is a very serious condition you know. It can ruin people's lives. It should not be a laughing matter. I read an article the other day which claimed that the definition of OCD as used by the medical world...
"Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - feelings of little or no control over certain thoughts, ideas or urges, which seem to force themselves into your mind and remain so like a stuck record. You may feel compelled to do these things because of an unquenchable fear that life will be disrupted, you will not feel at ease, it would be "bad luck" not to carry out the urge or something "bad" may happen if you don't. The irresistible urge to carry out such rituals is known as a 'compulsion'. Compulsion also applies to the act of not doing something, for example avoiding certain things because of an unantural fear of them or because of an extreme dislike to them. It creates unbearable anxiety, and makes you feel helpless to do anything except perform the particular ritual. It can result in shakes, sweating, hyper ventilating, racing heart, dizziness, shaking and shortness of breath."
...may need to be adjusted because as it stands just now it is too vague and could be mis-diagnosed unless tighter rules are in place regarding symptoms which need to be present to classify OCD.
He may have a point. I mean as it stands from reading the above, which was taken from the article, I have could have OCD.
I often feel "compelled" to buy shoes. The "urge" to do so is often uncontrollable. If I see a pair I like they will "force themselves into my mind and remain so like a stuck record". I often find my heart racing, my body shaking and myself hyper ventilating at the sight of a lovely pair of sparkly heels! I regularly feel helpless to do anything other than buy them to relieve my symptoms! It's a curse I tell you.
Then there's my cupboard "compulsion". I feel "compelled" to have all my tins facing the same way and in the correct order of size and of foods contained in them (for example Beans need to go beside Tomatoes and soup needs to go on it's own in anothe cupboard) and it's not just tins...it's pot noodles, jars, packets...all of them in size and colour order according to what's in them. I get into a right old state of "anxiety" if it's not right and I will re-sort it every time I buy a shop if it's even slightly not right.
Maybe I should also mention my furniture obsession which is slighty odd...imagine a flat wall with 4 pieces of furniture on it...lets say bedroom furniture...they range in height from very tall wardrobe to small drawers...If I went into a house which had the large wardrobe on the right, then went down in size to the smallest piece on the left...I'd be very uneasy because that's just wrong. I would have an uncontrollable urge to move them the other way and have done so in the past on houses which didn't belong to me! It doesn't have to be furniture actually, I'm the same with books or storage jars in the kitchen...gotta be left to right biggest to smallest.
Is is also a bit wierd that all my cd's (and believe me there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them) are stored in multiple order? So for example I have all the compilation ones together but then seperate them so all the film soundtracks are together, or I have groups but sort them into genres and then put all the a's together, b's together etc...
What about the fact that I only like certain colours of flowers in the house? Is that a wierd compulsion too? Or that I can't bear to go within a few feet of anything nylon? Or that I can't sleep with normal cotton sheets? That I won't even touch anything made of satin and that I still look all round the bedroom, toilet and hallway for spiders before I can sleep? Or that dirty trainers and shoes just make me feel horrible, especially dirty trainers...shiny and new looking always please (which may explain why I own so many!!).
Fuck me. I am an obsessive compulsive. Those Dr's better change the bloody wording of that description. And quick. I want to go back to being strange instead of being obsessively complused.
Jenny xx
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2 comments:
You make light of it, but this disorder is real, and common in almost everyone. Like your sorting / stacking of cd's and tins etc. But in some people it gets more serious. Like my young one, who could reset / check his alarm clock 14-20 times - in succsession. Who will unpack all his shoes, sort then into pairs, check the inside (DOES NOT KNOW WHAT FOR) pack them away, and 2 minutes later repeat the process. Who will count his golfish, looking through 1 glass pane, recount through the front pane, and again through the other side...
and who, before going to bed will check inside all the cupboards in the bathroon, including lifting the toilet seat and the cistern cover, and even opening the shower door to look inside... It has glass sides for god sake!!! That is serious OCD. And it's scary, as much for me as his dad as for him as a 12 year old.
But I do enjoy your outlook on the subject. As usual, you have managed to make it entertaining if nothing else. Thanx
Salagatle!
I believe eveyone has some sort of compulsive "disorder"...I have two, no three, that I'm aware of. (1) Cupboard doors and drawers must be closed (2) I count steps as I'm climbing them, even if I've been up or down them umpteen times before (3) I try and pronounce long words backwards, like if you had to play an old movie backwards...
Hey, I'm strange too...
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