# Do you have obsessive compulsive behaviors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315 "2008-12-31T03:58:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315/61 "2012-07-03T18:49:28Z")
I nibble and shred my lips and inner cheeks. I go through phases where it makes me absolutely miserable and I can’t stop, to phases where it is less frequent. It seems obvious that it’s a response to stress, but I haven’t identified any particular trigger or found any way to derail it. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315/62 "2012-07-04T14:56:36Z")
See, this is what really annoys me. I am not OCD (okay, I do pick and pull hair a little bit but I can stop). I am tidy. Seriously, I make sure that everything in my house gets put away once a day and I have a pretty minimalist decorating scheme. That’s it. But because I like things \ I am OCD. That is an insult to people who really have a problem. BWAH. ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315/63 "2012-07-04T22:59:30Z")
When walking around or driving, I much prefer to make a loop back to my point of origin, as opposed to retracing or crossing my path. Example 1–I drive to work on one route and drive home on a completely different one, retracing only my driveway and the driveway of my workplace. Example 2–My daily morning walk is two miles around my neighborhood streets. I have devised three different two-mile routes that do not retrace or cross–the only point of convergence is my front door. I alway walk facing traffic, so walking **up** Pond Road does not retrace walking **down** Pond Road. In my little universe. It doesn’t really spoil my day or make me anxious if I can’t loop, or have to cross or retrace. I am simply more satisfied when I can make it so. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315/64 "2012-07-05T12:54:31Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > That’s me, too. I read _Cheaper By The Dozen_ at an early age and I think the time-saving ideas of Frank Galbraith made a lifelong impression on me. I’m forever trying to find the fastest, most efficient way of doing things, and I’m pretty good at it. This can backfire at work: I once saw a comic sign which stated “I’m not goofing off. I work so fast, I’m always done.” Often this can apply to me so I have to be careful not to clear my desk too quickly. Bosses who like to do things in a slow, sloppy plodding way can take a dim view of this. > > And being efficient about money applies to me, too. It makes me into a better investor because I try to get maximum result for minimal effort and risk. I read that book also! Another example, while watching TV back before DVRs I found myself planning exactly what I was going to do during the next commercial break. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315/65 "2012-07-05T18:09:14Z")
Yes. I’m better than I was as a kid. I think the meds I take for depression and anxiety help happen to help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-obsessive-compulsive-behaviors/479315.md?page=3)