go to class with very little sleep because I was rereading instead of sleeping. I also rarely read for leisure because of this issue. I'd rather not take a medication for this, so I've asked around about some sort of therapy for it with no luck. Anyone else experience reading OCD?

What exactly is reading OCD?

It's basically rechecking. I do this all the time, and is part of one of my OCD symptoms. It's when you reread some over and over until it feels right. Usually I do this until I realize it is getting late and I have checked over it for too long. My rereading/rechecking can last 3 hours, which is more time than I actually spend on writing the thing in the first place so.

Thanks Nike007. That's pretty much what I was going to say. My doctor thinks it might be part of my ADHD, but whatever it is, I can't stand it.

I had thus problem in past, though not so severe. It's annoying and tiring. Since your it's so severe, I'd consider taking a med, though I understand your worry at the idea. Also, one method could be, reread maximum 3 times and then stop, though you aren't sure that it's enough. It's hard, but I did it for other symptoms and it's a good method. Or at least, stop rechecking for that day and give it a look the following day just before the class. Try to persuade yourself that if you already checked 3 times and didn't change anything or very little, your work can't be improved more.
Another idea: have you a friend or family member that could read your work and assure you that it's ok?
Good luck with everything

I feel you. I have both OCD and ADHD.

I personally believe that the OCD is compensatory for the ADHD. Like subconsciously, I know that I might miss something because of the ADHD scattered-ness. So the OCD kicks in. And then it's a real matter of OCD and no longer a slight issue of ADHD forgetfulness.

Either way, if you want to go the non-medication route, the most effective therapy would be exposure therapy. That's usually done in conjunction with medication but it can be done without. You just need to make sure that you find a therapist who is experienced in CBT, specifically EX/RP for OCD (I know that's a lot of acronyms). But it's a specific type of behavior therapy that not all therapists have training in.