Checking things multiple times.

[malortie]

Example:

I usually have a water bottle on my desk, near my keyboard which I drink from occasionally. When going to bed, I must ensure to take this bottle away from my desk, to ensure that it would not accidentally fall, spread liquid onto my keyboard and other pieces of technology around which must avoid contact with water.

So I take my water bottle away and then I am about to go to sleep, but I always 'probe' my desktop with a global look at, and I stay for an undetermined interval of time staring at my desktop, so that I can be sure that absolutely no water bottle or other things that can potentially damage desktop related accessories.

Now is the part that will mostly be the hardest to explain:

During my probing, I try to imagine having water bottles on my desktop, so it requires me imaging a perfect water bottle, with the exact same size/volume (as if you really had one on your desktop), to which I start imagine this bottle fading away, to give me the impression that it is gone.

Example 2:

Before going to bed, I constantly look around and make sure nothing is 'physically' unbalanced. If I notice a book that seems to have a part away from a solid surface 'at rest', then I move it to convince myself that it is physically impossible to have an object fall if it's mass of center is not past the edge of my desktop.


I repeat these a few times, sometimes twice, even eight times, and I end up staying in 'statis, in which I only have myself thinking about the entire space around me, and worrying about the position of objects within my room.


I would like to know if some people bear these traits.

 

[Flinty]

Every day I check to make sure I created an address (or in some cases banking information) on many accounts I work on. Beats having to try to recall a direct deposit.

 

[Datura]

I don't so much have checking behaviour any more, but I used to. I recall refreshing my favorite websites constantly in case a new article came up, even though I knew they didn't post that often, and that I could easily come back the next day and read everything. I also had to check the door about three times before leaving the house to ensure I had locked it, and would go over paperwork or counting cash multiple times to ensure everything was correct.

This isn't a checking behaviour, but I also used to have the habbit of waking up, having a shower, then going back to bed, and repeating this process three or more times a day. It took up a lot of time, and stripped my skin of oils to the point that I started to develop a dry flakey patch on my shoulder.

I was ultimately diagnosed with OCD and perscribed an SSRI which helped with the anxiety. The showering stopped almost immediately and the other behaviours faded with time. Not everyone's OCD is so responsive to reatment, mind you.

 

[Abe1]

When on holiday in a hotel room, I have some OCD when leaving on the last day, always double checking to see if I left anything behind.

 

[malortie]

Abe1

When on holiday in a hotel room, I have some OCD when leaving on the last day, always double checking to see if I left anything behind.

Indeed, and to me, these kind of situations make it feel more of some scanning process than an enjoyable moment.

At the same time, I am grateful to have this kind of behavior, as it ensures me not to neglect certain details which can be very problematic when they occur.

 

[Datura]

Double, or even tripple checking is a useful habit. Checking ten times is probably excessive.

 

[Shawn D]

I have OCD and check and double-check that the front door is locked and the stove is off before I leave the house, even if I never used the stove that day.
I'll sometimes have to recheck the stove multiple times, because I could never be sure that I actually saw the knobs were in the off position.

 

[Abe1]

Double, or even tripple checking is a useful habit. Checking ten times is probably excessive.

With me leaving a hotel room as above it is about 4-5 times, so a bit excessive. But a lot of this is due to the circumstance, if you leave something at home in the morning, it will still be there when you come home, if you leave something in the hotel room at the end of a holiday you have probably lost it.

 

[On the Inside]

I will double check things before leaving for a trip, even if only overnight. Any time I am doing something out of my daily routine, I am liable to forget to close, turn off or lock something. If I don't double check, it will cause a lot of anxiety. Once, I called my neighbor while at the airport and asked him to check if I turned off the stove. (I had made tea for the road just before leaving)

 

[Naturalist]

Things I check multiple times (3-4):

To be sure the door is locked (house, or car).
To be sure the stove is off.
To be sure keys are put away.
To be sure I have everything I need before going out.

They are largely safety-related things, or things that will keep me comfortable while away from home.

Sometimes, I have to get up in the middle of the night because I feel I cannot recall if something is where I think it is, and I cannot sleep without some closure on that point.

My son and husband get annoyed with me because I will return to the car more than once to check if the doors are locked. It is somewhat illogical because even if they were open, there is rarely anything of value in my car which would be attractive to a thief.

I think I check things so many times because my working memory is so poor, I cannot recall all the facts of what I have done until I have repeated the action a few times.

 

[Shawn D]

I think I check things so many times because my working memory is so poor, I cannot recall all the facts of what I have done until I have repeated the action a few times.

This makes a lot of sense! I hadn't made that connection before. My working memory is terrible and I constantly second-guess myself.