"Having OCD is not just about germs and cleanliness" this was written by a therapist yesterday. Can you or someone else explain to me what it is about? I agree with the statement but really want to understand it so that I understand myself better.
I agree, I think, at least for me, cleaning and fear of germs are just two of many ways that my OCD manifests, I think there’s always an underlining reason, for me it’s a strong urge to “protect” from perceived or unknown threats. It’s frustrating how often someone will say that I’m “lucky” to have it cause I’m so organized but I’m just trying to calm the brain goblins enough to sleep.
@D3Z The protect interpretation is strong for me too. I feel if I’m not checking my son and not getting drs to reaffirm then I’m not being vigilant. The organising thing dances a fine line of logic and efficiency (eg it’s just efficient and logical to have all my forks in the fork basket in the dishwasher and utensil tray… items to be labelled, categorised, and facing forward… etc) I’m not sure what my interpretation of this ocd theme is. But I let things get messy and jumbled up now. I can’t find a lot of things now. But yet I’m still here functioning even if slightly less efficient.
@divyD I relate to the being vigilant motivation as well—I don’t have my own yet but I work with kids, I think the double edge sword is that vigilance sometimes does pay off and it’s hard to tell the brain that it doesn’t justify the behaviour
From what I've learned about OCD over time through therapy and therapy work books, I think the meaning is that obsessive-compulsive disorder is not defined by a simple pet peeve or itch to organize something a certain way (even though getting something "just right" can totally be a compulsion!!) It's normal to be frustrated by something looking "off" and wanting to fix it according to personal standards, but I know OCD obsessions and compulsions get to a NONSENSICAL point. Like if you want a crooked picture to match the rest of the straight pictures, that's more normal. But maybe someone with OCD has a personal attachment to a particular photo, maybe of someone who triggers bad obsessions in them, so they want it to look "just right" to represent the person in the picture in a good way. The person might have unrelenting obsessions about the subject of the photo rejecting them in real life if the photo is askew in any way. So the person, out of guilt and fear, might compulsively fuss over the picture even if it's already perfectly straight. Obsessions and compulsions can come from all kinds of different themes/experiences and that's an abstract example!! But I think one of the main distinctions between fussing over tidiness and true OCD is the duration of obsessions (persistent, UNWANTED thoughts) and the SENSIBILITY in the obsessions and compulsive urges.
I think it’s trying to explain that there’s more to ocd than what people think. Most people think it’s about wanting things very clean and neat and tidy and avoiding germs. But there are different types of ocd. Hair pulling, skin picking, checking, counting, googling, reassurance seeking, etc. Furthermore it is never about the content even though the content feels extremely real and distressing to the individual with ocd. It is always something underlying that. This is the hidden interpretation the person with ocd has about their fear.
Probably about OCD effects on the brain. It controls your thoughts about things. Misconception that only about cleanliness and organization.
Hello! I'm new here and new to OCD. My therapist suggested I might have OCD due to my tendency to ruminate endlessly on doubts and fears. These thoughts are indeed intrusive and I can't seem to stop them. The thing I'm kind of stuck on is that I can't see where the compulsions come in. Unless the thoughts themselves are compulsions. Can anyone relate to this?
I've gotten diagnosed with OCD and I'm in therapy. But I'm worried that I don't have OCD/that I got misdiagnosed. And recently I'm worried that I've just gotten myself into a habit of thinking of dirty minded or just plain old terrible things after I see/hear certain things because I feel like I need to prove I have OCD or else I'm faking(sometimes this goes away). Or that I'm just mimicking symptoms of ocd to cope with real problems I may have and that im just really deep into denial. I don't know...I'm just so tired. I mean, what if I really am what I think I am and this is my brains only way of coping? I don't even really feel anything towards most of the thoughts anymore either I just know they go against my values and I don't want them. I don't know if that's because I'm so mentally exhausted, I just don't care, or that the thoughts are true and I'm comfortable with them.
I just got off my session today and after having a confession to my husband last night with a compulsion, he obviously is going to have more questions. My therapist says not to confess because I am growing my OCD . However, this is really OCD and is about something that actually happened. My husband said, that it sounds like I have someone in my life who is justifying withholding information or lying to him. Of course when I have my obsession compulsions, he makes sense. Can somebody help explain this to me? How is my husband not right or is he?
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