So I'm mental. Let's talk about it.

Good write up mate. My missus has anxiety and demonstrates a lot of OCD, but i believe it runs in her family from her dads side, so not sure if it is nurture or nature? Her dad used to make the kids take off their shoes before they came in the house and if they didn't, he would clean the whole floor and disinfect it. If the kids got a little wet, they would have to change their whole outfit as he hated it.

She also has a crazy fear of cats, when i say crazy i mean hysterical to the point i couldn't trust her to take the baby out in the stroller in case a cat came and she just left the baby and ran or just closed her eyes and started screaming! Of recent years her OCD is pretty much around cleaning and being germ free, it has toned down somewhat as she didn't even allow our daughter to play on the beach because she would get sand on her but since she suffered severe post natal depression after our second baby she has been on meds that has helped a lot. But she has routines that she HAS to do otherwise she is in panic stations, like cleaning the kitchen even if we haven't even been home as it has to sparkle, hoovering the whole house, those kind of things. I've learnt to live with it and try and help her through them rather than pressure her into thinking she'd mad. She see's specialists for her depression and anxiety and that all helps too.

As earlier, I'm not qualified to say if she has OCD or not but the fact that she has compulsions which are required to lessen anxiety would point me in that direction. It's worth asking the Doc.

One of the problems with OCD is that because anxiety and depression are a result of it, and they're easier to recognise for Doctors and patients so they treat the symptoms rather than the cause. It's often mistaken as "generalised anxiety" because you don't know that your compulsions are mad at first and feeling like you're a knobhead because you're doing something stupid is a good way to encounter constantly low mood. Although there's evidence that SSRIs do have an effect in lessening obsessive thoughts, so people with OCD get slightly better when on anti-depressents/anti-anxiety meds so they and their Doctors feel that they're probably moving in a positive direction. And when you've been feeling like shit for many years, even a slight improvement feels like you've cracked it because you're desperate to feel normal and are willing to buy into it.

OCD is a treatable condition with psychotherapy, CBT and other factors. The key is breaking the cycle as although you might work to stop cleaning the kitchen, you'll soon replace it with something different. Most of OCD is in your head rather than something you can physically see - becoming obsessed with certain numbers is a thing for some people (and it's important to say that just because somebody doesn't have all symptoms doesn't mean that they don't have OCD, it presents in different ways in different people, it's the suffering that defines it rather than the activities).

Once I was in school and was getting the train back from Hale to Altrincham. Short run but you could get away with smoking at the train station without teachers driving past. Anyway, I remember feeling a bit ill (though I now see it was anxious before I knew what anxious meant) so I started counting in my head to focus on something else. When I reached the number 23 the barriers at the train crossing started beeping as the train was arriving. Since that day I gave the number 23 some weird magical significance personally. When Foe died and City retired the number, this just confirmed to me that the number had some special meaning. So whenever I'm "white knuckling" a journey and trying to create a new chain of safety, I often count to 23 in my head repeatedly because it's a number that is safe.

Again, I logically understand that that is mental. 23 is no more special than 22 or 24 or 16. But that's not the point, the point is to distract yourself and my brain has "evidence" that 23 is a lucky number to some degree so in counting to it I'll be okay.

Some people stick headphones on so loud that they suffer hearing loss in later years. Others repeat certain bits of poetry or some paragraphs from a book. I can tell you that the exact speed of light in a vacuum in kilometres a second is 299,792,458 km/s because it's a number that I also repeat often. Anything at all that will stop you thinking about a certain thing is a valid technique in your logic.
 
Despite all he's done for the site, I've generally avoided @Damocles because he always seemed like he knows better than you, and could argue in an empty room.

So Damo, seeing your "internet you" stripped away and exposing a vulnerable person was quite humbling really, and made me feel bad about myself!

Superbly written though, can't begin to imagine what each day has the potential to be like for you.

Cap well and truly d'offed.

Oh I am all of those things, I just have OCD aswell

:)
 
Great read. Takes guts to say all that, too.

My own OCD has lessened the older I get. Early - mid 20’s it was a nightmare and not just for me, for those living with me. Little things like I’d put my glass down on bedside table but would have to do it three times. If it happened that I bounced it or it didn’t land flat, I’d start the cycle again. Before bed I used to look at my two kids’ photos and blink three times at them each. If I thought I’d looked at one even just a fraction longer than the other, I’d start again. Everything is 3’s for me. All that has calmed though in later life.
Last year I went to the Hartshead Inn and in the room where we ate was a picture. Whoever put it up had the nerve to put it up lop sided. I couldn’t eat. I tried to straighten it but it was drilled on. Had to turn my back to it in the end, with my daughter refusing to speak to me through embarrassment. I can’t even at this point in life tolerate photos being anything but straight. I doubt that will ever calm down.
My missus now is full of anxiety. She says I’m a calming influence on her. She’s very hard work at times but I understand her and have learned why she does certain things. That’s what it’s all about. Learning and accepting.
 
