It's interesting that someone drew a correlation between Asperger's Syndrome/Autism and OCD. I'm diagnosed Asperger's (albeit very, very mild), and have always demonstrated obsessive and compulsive tendencies. I always just chalked it up to being highly neurotic. I might even have OCD, I don't know. However, since everyone else is sharing their quirks, I may as well.
I demonstrate certain compulsions, such as constantly checking the locks (This is the one; I'm constantly checking the doors and windows, and even the vents, to see if a thief or assailant could get in, to the point where it often keeps me up at nights; More on this below), and checking the burners. I crack my fingers constantly, have to have the lights at a certain brightness level, I bite my nails ridiculously short, at first signs of the slightest growth (and violently, vigorously attack hangnails), and I organize relentlessly.
My organization has been a bit of a problem. It only manifests in certain situations, usually revolving around entertainment, such as books, movies, and games. My desk is an absolute mess, but my video games and books are organized alphabetically by author/director/developer, and alphabetically by title, unless it's a series, which the series title is filed alphabetically, and the individual books/games/movies are organized by chronology of events (The Kingdom Under Fire games really threw me a loop; I traded them in without hardly playing them as a result), and all discs have to be rotated to the proper position (Text has to be upright). This pisses the hell out of roommates, as I'll refile their games and such, but it bothers me greatly when they aren't organized just so. However, that's the easy part to deal with. Whenever I go into a store's Electronics or Books section, I have to reorganize their products. I have to make sure every CD is level with every other CD, they're all pushed against the back of the case or hook, and alphabetized. This actually got me in trouble when I worked for Walmart, as they have a specific "zoning" system, which inconveniently requires everything to be pulled forward on shelves and and hangers. Blech.
The compulsions are fairly mild. With the exception of causing problems at work (I've mostly worked retail; See my comment on Walmart, as it goes for a decent few chains), it hasn't really affected my life very negatively, save for a few bloody cuticles and pissed off roommates. In fact, I can name one situation where the organizational compulsion helped; I once worked a temp receptionist gig at a place that had me reorganize their files. They loved my work. The real problems that I've had are the obsessions. See, I can deal with just the compulsions, but when I get obsessed, it usually revolves around a paranoid fantasy which makes me question whether it's not something a bit more serious than just OCD or Asperger's.
The first one I remember was The Dog. I once had a daydream as a child that a hulking, growling, slavering, beast of a Pomeranian was gonna break through my second story window and eat me. Typical childish nightmare, right? Nope. This fecking Living Monolith of a rat-dog stayed with me for six years, until we moved. Every night, Dad had to check to make sure the blinds were down and the curtains drawn, so the damned creature couldn't see me. I realized it was completely ridiculous, but it still kept me up nights.
After we moved, I was fine for a few years, save for the one obsession that never passed, an insane, crippling obsession with looking for signs of rejection and affront, that dominates my days, keeps me up nights, and has led to homelessness, job abandonment, and abandonment of friends and family (All based on paranoid delusions regarding each situation). However, I have my own suspicions regarding that, and very few of them have to with OCD. That's always been there, ever since I was a toddler. I didn't get my next real "obsession" until I was thirteen or so. That was when I played Resident Evil 2. Zombies were everywhere for two years, and I had to barricade my bedroom door and draw the blinds, and get up and check them every so often. I got over that one, and a new one crops up all the time, with each year or two usually yielding a new obsessive fantasy. Most of which revolve around locking and barricading my door and keeping the blinds and curtains drawn.
I don't know if it's OCD or OC quirks, or some other variety of fecked-up, or a mixture of any two of the aforementioned, but I figured I'd bring it up, since I completely relate to Hannelore.
