Reading with OCD

I know eXaCtLy what you mean, and it’s not fun:( something that helped me was one: To keep reading despite the fact that it was uncomfortable/unsatisfying, and two: just making sure I had the main gist of what I just read- I had to learn to be ok with not knowing every detail. I had to tell my OCD “I’ll re-read that later” (but don’t actually re-read it)

Yes!!!! I published a book recently - here is a snippet: The school had recommended that we read for a certain amount of time each day. When we returned home, I made my way to my brother’s room and turned on the lamp before I lay down on his couch and started reading, loving the suspense and problem-solving on each page. But then, the cycle began. “Shoot, I forgot to check exactly what time it was when I started reading. It’s 11:05 a.m. right now, and I’ve probably been reading for five minutes. So, I’ll assume it was 11 o’clock when I began.” I looked down and started reading again. I got about one or two sentences farther and looked at the clock again. “It’s 11:06 a.m. already! So, it was probably not 11 o’clock when I started. It was likely 11:01 a.m.—maybe even 11:02 a.m. I’ll just use 11:02 a.m. to be safe. No, if I want to be totally safe, I should use 11:03 a.m. That will account for the interruptions I just had. I started reading at 11:03 a.m.” I looked down to start reading again, thrilled by every word on the page. “Mike, Marie is making a snack; do you want one?” my brother yelled from downstairs. “Sure!” I yelled back. “Like what?” he asked. I thought about it for a minute and then gave him a response. Then, I got upand quickly went to the bathroom before making my way back to the couch. “Great, I wasn’t reading for the time that John asked the question. And I thought about what I wanted for a minute, plus the bathroom break.” I looked back at the clock; it read 11:17 a.m. “Well, I started at 11:03 a.m., but I need to revise that to at least 11:04 a.m., so that when I finish reading, I can just subtract the time from the start time and know how long I’ve read. That’s way easier than subtracting the end time from the beginning time, and then trying to subtract out all the breaks. But wait, 11:04 a.m. could easily be cheating. What if the conversation with John plus the bathroom break took three minutes? To be safe I should up the start time to 11:05 a.m. No, it could have taken longer. To be absolutely sure that I’m not padding my reading time, I will up the start time to 11:09 a.m. That allows five full minutes for the conversation with John and the bathroom break.” I felt completely dejected as I returned to my reading. I knew deep down that my break took a minute tops. But I had already shaved off three minutes from the start, plus another five. I knew I was robbing myself of time I should have accounted for, but I didn’t have any other option. The alternative was to use an earlier start time, but the idea of being guilt-ridden for potentially lying about my time was nowhere near worth it. I eventually stopped counting altogether seeing that we didn’t have to officially report anything to the school. If I remember correctly, I started telling my parents that I read “some” or “a lot” instead of reporting actual numbers.

OH goodness - I just reread your note more closely. You weren't asking if anyone experienced it, but if someone had ways to overcome it. SORRY. So yes, I have found that OCD is far far harsher than reality is. So its ok to miss something b/c it doesn't matter in reality. If you haven't - I suggest reading Brain Lock by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz - or maybe just google his "Four Steps". He introduces the idea of an impartial spectator - which is our ability to step outside of our intense emotions and see reality for what it is. I hope this helps!