Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
The OCD Soapbox
hasrobcu:
--- Quote from: s0ck ninja on 23 Aug 2007, 16:28 ---
--- Quote from: AntiEntropy on 03 Jan 2006, 07:46 ---Some compulsions make sense and some don't. I yell or swear when an embarrassing though enters my mind. That in itself can cause an embarrassing moment in a public place. But it makes some sense. It's a way to get the thought out of my mind quickly.
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I saw this on the first page of this topic and immediately felt like I needed to post a reply. I have a few compulsive quirks, but my one genuine obsession-compulsion is that I can't embarrass myself, think about embarrassing myself, or watch someone else being embarrassed. It gets to the point where, if I'm watching a TV show and a character says something stupid, I cover my face with a pillow for the rest of the hour or just run out of the room. I distinctly remember watching comedies as a kid and rolling around on the carpet muttering to myself because I couldn't deal with it. It makes movie-watching with friends awkward sometimes. xD I've been writing since I knew how, and drawing, too, so looking back at old pieces of work amplifies the usual "artist's shame" to, literally, curl-up-and-shiver proportions. That one makes sorting through old note/sketchbooks a bit troublesome - it's on my mind because I just had to do some of that today. Bleh.
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I saw this thread and just had to post. I know I'm not OCD, I won't even start to say that I am, but I definitely have an obsessive personality. I do the above as well, going so far as to turn off the tv when I'm watching my favorite movies, even when I know what's going to happen, I can't STAND to watch people get embarrassed. I can't go back over what I've written without going OMG this is horrible! I had a short story I wrote when I was in 10th grade, my teacher said was the best piece of fiction she'd ever read. I decided to try to type it up and couldn't because I thought it was just so amateur and I didn't know how to fix it. I never thought of it as being apart of my obsessiveness.
So, here's my list of things apart from that:
*I prefer things to be a multiple of 5. Anything ending in 5 or 0 is wonderful, I can divide it with no problems and it just feels more balanced to me.
*I have to break words down into syllables. Syl-lab-bls. They have to have the same number of letters in each syllable that are there.
*I have to force myself not to crunch leaves. I completely want to, and can feel them calling me to be crunched, but I refuse!
*When I do clean (laziness takes over my obsession for order) things have to be lined up JUST RIGHT or I go crazy. But once I use them, meh. No big deal.
*I have crazy thoughts about what it would feel like to stab myself with a knife. Never really felt compelled to do it, but I imagine what the pain would feel like. Sometimes I can almost feel it.
Not so weird after reading other stories about people with obsessions, but I tell you, I lost a lot of friends in school because I would become obsessed with them. My mom thought I was a lesbian for part of my life because of my obsessions over my friends. I've almost got control over that, but it is so...I don't know, I can't even begin to describe it.
It also doesn't take over my life, it's not time consuming so I know I don't have the disorder.
shoegazer:
does anyone here get panick attacks from their ocd? I do and it really sucks. like if theres a door open in school I can't just get up and close it so I just sit and panic until it gets so bad I won't be able to breath.
To top that off my parents don't believe in stuff like Ocd/ panic attacks/add so theres no real way I get any help. they always think I'm faking to get attention :-(
BladeDancer:
--- Quote from: Laurie on 02 Jan 2006, 15:15 ---I think OCD tends to be a trait of intelligent to highly intelligent people. I've observed this in a lot of people. Smart kids do really weird things. I don't consider myself OCD as such, though. I just have my superstitions.
Me, I have issues stepping on cracks because it causes an imbalance in the feelings between my two feet, so I have to step on another to even it out, and so on. When I was little I used to get into pattern fits if I accidently pressed my face to hard, and then had to balance it out, and then had to balance out the "well, that side was first last time so this side is first this time" kind of thing...
I also have to do things in odd numbers, because they seem more balanced that way. I mean, they have the lever in the middle on which to balance, as opposed to empty space. But it even goes out to candy and bubble gum and stuff. Odd numbers are comforting.
But sometimes I purposely deny myself, just to prove I can. So there. *grins*
On a similar note, I was watching Monk last night. Man, that show is excellent.
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That was almost scary. The thing about being balanced, with the feelings in the feet? (Or hands, or face, or whatever) I used to have that all the time. Still sometimes, but not so much. Too much feeling in one, needs balenced, but the other foot's feeling is older, blah blah blah. It balances out with time.
I agree, odd numbers are better (again, I like the balance) but even has never bugged me, cause I can still fold it over and have symmetry.
When I work on homework at the kitchen table, I sit at the long side, and I move the chair to the middle, and the second chair behind me so I can concentrate. One behind, one chair on each side. I love symmetry. I totally know what you are talking about here. All done now!
BladeDancer:
--- Quote from: rambunctiousky on 03 Jan 2007, 07:48 ---
--- Quote from: Scarlette on 27 Dec 2006, 12:26 ---Golly, this is really interesting!
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It sure is!
I am glad that those of you with OCD have been open enough to share your stories, I have found it interesting.
That said, I also agree with Near Lurker. Most of us don't have OCD. We are complex human beings and all have our odd quirks.
However, when quirks become obsessions is when it turns into a mental health issue.
I would also like to know if people who have OCD with a particular thing (counting in thes example) actually like doing the behavior as a job. I would think that if you have an obsession that you are trying to get over, then you wouldn't enjoy doing that obsession as a job. This is all theoretical though and just my mind pondering. I don't think that Jeph should have done it differently, because the fact that she is OCD about counting and has a job counting is entertaining.
