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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

OCD with ‘things’ in the house being lined up…..

74 replies

SuperFairy · 23/09/2021 23:08

I think that I know the answer but do any Mumsnetters also do this….

Cans in the cupboard have to be facing forward
Towels on rails have to be perfectly aligned
Coasters on tables have to be aligned perfectly (fuck this is a huge problem for me)

The kettle has to be in its ‘place’

I’m not the only one surely 😂 I’m not alone in being a control freak, no I can’t be….

I spend my whole fucking life straightening things and moving things so that they are all aligned. I even designed the garden along straight lines 😂

Yeah, this is normal 😂

OP posts:
RobertaFirmino · 23/09/2021 23:11

Are you seriously comparing the living hell that is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to your penchant for neatness? Fucks sake...

lynntheyresexpeople · 23/09/2021 23:12

Oh op 😬

MrsTulipTattsyrup · 23/09/2021 23:14

@RobertaFirmino

Are you seriously comparing the living hell that is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to your penchant for neatness? Fucks sake...
Agree with this.
LadyMaid · 23/09/2021 23:15

Cutlery and crockery are stored by type then size.

All of the socket switches need to be switched off if not in use.

All the hangers have to face inwards.

When I peg the washing out, I can only use certain pegs on certain clothes.

Socks have to be dried next to each other in pairs.

Each room in the house has to be vacuumed in a certain order. And each part of the room has to be vacuumed in a certain order.

Clothes that are hung in the cupboards are hung by type then colour coordinated.

Christ my pants are folded into neat little squares.

It is not 'normal', I know that but if I don't do it then I can't relax.

LadyMaid · 23/09/2021 23:16

I also recheck that I have locked doors. Even though I JUST checked them.

It really is a problem.

LadyMaid · 23/09/2021 23:17

Sorry for hijacking your thread OP.

Do you get overwhelming urges to do things in a certain way?

Or feel like if you don't then something terrible will happen?

AutistGoth · 23/09/2021 23:20

Worrying that something bad will happen if I let my phone battery get below 35%. Confused

DramaAlpaca · 23/09/2021 23:21

That is me. It's normal for me. I'm fine with it, don't suffer anxiety over it, don't get upset if somebody moves something and I certainly don't have OCD.

OCD is a different thing entirely. Unless you have severe anxiety, compulsive thoughts and fears about what might happen if you don't do particular things, you don't have OCD either.

RaininSummer · 23/09/2021 23:21

I honestly don't know how people have time to live like this though I would appreciate the tidyness. Whatever the opposite is, I have that

Original poster
SuperFairy · 23/09/2021 23:23

@RobertaFirmino

Are you seriously comparing the living hell that is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to your penchant for neatness? Fucks sake...
No I’m not.

I’m sitting here in my own home and I’m constantly moving things so that they are lined up e.g. the table next to me, I literally every few seconds move the coaster so that it’s lined up. Every time I move the mug the coaster changes and I have to move it back.

OP posts:
tofuschnitzel · 23/09/2021 23:23

Wanting things to be neatly arranged does not mean you have OCD. Perhaps you could read up on the health condition to get a better understanding of it, as you don't seem to know much about it. It is really tiresome when people think they have OCD just because they like their pencils arranged just so.

GreyhoundG1rl · 23/09/2021 23:27

No I’m not.
Well, you are, it's literally in your thread title.

22Giraffes · 23/09/2021 23:30

I have diagnosed OCD. Despite common misconceptions i don't have a spotless house or like to line things up Hmm What I do have is intrusive thoughts and the need to do things incase something terrible happens. It's not a joke.

lynntheyresexpeople · 23/09/2021 23:30

An example of OCD is having to do everything in fours, or it's bad luck and my children will be hurt. Touch the door 4 times to make sure it's locked, etc. Always had it since childhood, amped up since a traumatic event.
Lining coasters up isn't the same, I'm sorry but it's really not.

BlijEi · 23/09/2021 23:31

Whenever someone posts here talking of experiencing characteristics of for example ASD, without a diagnosis, people offer it up as a possibility and give lots of advice and helpful links etc.

If someone has the audacity to mention OCD without an official diagnosis, they get chewed out and spit out. My very much diagnosed OCD started exactly like the OPs. I was in denial for many years because I always imagined OCD to be about washing your hands 10 times etc, I thought I was just a neat freak and I was terrified to utter the words OCD for fear of being told I was being a special snowflake.

