How do you know if you have OCD???

In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors become so excessive that they interfere with daily life. And no matter what you do, you can’t seem to shake them.

You may feel isolated and helpless, but there is help available. Many treatments and self-help strategies can reduce the symptoms of OCD. =]

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts and repetitive, ritualized behaviors you feel compelled to perform. If you have OCD, you probably recognize that your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are irrational – but even so, you feel unable to resist them and break free.

Like a needle getting stuck on an old record, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or urge. For example, you may check the stove twenty times to make sure it’s really turned off, you’re scrubbin your hands until they’re scrubbed raw because you are crazy about what’s on them, or drive around for hours to make sure that the bump you heard while driving wasn’t a person you ran over.

I have OCD and while it’s not very severe, it’s extremely annoying. I’ve scrubbed my hands raw on many many many occasions. Then I throw the bar of soap away because at the time, I feel like the germs are on the soap and it’s a gross thought. I know it’s stupid though. Everything in my house needs to be in a certain order, everything I do usually before I leave the house needs to be done in a specific order or I can’t handle it, at all.

Obsessions are involuntary, seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, images, or impulses that occur over and over again in your mind. You don’t want to have these ideas – in fact, you know that they don’t make any sense. But you can’t stop them. Unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts are usually disturbing and distracting.

Compulsions are behaviors or rituals that you feel driven to act out again and again. Usually, compulsions are performed in an attempt to make obsessions go away. For example, if you’re afraid of contamination, you might develop elaborate cleaning rituals. However, the relief never lasts. In fact, the obsessive thoughts usually come back stronger. And the compulsive behaviors often end up causing anxiety themselves as they become more demanding and time-consuming.

Most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder fall into one of the following categories:

Washers :: are afraid of contamination. They usually have cleaning or hand-washing compulsions.

Checkers :: repeatedly check things (oven turned off, door locked, etc.) that they associate with harm or danger.

Doubters and sinners :: are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right something terrible will happen or they will be punished.

Counters ::and arrangers are obsessed with order and symmetry. They may have superstitions about certain numbers, colors, or arrangements.

Hoarders :: fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don’t need or use.

I am a Washer / Checker, mostly just a checker but I have those icky moments where I can’t seem to get the germs off of my hands. But I just live with it. I’m not sure about a cure? I’ve never taken it that seriously. I don’t want to take something and have a strange side effect. Have you ever seen what ritalin does to children that take it for ADHD? I was almost forced to take that because I’m also ADHD. But I refused. I flushed them because they ruined one of my friends’ lives. I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless you’re extreme. I don’t worry about it and I’m perfectly fine.