--- Quote from: Serene Cataclysm on 28 Jul 2006, 19:56 ---Oh, and Hannelore is my absolute favorite character. I am filled with glee everytime Jeph puts up a strip with Hanners in it. If there ever was a QC spinoff, I'd love to see a storyline with Hannelore as the main protaganist. I might have a seizure due to overwhelming levels of awesome, though.
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I love Hanners too, although she would have to be a bit more developed for a spinoff storyline to be created for me to be interested.
As with all obsessions/addictions they are only "bad" when they affect your life in a negative way. If obsessively counting stairs as you climb them interferes with your life then you have a problem. If obsessively counting stairs does not interfere with your life then it's just a quirky part of you.
It's a good thing I'm not OCD about spelling because I can't spell worth beans. :)
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I agree on 3 accounts. I used to count stairs (even were better) and it didn't disrupt me at all, so I didn't worry about it. Hanners is only awesome because she only appears sometimes. If she was in every comic, she wouldn't be as fun. I can't spell to save my life. Really, spell checker is my best friend. However, I am pretty good about typos.
Darcy:
--- Quote from: Naoko on 23 Jan 2008, 10:33 ---Does anyone else have a need to feel balanced, whether you have OCD or just an odd tendency? That's my main problem, though it really doesn't bother me. It's just little things like having to shut both doors of a cabinet or fridge at the same time. Or, I have to make sure my feet walk the same way. If one foot skids across the ground or slips, I have to do the same with the other foot. If one foot touches the ground toe first instead of heel first, I have to touch the ground toe-first with the other foot. It especially applies to cracks, where if my heel touches a crack, I have to touch the next crack with the heel of my other foot, but if I touch the crack with a different part of my foot, then I have to touch it with the other part on the first foot. And it goes on. Extremely confusing, but I do that most of the time. If I'm focused on something, I usually don't pay attention to the cracks or my feet, and I don't go back to correct how I step if I get to where I'm going, so it doesn't take up extra time. It's just kind of odd.
Oh, and if I turn in a circle, I have to turn back around the other way. Like when going up multiple flights of stairs, you're eventually turning in circles, so I turn the other way around after finishing a flight of stairs. Or when getting into a car, if sitting down would cause a circle, I'd have to turn around, and THEN sit down. Does that make sense to people? This is the only time that people actually notice anything, actually.
But, it doesn't bother me at all, and they don't take up any time. So it's really not a disorder because it doesn't actually cause any problems or anxiety. All it does is make me feel unbalanced or awkward for a couple of minutes, or until something grabs my attention. They're just very weird tendencies I have, and I've heard that they're a common compulsion for people who seriously have OCD. In the end, I'd rather keep my odd ways of doing these things, hahah. For those of you who seriously have a disorder, good luck to you.
--- Quote --- But then I also have a thing where I have to sleep with my blanket covering my head otherwise I feel like someone is going to stab me in the head or something. I keep telling myself that a blanket isn't going to provide much protection if someone IS going to try to kill me in my sleep but that doesn't really work. Oh well...
I also have the other common obsession (or is it a compulsion?) where if I touch one side of my face or something, I have to touch the other side as well.
I breathe funniily, too. Sometimes I breathe in time to a song that's in my head or if I breathe in, I have to breathe out the same amount of air. I don't even notice I'm doing it until suddenly I listen to myself breathing.
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Hey, I do those same things, too. I taught myself some weird ways of sleeping when I was a kid, and now I can't change them. No matter how hot it is, I REQUIRE having a blanket covering me, and my feet MUST be entirely covered. Otherwise I get that same "someone is going to kill me in my sleep" thing. Uncovered feet = death? Hahah. Kind of weird.
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I have the same thing with my feet. I was laughed at by my friends so much in high school for that. We took a trip to New York and we walked everywhere. Soo many sidewalk cracks. Or if my hand brushes against a wall, the same part of my hand has to touch the wall again. Everything has to be in even numbers for me. Except in some cases (I haven't been able to tell which cases yet) I can settle on 3 or multiples of 3.
And the circles. Ever since I was about 5 or 6 I always felt like there was a string attached to my back and I couldn't wind it around myself without feeling utterly dreadful about it. I would obsess so much about it. It still do it today, but I hate drawing attention to myself by spinning in circles, so I tend to tense up and kinda of shiver or twitch. The shiver/twitch actually happens whenever I can't make something "feel right." Sometimes it's overwhelming and I'll just sit there, randomly closing my eyes as hard as possible, slight open, immediate close, then shiver. It's really weird. And obnoxious.
I can't sleep if anything below my waist is uncovered or if my back is turned towards the closer edge of the bed. Closet doors have to be shut. And no mirrors can be visible.
Oh, and symmetry. I like to doodle randomly, but every design I don't end up throwing out has to be able to fold over at some point and be identical.
I bite my nails too. If there's any bit of growth, I'll find it and get rid of it. I've done that for as long as I can remember.
--- Quote from: hasrobcu on 05 Feb 2008, 22:00 ---
*I have crazy thoughts about what it would feel like to stab myself with a knife. Never really felt compelled to do it, but I imagine what the pain would feel like. Sometimes I can almost feel it.
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I've been there too. I've actually cut myself before (don't begin lecturing), but not for any over dramatic teenage "I derserve it!!11!" reason. I wanted to know what it felt like. It was equivalent to a cat scratch, but it was killing me to not know what it felt like.
I've never been diagnosed with anything, but then again, my parents still believe I've been putting on an act for my entire life, so I've never been to a therapist or anything.
I'm kinda twitchy right now, so typing is rather difficult. I'll leave my problems at that for now. :-P
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