- Date posted
- 15w ago
Lists
Lists lists lists, bane of my life. Since I would say last 4 years any worry that pops in my mind I put down on the notes app on my phone then come back to it sometime. Is this OCD?
Lists lists lists, bane of my life. Since I would say last 4 years any worry that pops in my mind I put down on the notes app on my phone then come back to it sometime. Is this OCD?
I can relate. Lists and notes is a major concern for me. Normally I have to write things down often on several pages of papers I carry around with 2 pens . At some point I shred the notes and start all over again. For me it really is all or nothing, I do better not taking any notes at all because otherwise I end up writing a novel ? LOL ! No middle ground with this subject for me I have been dealing with this for years.
My psychiatrist says my note taking and list making is contributed to/ is a symptom of my ocd
I'm not the only one then, how did I say to stop it ?
Maybe it is? Maybe it isn’t? But I can relate!! This is actually how I figured out I had OCD. I was super embarrassed to tell my talk therapist how many lists and notes I made because I knew it was a little odd and that she would tell me to stop. I didn’t feel like I *could* stop. If I couldn’t write them down it was like they would just bounce around and I would try to hold the thought in my attention so I wouldn’t forget something important. For me, these are mostly about solving my mental health issues. I also used to copy all these lists and pages of thoughts from Google docs to a physical journal. I would reorganize the same thoughts. I just wanted to understand and remember them. When I saw I had >80 typed pages of notes for the past few months, I told my therapist and it seemed like there was like a lightbulb turned on in her head for why I wasn’t getting better. My psych diagnosed me with OCD years ago but I didn’t understand it. And all the meds without the right therapy weren’t working. I started NOCD a few weeks ago. Still making lists, though far less. And I haven’t copied an entry since Dec 31. Do you feel like making the lists reinforce the worries or makes them better? And better for how long? Thank you for posting. It’s amazing to know other people do it.
Thanks for detailed response, I would say putting the subject on the list gets rid of the initial distress so I can get on with my day but then when I come to review the list I sometimes can just delete the subject in the list and not give it a second thought but sometimes a subject can be on my list for weeks
@Chris85Floki Makes sense to me.
@Ginny L So how do I stop ? Do I just stop?
Guys I need help. I feel so alone . Basically I have this compulsion where I feel the need to write everything but this stems from me being anxious about EVERYTHING. Like my mom came in my room and I was irritated and snapped, immediately regretted now I keep writing “don’t be mean to mom next time” but I keep thinking about it. Then I think about how I finally left my house today and all the surfaces I touched that could’ve been contaminated and now I’m writing “next time don’t touch this and this”. Then I think about all the things I need to be doing for this week and I’m writing “don’t forget to do this and this” even though I’ve written it 5 times already. This is what happens everyday btw. My brain always thinks about something I need to be doing and making me anxious that I’ll forget it which is why I write it down on my notes app. I’m sooo mentally exhausted I need help pls!! Anyone have any advice ? I used to think I need to stop the writing but really I need to stop the anxious thoughts coming into my head . People say I need to accept the thoughts and let it go but that’s too hard for me
This list by ai gives a good summary of my symptoms. Does it resemble OCD or is it something else? 1. Compulsions (OCD-specific behaviors): • Feeling the need to flex or contract muscles an even number of times, equally on both sides of your body. • Needing to reverse actions (for example, if you roll your eyes or trace a line with your finger, you feel compelled to do it again in the exact opposite way). 2. Intrusive Thoughts (OCD-specific ruminations): • Daydreaming about people you care about getting hurt (e.g., school shooting, injury, or kidnapping). • Sometimes feeling like you might want something bad to happen to someone you find attractive—possibly because of a desire to help or save them, though it’s confusing. • These thoughts can sometimes provide a twisted sense of relief while remaining distressing and confusing. 3. Sexual Orientation OCD: • Experiencing confusion or doubt about your sexual orientation. 4. Contamination Thoughts: • Feeling like things are contaminated, especially after touching something gross. 5. Sensory Compulsions: • Feeling the need to smell your hand after touching areas like your ear or hair. 6. ADHD-like Symptoms / Additional Observations: • Fidgeting or moving your legs when standing or sitting.
Hi all, I’m brand new to this app. I’ve never had any mental disorders. I’ve never been diagnosed or even suspected that I had some kind of issue going on. But recently my partner gently pointed out to me that I’ve developed some weird tendencies that are progressively getting worse. I’m getting overly anxious about the smallest of things. Every time he leaves for work, I stare at the tracker on my phone until he gets through his 25 minute commute because I’m convinced there will be a wreck. I’m terrified that someone is constantly taking pictures of me through my windows and even feel like people can see through my (solid) blinds at night. Every time I hear someone in the hallway of my apartment complex I stare out the peephole because I’m convinced they’re going to break in, even if it’s a neighbor that I recognize. I check myself for lumps in my body every morning and every night, and my partner too, even though neither of us have any scary medical history. I unplug everything with a cord every night before I go to bed because I’m terrified that something is faulty and my apartment will catch on fire. I am constantly afraid of being sued by people I don’t know even though the worst thing I’ve ever done is gotten a speeding ticket. I have dreams that people are sending me threatening mail and it stops me from opening my actual mail. There are so many more, I could go on forever. Writing it all down, I know it’s stupid. I just don’t know if feeling this way is normal. There are people out there that have actual stressors and here I am working myself up a million times a day over nothing. Do normal people feel like this? I thought it was normal.
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