to think that many people dont take OCD seriously?

[UpYourViva]

Ive encounterd on many occassions people flippantly stating they have OCD because they like to keep a tidy house etc.

I have struggled with OCD for as long as i can remember, it's only in recent years that it's stopped affecting my eveyday life.

Many of my friends claim to have it and when ive tried to talk about my experience of it they dont seem to take me serously.

AIBU?

OK I'm curious.
I get the depression bit. Been on Prozac for years and will be but my brain's FUBAR'd!

But what do you class as OCD?? I admit that when I have to put things in orders, straighten etc I joke that it's OCD.

What do you all class it as??
And what would you say I have? Am I just nuts like I already say??!!

NichyNoo, my experince of OCD is very similar to yours, i never knew other people did the same obsessive things as me untill i was around 16 and i saw a documentary about it.

Mine was excentuated (sp?) when i had dd, i washed her face around 20 times a day and had horrible thoughts (mainly about what would happen if dd died or something else terrible happened) which made me feel like such a bad person, i didnt tell anyone untill i could no longer stand it

It's all under control now but i wish id tried to get help sooner

My advice would be that if you do feel you arent controling your OCD once your dc arrives- seek help, the sooner the better really

My DH has helped a LOT with mine but it has taken years and years.

A lot of it luckily (in retrospect) was to do with fear of being alone but many still remain.

Checking a hundred times several times was my thing.

Ok PC having to check things once or twice is not OCD.

Having to check maybe 20-30 times even when someone is standing over you telling you it's off and having to touch it a certain way and count the times you do is OCD.

I think everyone leans towards it is some aspects of their life but for us unfortunate few it can really take over and destroy all rational thought

PC- i would class it as not being able to control your obsessive thoughts or compulsive feelings, on the other hand, i think you kind of think you are controlling things by being obsessive and compulsive IYSWIM

not sure ive explained that very well

Id go with Gibbons explanation

I still have my rituals but no where near as bad as they were. What used to take me an hour now takes 2 mins and once I have done it I can forget it.

Thank you all for clearing that up!! I knew I was just nuts for wanting things in order etc!
It bugs me when I get like it. I can't imagine how you all cope with those kind of thoughts all the time.

You explained it very well UYV, I was going to say yours was better than mine actually

It starts in childhood usually, stress can trigger it and it's a way of gaining control. Not usually linked to depression,

That's a good point UpyourViva.
I hate feeling 'lost', 'out of control' or asking for help. It's a failing but it sure explains why I do some of my little patterns.

thankyou, i actually find it hard to explain or define, because i think those with OCD already know their obsessions are a bit daft or unreasonable (i do) but cant stop

Absolutely agree UYV which is why I said I have to joke about mine. I know others (apart from people like yourself ) will never get it. Tis easier for me to joke about and say 'it's me, learn to love it'

PC- i do believe that many (most) pepole naturally have their own obsessions or compulsions, this may explain your little patterns. If it ever concerns you though, no harm in seeking adice

Gibbon- it's the best way

Dp always takes the mickey but im kinda glad he does or id probably drive us both mad

I have the must eat things in certain order, use certain cutlery for specific foods and also intrusive thoughts type of OCD - the horrid thought followed by..... 'why do I think these things, if I think it, it will happen, oh no I must be really evil to think that, I must really want it to happen, oh no here it is again' thought loop. Such fun

I also have trichotillomania though I have managed to avoid going bald as I have hip length hair so it doesn't look too obvious that quite a bit is missing (I hope ) and PND-OCD which is bog standard post natal depression with the added joy of OCD which is totally focus on your baby. Hence why all my DDs ride in rearfacing car seats (even my nearly 4 year old who is 106cm and 17kg), and i get freaked out by straps, harnesses and reins if they are not right.

I have no idea why people think it's just about wanting a neat house mine is a shit heap and I have a cleaner!

