OCD.

[Tomos]

Does anyone on here suffer with OCD, particularly with washing, i do and i find it very draining and tough to deal with.

 

[Streetwise]

don't have OCD like you mines mild making sure I don't get locked out or the house will burn down from not watching the gas fire

 

[Judge]

Locking doors and setting alarm systems...and the symmetry of objects around me in my own environment define a lot of my OCD. Though issues involving constant cleaning revolve only around my immediate environment rather than my body.

 

[Tomos]

Thanks for all the replies, i am verysorry that your OCD is bad for you two, it's good that we can talk about it in here with everyone.

 

[xudo]

I have OCD. I had CBT for it a while back and found it helped me a lot.

 

[Judge]

For me my OCD is often far more problematic than being Neurodiverse. Involving things I can't hide so easily that people in my immediate orbit may more readily pick up on and ridicule me for.

 

[Gracey]

Does anyone on here suffer with OCD, particularly with washing, i do and i find it very draining and tough to deal with.

I don’t ‘suffer’ I experience OCD traits,

The skin at the tips of my fingers started to split about two weeks ago due to repeated washing/cold weather/recent bouts of illness- possible dehydration?/ and hard landscaping a garden.

My focus isn’t on how painful or inconvenient split skin is, or even how compulsive washing my hands seems at the moment,
My focus is on how to get things back to normal as soon as possible.
(Heal the splits)

I know my compulsions are part and parcel of how stressed I get at the moment.

Me personally? I don’t think of myself as suffering, just experiencing a ‘bad-do’ / a phase/ intense stress that I’m trying to control.

Not sure if splits are clear?
‘Scuse grubby fingers, purposely leaving crap on there, desensitisation.

 

[Chance]

OCD is one of my issues... I wash my hands probably 60 times a day. I don’t like them to be dirty. I don’t mind getting dirty, I just have to clean it off basically right then... I take 2 or 3 showers a day. I don’t let my food touch. I eat one food at a time.

I have to check and sometimes recheck if I locked a door. Light switches... well lets just not go to that one I even think its messed up.. : )

 

[pjcnet]

I was diagnosed autistic in the 1970s as a child, but more recently with ASD and OCD. The OCD isn't specific to washing however, although I was over the top when I was a lot younger, particularly when I suffered with acne which I did become extremely obsessed about, I'd spend hours cursing in front of the mirror and I hated going out to the extreme even when I had 1 visible spot on my face, I think many young people go through this, but for myself I think it was blown up out of all proportion where it would be on my mind throughout every waking minute of the day, even when focusing on my special interest and for a while it ruined my life. I get obsessed with things far too easily and I find it impossible to stop myself sometimes, I have a certain level of control, although the anxiety side of it constantly effects my life. I am always waiting for something bad I can't cope with to happen that I try to obsessively avoid and I'm always over hooked on something that I'm very anxious about that I worry about losing or changing, in a word it is "hell" and I get very little support or understanding which upsets me because many NTs seem to brush it aside as nothing, but I refuse to take prescribed drugs to block it which have only made matters much worse in the past.

There seems to be another part to OCD, that's if it is even related, but here goes. Even with my cat I find myself going through more an more complex rituals before I let her out if I don't force myself to stop, E.g. I will have to say specific words in order first, because illogically my brain starts to think that if I don't something might happen to her this time and I worry greatly when she's out every time, in fact now most of the time I'm actually out with her watching for ages and neighbours seem to take the "p**s" out of me for it. I have seen this much worse in my brother Daniel who is on the very low functioning part of the spectrum, E.g. he can't count to 5 or tell the time. He goes through very complex sequences where he makes different motor like noises in order and moves his hands in a very specific way with the exact sequence which takes a few minutes each time, if he is interrupted he gets extremely upset and he has to start the entire sequence all over again, if this happens more than once he can go into a full meltdown where he throws himself on the floor in a severely upset state, so it's certainly best to let him get on with it without even talking to him. He does this many times a day. Unfortunately he is unable to recognise that these compulsions are illogical and attempt to override them before they get completely out of hand. I'd actually be really interested as to whether anyone can relate to anything like this?

 

[Joel's Hear]

View attachment 43062 don't have OCD like you mines mild making sure I don't get locked out or the house will burn down from not watching the gas fire

You find the coolest pictures, Street! I wash my hands probably a hundred times a day, though generally I have reason to: cooking, cleaning, feeding baby, smoking, before I use the phone, and for many other reasons.

 

[Streetwise]

You find the coolest pictures, Street! I wash my hands probably a hundred times a day, though generally I have reason to: cooking, cleaning, feeding baby, smoking, before I use the phone, and for many other reasons.

i'm on a meme generator at the moment @Fridgemagnetman used it and I've started to use it for everything !then I found in the fonts that Apple provided ones I really would use .
it's probably just part of autism an adaptation .

 

[Panthro]

Yes I am OCD in regards to washing my hands. I even use gloves to touch things so that I don't have to keep washing my hands over and over.

 

[Tomos]

Thanks everyone for the kind replies, i am pleased to see that i have generated a nice topic about OCD.

I hope this topic has helped anyone else on here.

 

[tducey]

OCD in regards to turning a light off if noone is in the room.

 

[Judge]

OCD in regards to turning a light off if noone is in the room.

I do that methodically. But only given the cost of utilities. Never considered it an aspect of my OCD.

Or is it?

 

[Butterfly88]

Yes, I have OCD. I used to wash my hands until they were raw. I had exposure therapy for a few years and that really helped. Now I mostly just struggle with intrusive thoughts.

 

[LucyPurrs]

@Gracey @Chance: if you are getting fissures in your fingers try putting a drop of Friar's Balsam on the crack-it'll burn like hell but it will heal up FAST. Also if you can find Hemp hand wash soap- that's amazing too as is The Body Shop Hemp hand cream. Both work wonders with badly damaged hands (know from experience).

Just an FYI: For those of you with other OCD behaviors there's a good book called "Brain Lock" that will tell you how to change your brain chemistry to deal with OCD.

 

[Butterfly88]

A tip I have for those who wash their hands too much is use soap that isn't antibacterial as it's not as rough on the skin.

 

[keebles]

I was diagnosed with OCD LONG before ASD, but I'm more obsessive than compulsive. I do have some compulsions, but hand-washing isn't one of them. Door-knob rattling, checking and rechecking alarms and pattern walking are some of mine, but I'm lucky on that front and most of my compulsions tend to help me or make me a more efficient worker than hurt me. I can't say the same on the obsessive front.