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Diagnosing OCD?
I'm pretty sure that I have at least borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder, but where symptoms are listed, the requirements are kind of vague. If anyone who knows more about it could give me a hint as to my own state(severity, etc.), I'd appreciate it. I'll list some symptoms. Note that this if going to be rather long, even though I've cut out a lot of detail and examples.
Hand washing - I'm... fairly obsessed... with dirty-ness... if I touch something that I think might be dirty, then I wash my hands before touching anything clean and/or at the first opportunity. A year or so ago I counted myself as washing my hands ninety times in one day, and I'm sure that it's gotten significantly worse since then.
Arrangement - I like to arrange things that I'm looking at neatly. For example, yesterday I had six bittorrent windows open, and I arranged them in a perfect grid; the top left one's top left corner was exactly on the top left corner of the screen, and all the others were exactly aligned with it(no overlap or space whatsoever between edges, corners touching).
Counting - I'll count repetitive noises. Not all of them (not keystrokes, walking footsteps, etc.), but I'll always count stairs-steps and some other noises.
Perfectionism - but only in things I care about. Not really significant, but I've been known to spend hours on a minor detail of a bad drawing.
Paranoia - I worry that people may be watching me, and about hidden cameras and suchlike. I keep all my sensitive(for example, pirated) files in triple-encrypted archives with very long passwords and worry that the government might have a quantum computer, with which such a password could easily be broken.
Random **** - sometimes I'll feel compelled to do something, for example tapping my fingers in a pattern or sequence until I get it exactly right. A minute before I started writing this I selected some icons in an order. Then I worked out on paper how to work the sequence exactly backwards and did so because I needed to balance the select-ing to put my mind to rest.
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Maybe give some free advice about: Mental health?
I've been diagnosed with OCD, and I have every one of those symptoms, along with others. I've always had a bit of these things, and recently it's gotten worse and worse. I went to therapy for it and did help a bit(We used a self-rating system and I went from a 1 to a 4). This really did help, and I would suggest going to some sort of private or group therapy.
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I have OCD, it sounds like you might too. But you should try to see if you can easily resist the urge to do those things. With an OCD, it is nearly impossible, the frustration you feel is VERY strong. And if you feel that these symptoms interrupt your daily life, you should see a doctor who can diagnose you.
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I foudn this site...its about OCD and a person going throught it...it shows about OCD also you should take a look at it it might help alot..
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Hope it helps you :)
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SOunds like your really seirous about this. talk to your parents and go to a docter and see if you can get a proper diagonsis. thats all i can say =) Goodluck*KaysEe
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Hiya,
I know EXACTLY how you feel, especically about the finger tapping. I've had OCD in the past - I still have it very mildly - and trust me, you can get over it if you act right now!
What you're doing is concentrating too much on the COMPULSIVE part. Try and focus on the OBSESSIVE part - i.e., why you feel like you have to do this. Even if it's just 'I feel like something stupid and bad will happen if I don't', it's enough to know that. Then focus on these thoughts. Every time you catch yourself doing soemthing compulsive, ask yourself WHY - then tell yourself the reason is stupid. I know it sounds extremely hard, and it is, but you WILL get over this!
OCD isn't officially OCD until it takes up more than an hour of your every day life, but it progresses very quickly. I used to walk not stepping on the cracks, and if I did walk on one, I had to walk on another one with the opposite foot but in exactly the place as I trod on the crack with the other foot. I got over that by not looking at my feet when I walk! It's hard, and I had to put a lot of effort into letting myself step on cracks that I could see ahead of me, but it worked. Tackle one issue at a time - ignore the others for now; they'll only make you stressed!! Trying to get rid of more than one OCD symptom at a time will just drag you under and be too much.
The paranoia you describe could be a whole other psychological problem, including social nervousness (there is a more scientific name for it than that but I can't remember it right now...:S sorry).
Try and handle this yourself for now before it gets any worse. Doctors won't treat you until it's VERY bad and you don't want it to have to get to that point. It sounds like the hand-washing especially is bad enough...but you do wanna try getting rid of, or at least reducing, your symptoms yourself first :)
With your hands - give yourself set times of the day to wash your hands - i.e. before and after meals, when you get up and when you go to bed. Reduce this until you only wash your hands before meals or something, or when you touch something REALLY dirty. Remember: if it doesn't leave dirt marks on your hand and isn't covered in mould or flies, it's NOT dirty. I know this will be really REALLY hard for you to do, but STICK AT IT - don't give up just because you fail on one day!! And remember also that NOTHING is a failure - you've admitted you have a problem and that's half the battle won! You're also trying to stop this and that is nothing but a success!
If it gets even remotely worse though, I do suggest going to a doctor as you do sound pretty bad.
Good luck, and feel free to mail me on any of the addy's on my profile whenever!
Blessed Be,
Rach xxx
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The symptoms listed in documents (like the DSM) are vague because psychiatry is a fairly new discipline, and it's highly subjective. That doesn't mean that it's not useful. People still were able to determine when to put on a coat before they had reliable and precise outdoor thermometers. :)
Another posted mentioned that it's not a problem till it disrupts your life. Generally, that's correct. However, if you are not happy with yourself or your life because of it, it's still worth looking into.
Mental illness cannot be self-diagnosed. It's the old catch-22 situation (if your well enough to suspect your ill, you can't be that sick). Mental illness also cannot be diagnosed over the internet, even if one of our columnists did happen to qualified psychiatrist.
If your quirks are causing disruption in your life, or if you would like help taking control of them, you need to talk to a psychologist. S/he can refer you to a psychiatrist if the two of you agree that medication in necessary. Medication is not always necessary, and there are many types of therapy available for OCD and similar disorders.
This is getting too long, but if you'd like more information, please ask.
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what you have listed is more compulsions than obessions. Compulsions are activities that you have to do, that you just can't be happy with out doing. Obessions are thoughts, like thinking about following somone... to me obessive-compulsive you would have to carry out those thoughts. The only way to be sure is to get tested, but its not good to try to convience the doctor tha tyou are because if you really arent it will still follow you through life. There are many different forms of compulsive disorders so its good to look at them all and really figure out what causes you to do all this stuff.
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