Comments | gg_83: If there's a TV special on the disorder, maybe it could be called "Straighten it like Beckham."

gg_83

If there's a TV special on the disorder, maybe it could be called "Straighten it like Beckham."

Feb 05, 2010 00:31

The other day, something happened that made me think about an answer to the burning question that, well, hardly anybody is asking. But I'm going to answer it anyway.

( What is it like, having obsessive-compulsive disorder? )

Comments 4

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gg_83 February 13 2010, 06:41:59 UTC

Yeah, the OCD was a big reason I didn't get my driver's license until last summer. Not just trying to park the car uncrookedly (though that might have become an issue eventually), but mostly because every time I saw a dark shape on the side of the road, I had to look and look back again and stare to make sure it wasn't, like, an injured animal or young child. Which is not so great for driving.

OCD seems to be more prevalent than I first thought. I suppose there are a lot of people who just manage it well enough that it's not obvious.

goofynerdk February 8 2010, 04:07:37 UTC

That is awesome! (Well, not you *having* OCD, but you gaining *control* over it.) Sometimes it's the victories in everyday life that are the *most* meaningful ( ... )

gg_83 February 13 2010, 07:31:27 UTC

Thanks!

And in (lengthy) response to your questions:

Looking back at my childhood, I can see some things that may have been related to my OCD, like a rhyme I made up about the Mississippi River that I always said when we crossed a bridge over the river and had to finish before we reached the end of the bridge, or my always having to cut a heart shape from the surface of the peanut butter whenever I opened a new jar, but those were little rituals, not something that majorly interfered with my life. That's a primary diagnostic for if it's really obsessive-compulsive disorder vs just obsessive and/or compulsive characteristics. Quoting from the DSM-IV (according to the Internet), with OCD, the obsessions or compulsions "cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person's normal routine, occupational/academic functioning, or usual social activities or relationships ( ... )

goofynerdk February 19 2010, 08:10:25 UTC

Gosh. That does sound, to use your word, "terrifying." Retroactive hugs to you for having to go through that. It's good to hear that it's going better now.