What is the most OCD thing you do?

[Rogerblair]

I have this need to answer a question twice.


I have this need to answer a question twice.


Just kidding, but do check and recheck the garage door an awful lot.

Roger

[fumei]

RE: OCD and anal retentive personality

The main difference is in the emotional state of the person. Anal retentive people have a studied formal state of the world most often dealing with sequences and orderings. The obsessiveness does not bother them in the least! To them it seems functional and proper, and in fact makes them feel better. The sigh of satisfaction (however overt) that the silverware IS in the proper order.

It is extremely rare that a person with OCD is happy about it. The behavior is a response from fear. It is almost always fear.

Now if one is SO demanding of the silverware being correct that you think something bad is going to happen to you (OR very commonly, happen to someone else) if it NOT correct, then that becomes a problem. The behaviors stem from fear. People with OCD very commonly fear something bad is going to happen, if whatever is "needed" is not correct.

"anal retentive" is somewhat derogatory, but it mostly means someone who likes order (a specific order). It rarely is debilitating to the person. That said, they can be super annoying to OTHERS.

OCD on the other hand is commonly debilitating. It does injure the person. It makes their life difficult at best, and suicidal at worst.

So. I too have the left shoe thing. I must admit I regularly force myself to put the right on first as I have this other delusional thought that my thoughts are considered and sane. HA! Put the other shoe on!

What a lovely bunch of interesting wackos you folks are.

[EZYPIKINS]

First thing I do on a new guitar is cut off the strings put my strings on. Adjust truss rod. Check and cut nut slots so first fret doesn't note sharp.

Install new bone nut and get started cutting for my Low action.

Almose have 000-28MD where I want it.

[Horsehockey]

When I travel, I find my right hand has to dive into my right coat pocket to check for my car keys about every 10 minutes. This behavior continues even after I arrive and I’m no longer in need of driving the car but wearing the coat. Maybe I should have my mommy sew that pocket up. Other than that I’ve made some pretty big improvements in OCD behaviors over the years. Oh wait… There’s one more —-I can’t stand to lose anything. Once I think I lost something, I keep looking everywhere. If I don’t find it, it tends to ruin my day. So that’s not good.

[Mr. Jelly]

And don't forget the personal pat down. That's when I check myself for my phone, billfold and car keys. I do it here, I do it there, I do it everywhere

[Mr. Paul]

25 years in Lakewood, Colorado and we would only lock the door when leaving for a few days. One time a couple of kids came in at night, roughed up my son, took his drugs and drug $. Changed his life for the better so it was a net plus

My OCD list is a short one ... checking AGF classifieds. Being in the market or not, doesn't matter.

[SingingSparrow]

OCD is a serious condition that routinely devastates lives. To use the term frivolously perpetuates a casual ignorance that seriously harms people. Perhaps use some of the time you spend here to volunteer an afternoon with your local county behavioral health department for context, humility and compassion.

Have a great evening.

[Slothead56]

Originally Posted by SingingSparrow

OCD is a serious condition that routinely devastates lives. To use the term frivolously perpetuates a casual ignorance that seriously harms people. Perhaps use some of the time you spend here to volunteer an afternoon with your local county behavioral health department for context, humility and compassion.

Have a great evening.

This is one of those times where the “be nice” rule puzzles me.

This post suggests that I am casually ignorant for starting this thread and I lack humility and compassion.

And, yet, the reply I want to make would surely get me in trouble with the mods…..

[SingingSparrow]

Originally Posted by Slothead56

This is one of those times where the “be nice” rule puzzles me.

This post suggests that I am casually ignorant for starting this thread and I lack humility and compassion.

