- Username
- TabbyKitty
- Date posted
- 6y ago
My main compulsion is checking. Especially self checking! I’m always checking to see if I’m aroused, my body for symptoms, my feelings about awful things like murder and rape etc. I also bite my skin as a nervous habit.
I have intrusive thoughts, especially around religion and my faith. I constantly have to fight ‘bad’ thoughts. I repeat phrases in my head or keep good images almost on a continual basis. It’s like a script is always running in the background. I can hide it a lot unless my anxiety is really high, then I get ‘stuck’ and can’t move on until I get the thoughts right. It’s torturous and exhausting.
Hey there, I am a checker, I pick at my fingers, I bite them, I write out random numbers because it feels good, and everything needs to turn in a clockwise motion.. What would you like to know about it?
I’m also a checker/ reassurance finder. I ask the same question over and over to my close family/friends that know what I’m dealing with. I check my body for signs of arousal. I reread articles about the theme I’m dealing with. All these things take up most of my day.
I also tap my pointer finger with my thumb down to my pinky counting 1 through 4 for each finger I tap when I get anxious.
Thanks so much guys! This was all really helpful. I’ve tried researching common compulsions but the main one that comes up is organising things! If anyone feels comfortable telling me how much time they spend on compulsions and how it’s affected their relationships (which is a plot point in my story) that would be super helpful but no pressure!
Oh, I spend hours! 3-8! The only people that are truly aware of my state is my family and it drives them insane. At one point they threatened to put me in a mental hospital because of how bad my anxiety was! It definitely hurt my friendships and relationships as well because of how often I put my compulsions before them. They don’t really know this though. They just assume that I’m very introverted. I can’t exactly open up either. How do I tell them about what’s bothering me when my obsessions are so unrealistic and irrational? I don’t want to sound crazy.
Are you asking for specific examples of the compulsions we engage in?
I probably spend 40 minutes out of the hour doing my compulsions mentally and physically
It’s the doubting disease.
I deal with contamination, checking, intrusive thoughts/harm ocd. As an example for checking I’ll check the front door before going to bed. I’ll turn the lock (in multiples of 3) and press on the door and repeat the word “lock” in my head. This can go on for awhile. Then I’ll usually stare at the door, and even though I can clearly see it’s locked it’s like my brain doesn’t believe it really is, there’s that constant “what if” in my head. As for relationships, for me it has the most impact on those I live with. It’s much easier to hide my symptoms from people when I’m only around them for chunks of time. I can tell that my compulsions can annoy my roommate even though I told them all about it before we decided to move in together. I think the compulsion that most affects my relationships is avoidance. I’ll avoid places and people, and because of my contamination ocd I’ll avoid things I view as “dirty” and end up leaving things around the apartment that I’m too afraid to touch Let me know if you want anymore info! Hope this helps!
I've been picking at and biting my fingers for as long as I could remember. It drives my bf crazy and when he's not around I don't even notice that I'm doing it until I'm bleeding everywhere. It really upsets me because I'm too embarrassed to show my hands to anyone. It takes a lot out of me to go to the nail salon because I feel like they're judging me. I have a regular lady that I go to now and she makes me feel pretty good and confident when I'm there and I feel a lot better once my nails are nice and pretty.
Hello, everyone. I apologize in advance for any ignorance I showcase. Okay, I am new to this platform and new to OCD in general, so any information regarding the disorder is greatly appreciated. I am here on account of my behavior over the last couple of years and attempting to figure out if I may or may not have OCD. I did some research and here are some of my symptoms: (trying to be specific) - Items that I deem to be infected or unclean, creates an uneasy feeling in me. I don't feel like I'll get a disease or something by touching those items, but I will flip out if I come into contact with those items. I end up either avoiding those items forever or cleaning them until I feel just right. - Checking, although very inconsistent. Only happens on occasion and extremely random. Ex. Checking if door is locked until I feel just right. "Just right" = perfect click, perfect feel, hands placed in the right spot, etc. Could range from 1 attempt to infinty. - Hand Washing. This is by far what I do the most. I wash my hands until my skin is extremely dry and won't stop even when it starts to hurt. I have to feel just right about the wash, any error causes me to wash my hands again. - Perfectionism. I'm not much of a tidy person, but I decided to add this one anyway. Can't hurt. There are certain things that always need to be perfect, I don't know why, but they need to be just right. Ex. Pens in my pen case all need to face the same direction. If they are not, It will be all I think about until I change it. Thank you, to anyone that responds. It will be greatly appreciated. Once again I apologize for any ignorant comments in the above paragraphs.
Does anyone have any tips on overcoming dermatillomania? I pick at my skin for hours every day... So bad that sometimes I can't leave the house in fear of people looking at my skin. It started when my ocd symptoms did (about 14 years old). I'm now 24 and just learning that I have ocd (intrusive thoughts, tapping, checking, counting, involuntary blinking, excessive cleaning of myself and house)... I wasn't diagnosed properly until now. I also have anxiety about writing emails, googling, social media, texting etc in fear that I've said something horrible or offensive or that my intrusive thoughts are going to somehow take over and type for me .... Lol so this took me about an hour to finish writing and to post.... Had to read it precisely 30 times just to be sure ;) thanks for reading ... Also does anyone else suffer from the writing messages and ocd thing ??? Or just me? ?
*Q + A* Hi Everyone! My name is Kerry and I have suffered from severe OCD since 2008. It came on after a bad car accident and I had shown no signs prior to that. I was 17 and now I’m 28. I saw many therapists untrained in OCD, and it wasn’t until I met an OCD Specialist and went through weeks of intensive therapy using ERP that I started to really question the connection between my obsessions and the effect I had on my reality by performing my compulsions which were totally random (anything you can think of!) I mainly suffer from magical thinking OCD which is basically like “superstition on steroids” - it follows along and targets with my everyday anxieties and my obsessions try and tell me if I perform certain, ever changing compulsions, that I can make or prevent things from happening. This has morphed into multiple themes of OCD, but also follows along with my real life which is hard. BUT I can honestly say I am in a state of ongoing recovery from OCD because I truly understand it’s sick game now and I am able to stop it in it’s tracks before performing compulsions. I’m not perfect and will always have OCD, but I wanted to open up a Q + A session today for you all to ask any questions you may have for me. To give you all some hope, I just published my OCD memoir “The Obsessive Outsider” and I’m so thankful to have added a resource to our world from a sufferer’s perspective. My goal is to eventually help you all get to a point where you can share your stories like I have because it’s so empowering. Hit me with your questions, friends!
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