As earlier, I'm not qualified to say if she has OCD or not but the fact that she has compulsions which are required to lessen anxiety would point me in that direction. It's worth asking the Doc.

One of the problems with OCD is that because anxiety and depression are a result of it, and they're easier to recognise for Doctors and patients so they treat the symptoms rather than the cause. It's often mistaken as "generalised anxiety" because you don't know that your compulsions are mad at first and feeling like you're a knobhead because you're doing something stupid is a good way to encounter constantly low mood. Although there's evidence that SSRIs do have an effect in lessening obsessive thoughts, so people with OCD get slightly better when on anti-depressents/anti-anxiety meds so they and their Doctors feel that they're probably moving in a positive direction. And when you've been feeling like shit for many years, even a slight improvement feels like you've cracked it because you're desperate to feel normal and are willing to buy into it.

OCD is a treatable condition with psychotherapy, CBT and other factors. The key is breaking the cycle as although you might work to stop cleaning the kitchen, you'll soon replace it with something different. Most of OCD is in your head rather than something you can physically see - becoming obsessed with certain numbers is a thing for some people (and it's important to say that just because somebody doesn't have all symptoms doesn't mean that they don't have OCD, it presents in different ways in different people, it's the suffering that defines it rather than the activities).

Once I was in school and was getting the train back from Hale to Altrincham. Short run but you could get away with smoking at the train station without teachers driving past. Anyway, I remember feeling a bit ill (though I now see it was anxious before I knew what anxious meant) so I started counting in my head to focus on something else. When I reached the number 23 the barriers at the train crossing started beeping as the train was arriving. Since that day I gave the number 23 some weird magical significance personally. When Foe died and City retired the number, this just confirmed to me that the number had some special meaning. So whenever I'm "white knuckling" a journey and trying to create a new chain of safety, I often count to 23 in my head repeatedly because it's a number that is safe.

Again, I logically understand that that is mental. 23 is no more special than 22 or 24 or 16. But that's not the point, the point is to distract yourself and my brain has "evidence" that 23 is a lucky number to some degree so in counting to it I'll be okay.

Some people stick headphones on so loud that they suffer hearing loss in later years. Others repeat certain bits of poetry or some paragraphs from a book. I can tell you that the exact speed of light in a vacuum in kilometres a second is 299,792,458 km/s because it's a number that I also repeat often. Anything at all that will stop you thinking about a certain thing is a valid technique in your logic.
What a brave and informative article Damo. Thanks for sharing it. I guess we are all on a spectrum and I often question my own thought processes and behaviours particularly around being on time or just slightly early for everything. I have always enjoyed your posts as I always thought I saw a ‘like mind’ in terms of analytical, fact based and logical. Something which you see a lot of in the IT industry.

Whilst you mentioned that treatment is available, are you willing to share your own experience of it?

Anyway, very best wishes and thanks again.
 
Oh I am all of those things, I just have OCD aswell

:)
Great read and i can relate to a lot of that, Is superstition a form of OCD?

I'm not so bad now but when i was younger there was a time when if i saw a single Magpie on the morning of a match i'd be looking all morning/afternoon to see two together because if i didn't find them i'd blame myself on City losing the game, as if that was the reason but in my head i'd be to blame, mental eh?

I've now got over the "Magpie" thing but i do make sure i wear a certain sweater on the day of a game because if i don't wear it and we lose it'll be all my fault for not wearing it, i'm currently on a good run with this one. ;-)
 
Great read and i can relate to a lot of that, Is superstition a form of OCD?

I'm not so bad now but when i was younger there was a time when if i saw a single Magpie on the morning of a match i'd be looking all morning/afternoon to see two together because if i didn't find them i'd blame myself on City losing the game, as if that was the reason but in my head i'd be to blame, mental eh?

I've now got over the "Magpie" thing but i do make sure i wear a certain sweater on the day of a game because if i don't wear it and we lose it'll be all my fault for not wearing it, i'm currently on a good run with this one. ;-)

I think it's probably the same thoughts processes but OCD is defined by the obsessiveness of it. If you can do your superstitions for luck then it's probably superstitions, if not doing your superstitions creates a pretty decent amount of suffering in your life then it's probably OCD.

Never really consider that, I might nick it. "I'm not OCD, I'm just exceptionally superstitious".

And to be honest mate I'm pretty sure your sweater is the defining factor of whether City win or not. We all know it, we just didn't want to mention it.
 
It seems a lot of people have it in one form or another.
I don't know if it's a fear of flying for me or if I'm a plane spotter on the quiet but before I go on a plane I research the make, the reg, where it's flown from and going to, if it's been involved in any accidents or near misses, I'll look a vids on YouTube and pummel myself with it.
I also have this thing with traffic lights.
I'll say to myself if they change to green then I'll have a great day, or city will win or I'll be lucky but if they change to red then it's all bets off n I may as well have stayed in bed.
Another one is having the volume on the tv or in the car on an even number. If it's on an odd number then it makes me feel uncomfortable and uneasy but I'm settled if it's on evens.
 

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