And, yet, the reply I want to make would surely get me in trouble with the mods…..

my apologies. my intent was not to offend you, that would be counterproductive.

my intent was to point out to this simple and inviolate truth - that there is a casual ignorance in society in general about these issues and that there are serious and real consequences to certain casual and innocent choices we make because of it on a daily basis. i work with individuals with developmental disorders and serious mental health diagnoses during the week - a significant portion of what they have to endure is not necessarily because you or i or anyone else lack compassion but more so because often the necessary context for it is regularly absent in the larger part of society's lives. and context is critical.

it is nobody's fault. just that, given certain context, we can choose to be more careful, if we want, and that choice can minimize harm (whether intentional or direct or not). therefore, to be considerate would be an act of kindness.

besides, my post was not directed to you specifically. i was speaking generally. i should have taken the time to make that clearer. i know y'all were just having fun and i really do not want to be a party pooper but i really do think these things do eventually accumulate and manifest real and serious consequences none of us here really would want.

i do not subscribe to this all-too-prevalent modern habit of blame and shame. i am sorry if i somehow participated in that shade of indecency. just wanted to offer something to consider.

take care.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by SingingSparrow

my apologies. my intent was not to offend you, that would be counterproductive.

my intent was to point out to this simple and inviolate truth - that there is a casual ignorance in society in general about these issues and that there are serious and real consequences to certain casual and innocent choices we make because of it on a daily basis. i work with individuals with developmental disorders and serious mental health diagnoses during the week - a significant portion of what they have to endure is not necessarily because you or i or anyone else lack compassion but more so because often the necessary context for it is regularly absent in the larger part of society's lives. and context is critical.

it is nobody's fault. just that, given certain context, we can choose to be more careful, if we want, and that choice can minimize harm (whether intentional or direct or not). therefore, to be considerate would be an act of kindness.

besides, my post was not directed to you specifically. i was speaking generally. i should have taken the time to make that clearer. i know y'all were just having fun and i really do not want to be a party pooper but i really do think these things do eventually accumulate and manifest real and serious consequences none of us here really would want.

i do not subscribe to this all-too-prevalent modern habit of blame and shame. i am sorry if i somehow participated in that shade of indecency. just wanted to offer something to consider.

take care.

I think this is all part of the tendency people have to stretch language for effect, a negative result of which is that words that once had power can eventually lose it through misuse. Mundane items and events we describe as 'amazing' or 'awesome,' perhaps because 'nice' and 'surprising' get too little impact from our audience.

Interesting, though, that some exaggerated terms related to mental health or disability do get a disapproving thumbs down. 'Retarded,' I think, is generally frowned upon to describe a person who does something thoughtless or ill-advised, and 'spaz' (from 'spastic') was considered cruel and insensitive when I was growing up to describe people who lacked physical coordination, like poor dancers, for example. 'Insane,' though, has got the green light, and in popular slang is stretched beyond mental disability to denote something wild in a good way.

I'm not sure why 'OCD' gets the thumbs up in popular US speech. Maybe a lot of people don't understand what the actual condition entails, or maybe people like it because of the abbreviation, and the way it rolls of the tongue. It sounds kinda cool, too, and makes the speaker seem 'in-the-know' about mental health stuff. Maybe also it simply reflects better on a person to say he or she is 'OCD' about a behavior rather than 'persnickety' and 'uptight,' which have associations of some joyless maiden aunt who has to have every little thing just so. OCD, instead, has a touch of stylish eccentricity about it - more Salvador Dali than Aunt Mildred!

[Horsehockey]

What this thread meant to me was more about the humility of acknowledging the quirky parts of the human condition that involve obsessions. Not to some clinical debilitating degree, but in the ordinary course of trying to make sense out of our lives. Maybe I’m morally and ethically flawed but I found this thread to be sort of uplifting and refreshing. That’s all.

[Slothead56]

It was fun while it lasted.

[dhodgeh]

Locks.

I gotta check them three or four time to make sure they are locked.

D

[leew3]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Where I live, people doing that may not see the sun come up tomorrow.
Ya’ gotta’ love small town life in the heartland. 😂

yep. the locals would do 'rock, paper scissors' to see who gets to shoot them first!

[The Watchman]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

. . . . but do check and recheck the garage door an awful lot.

Do yourself a favor and get one of those garage door openers (or add-on devices - MyQ is one of them) that send you a notification when the door goes up and down. It also lets you open or shut it remotely, by phone. It saves me a lot of circling the block. Now I just check the phone constantly.

Family members are a bit lax about keeping the garage door closed, so it was a constant worry.