After years of depression, panic attacks, suicide attempts, overwhelming guilt and anxiety, it progressed to a point where it completely took over my life and I could barely function without checking and rechecking everything physically or in my head constantly.

It took me a year of therapy to utter the words OCD and by then it was already diagnosed from the first session.

I understand it's frustrating for people to make light of serious mental health conditions, but OCD is an anxiety disorder and is a spectrum, just because someone doesn't have a diagnosis it doesn't mean they dont have it. It took us years to get out of the dark ages and recognize autism is not "one size fits all", why are we still so backwards about other mental health conditions?

Original poster
SuperFairy · 23/09/2021 23:31

@tofuschnitzel

Wanting things to be neatly arranged does not mean you have OCD. Perhaps you could read up on the health condition to get a better understanding of it, as you don't seem to know much about it. It is really tiresome when people think they have OCD just because they like their pencils arranged just so.
But what if you constantly look at things and want to correct them. That’s me, and I do it at friends houses.

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms for this?

OP posts:
TheSilveryPussycat · 23/09/2021 23:34

Would "slightly obsessed" (which does not imply OCD) be closer to what you meant, OP?

Original poster
SuperFairy · 23/09/2021 23:34

Christ, I thought that this was a safe place. Sorry, I was mistaken.

OP posts:
Mistressofnone · 23/09/2021 23:36

Have you seen Sleeping with the Enemy? He has the tins and towel hang ups too!

I don't like to have the car volume on an odd number, especially 13, which is irksome as it's the perfect level.

lynntheyresexpeople · 23/09/2021 23:39

@SuperFairy

Christ, I thought that this was a safe place. Sorry, I was mistaken.
Your entire op is laughing emojis and lighthearted like it's a joke - you have to understand it's not a joke to people who are really suffering from OCD. I'm not particularly offended by your thread, but I can see why others are. I'd just think about the way you're wording things.
LegArmpits · 23/09/2021 23:40

How do you feel about playing the No Fuel In My Car game? 👀

onemorerose · 23/09/2021 23:40

I think ocd was brought into focus by the media years ago and it made it seem like normal compulsions; like having the dishwasher stacked a certain way or the volume on an even number, something that an average person had to control, were ocd.

Cheeseplantboots · 23/09/2021 23:41

@RobertaFirmino

Are you seriously comparing the living hell that is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to your penchant for neatness? Fucks sake...
Exactly this. My son has diagnosed OCD, (he has severe autism and learning disabilities too) ). it rules his life and ours. It can take an hour to just walk up the stairs with all the rituals that need to be performed.
PeaceLily2000 · 23/09/2021 23:44

@BlijEi

Whenever someone posts here talking of experiencing characteristics of for example ASD, without a diagnosis, people offer it up as a possibility and give lots of advice and helpful links etc.

If someone has the audacity to mention OCD without an official diagnosis, they get chewed out and spit out. My very much diagnosed OCD started exactly like the OPs. I was in denial for many years because I always imagined OCD to be about washing your hands 10 times etc, I thought I was just a neat freak and I was terrified to utter the words OCD for fear of being told I was being a special snowflake.

After years of depression, panic attacks, suicide attempts, overwhelming guilt and anxiety, it progressed to a point where it completely took over my life and I could barely function without checking and rechecking everything physically or in my head constantly.

It took me a year of therapy to utter the words OCD and by then it was already diagnosed from the first session.

I understand it's frustrating for people to make light of serious mental health conditions, but OCD is an anxiety disorder and is a spectrum, just because someone doesn't have a diagnosis it doesn't mean they dont have it. It took us years to get out of the dark ages and recognize autism is not "one size fits all", why are we still so backwards about other mental health conditions?

Spot on comment. Lots of judgement in this thread sadly. For me, neatness is essential to allow me to try to manage anxiety and intrusive thoughts.
lunar1 · 23/09/2021 23:45

OCD isn't what you are describing. OCD is a truly devastating condition and has nothing to do with things being lined up.

I had a particular patient with OCD, he spent every waking moment trying and failing to brush his teeth. I can't describe the pure torment that was his life.

Please don't make light of a truly awful diagnosis.

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