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The OCD Soapbox

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Heresiarch:
I don't know anything about OCD except what I've read in this thread, but there's a book that I think people here would enjoy - The Pleasure of my Company, by Steve Martin. Yes, that's Steve Martin the comedian, but don't let that turn you off. The book is not wild, wacky, or crude - it's very well-written.

The main character is a mathematical savant with OCD issues. For instance, the wattage of lights that are turned on in his apartment has to add up to 1,125. If he turns off a light in one room he has to turn on a light in another room to maintain the balance. Also, he can't step off a curb, he can only cross a street where there are symmetrically opposed driveways on either side of the road. Later, when he goes jogging with a neighbor, he has to step off a curb and it's a big deal. He doesn't want to embarass himself and manages to do it by following his neighbor, maybe imagining that his neighbor temporarily broke through the barrier. That's why I say it's a good book - who would imagine that I'd be riveted by reading three pages about a guy psyching himself up to step off a curb? 

So it seems like the depiction of OCD in the book is pretty feasbile.

One question though, can people with OCD be "triggered" into adopting compulsions that they hear or read about? I'm guessing the answer is "no," or else this thread wouldn't have very many replies.

chefhoagy:
Okay...here's a question. As a person who is woefully un-educated about such things as OCD (other than a discussion about it in Psychology class at college), is it possible that it can be triggered by other people's actions or by the way they were raised?

I ask that because of Hannelore's reaction to her mother's impending visit. Is Hanners the way she is because of her mother, or because of something specifically in Hanner's mental make-up, and nothing to do with her mom?

HellPuppi:
I used to have fairly bad OCD, but now with the help of my friends it's just turned into a mild anxiety disorder. I can really identify with hanners and I'm glad she's in the strip.
I have piercings, and I smoke. Smoking helps calm me down. I know it's not the best thing to do but like Faye I'd rather smoke, or in Faye's case drink, then be on an RX for the rest of my life.

I used to have to stack thing before I ate them, and the kitchen would always have to be clean (just giving some examples). I didn't realize how bad I had some of these things until I was washing dishes at every friend's house I went to, or that I was stacking animal crackers by shape...and yet I I mix together food before I eat it and don't have a problem with that?  Contradictions are just part of life, i think. It's being a person, not someone you laugh at on television.

I also have a mild panic attack when I have to go into someplace new, or meet people I haven't met before.

...yeah...this whole long post was simply 'I don't care if hanners is textbook OCD or whatevs, I'm just glad she's around'. It makes me laugh and feel better about my own problems.

RefD:
i have depression, PD and anxiety disorder.

the anxiety comes and goes over the course of a day (but can at times nearly overwhelm me for weeks at a time), tho.

good thing, too, cos otherwise i wouldn't be able to sing and play music for ppl or do my dayjob/career-that-i-hate!

i know ALOT of ppl in both the entertainment (performers even) and IT fields who can barely even talk on a telephone, ppl you would never know had anything going on cos they seem so together when you walk up to them...but you get to know them and discover they're loaded down with all sorts of stuff.

you can't really tell what's going on under the hood with ppl just by looking at them on the surface.

myself, i can go from interacting with a clamouring crowd of ppl or an angry customer in a calm and friendly manner to practically curling up in fetal position and chewing my hands bloody within the space of a few minutes.

panic attacks are far worse for me.

i don't know if i could cope with OCD, but anyone who can get through a day with that in their life has both my sympathy and respect.

vunja:
i think something else about OCD that has been inadequately mentioned is how close it ties with anxiety disorders. most of us with just quirks, it annoys us if we can't do whatever it is, maybe even worry a little, but with OCD it's blown completely out of proportion. lots of people with OCD also think that they have much more control over the world than they actually do; not checking the stove 20 times might cause the entire world to end. (and lots of people really believe that. and holding millions of lives in your hands, who wouldn't be worried?)

having said that, it can also work in reverse. i have horrible, awful anxiety. (and for the record, i've had it as long as i can remember. if my parents would have admitted i had a problem, i should have been in therapy since i was six or so.) without my meds, i can't go out into public, i can barely post online. i become destructive and alone and in a constant state of panic. now, with my meds, i keep it mostly under control. however, i have traded that anxiety for another, which is a common side effect of anti-anxiety meds. i have "OCD tendencies due to severe anxiety", quote from my therapist. instead of having a meltdown whenever i come into contact with another person, i just have to arrange things and do some things a certain way. i'm completely fine with this.

also, someone mentioned OCD having close ties with Asperger's / Autism. not all autism-spectrum people have OCD tendencies, but most of them have an intense desire to do whatever needs to be EXACTLY as they want it to. this blows everyone's regular quirks out of proportion. if it looks slightly better even, then it absolutely must be even.

i speak mostly in generalizations, but, yeah. it's true. OCD is awful. and i love Hanners. <3

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