My DH does the same He had to deal with it early on bless him, I had a thing about things being wet and contaminated. Poor man had to check every seat (car, train, restaurant) before I sat down on it

And I would ask him 3 times if he was sure it was dry

TS- i feel for you

The thought loop thing, you explained that so well. Its the most concerning part for me, apparently the more you think your thoughts are bad or wrong- the more those thoughts will invade your mind

Can i just ask, while i have the chance (never spoke with anyone else with OCD before)

would anyone else say their obsessive thought pattern revolves mainly around death? i cannot go a day without thinking about death,, whether it me relating to me, dd or whowever. This is something i find very difficult as i cant even go outside for a fag without thinking about the prospect of death and the 'what if i died now and dd is in the house, what would she do' etc.

Oops- more typos sorry, i really should read before i post

personalclown - it's not necessarily just checking that lights are turned off or washing hand - mine never included those. Mine was having a little ritual for every single thing you do every day. That ritual might take 10 mins at a time.

For example, (at 8 years old) waking up, having to hug teddy bear in a certain a certain number of times, getting out of bed in the exact same way every morning. Walking to the bathroom, having to do a dance over the threshold of bathroom door to make sure I walked into bathroom every 16 times, if I accidentally touched a wall/bookcase on my way I would have to stand there and repeat touch it for another 15 times. Every after 10 mins of being awake that becomes pretty exhausting. Imagine doing it for a 12 hour day

Added to that the sheer and utter fear and sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach if I couldn't touch something 16 times or do something a certain way. Not necessarily about death but just that 'something bad' would happen.

Plus doing all of the above whilst trying to hide it from other people. It can make you very sneaky and constantly thinking about how you can make an excuses to your friends (for example to run back to the bin in the street to touch it 15 times as you accidentally touched it when you threw a crisp bag in)

It literally takes over your life.

Ahh I see.
I don't get those feelings that something 'bad' will happen. I just get very anxious, stressed, fidgety and can't concentate or relax untill I know that it's done too my order.

Take my Farm on FB.. I had to completely rearrange it because I just couldn't have my trees in any old order. They had to be in height order, number, colour and with the same spacing.

I am nuts!

My brother who is only 18 has suffered from OCD for about 3 years. It is really upsetting because it has a very real impact on his life. He gets very anxious and worries about being 'contaminated by death'. He does handwash frequently. He seems to be coping with it at the moment and is even planning a trip abroad with his youth group.

I believe I have OCD tendancies, but not OCD. I used to have horrible intrusive thoughts about my Dcs double buggy rolling into the river on our daily dog walk. I told a friend in mental health and she said the majority of people have these thoughts, it becomes OCD when these thoughts control you, rather than you being able to rationalise them and not let them affect you daily life.

I find that straightening tings is something I do to de-stress. It calms me when things are ordered, however, it is not OCD because I can walk away (as shown by the state of my house ). I know that a true OCD sufferer can't make that choice.

I think it is perhaps because lots of people have OCD on a mild level and don't understand that it can be a lot more serious than just going back to check you haven't left the gas on.

I think that I have a low level case of OCD but when I am stressed or worried about something it can get out of control.

I used to spend £2 per week on lottery tickets, one day I decided that it was greedy and that if I bought another lottery ticket something bad would happen so I stopped buying them. A couple of years later I decided that I was being daft and I bought a lottery ticket, the next week my Mum had a heart attack. I found it hard to accept that I hadn't been responsible for my mums heart attack and my OCD which had been dormant for a couple of years started causing problems. I would make myself walk miles and miles each day because if I didn't something bad would happen, I even made myself buy some books from Waterstones and throw them in the bin outside the shop to prevent something terrible happening.

I'm okay now but sometimes I find myself doing random things or saying something to avoid awful things happening. Yesterday we went to a cafe and dh got very impatient with me because it took me ages to order what I wanted, I kept changing my mind because I couldn't work out what the "safest" cake was.

I can trace my OCD back to anxieties I experienced in childhood. I spent years with my fingers permanently crossed to prevent something bad happening. I know it is because there were a couple of family situations where I felt helpless and this was my way of regaining some control.