If you right-click the recycle bin, you can change its properties so that it automatically empties itself when you put anything in it. Just be sure you never change your mind or make a mistake.
I’m pretty sure making a normal looking sandwich is not an OCD behavior. I do generally line things up, I guess–more aesthetically pleasing that way, and contains the sandwich filling better–but it wouldn’t really bother me if a sandwich was made with the bread turned around.
Our favorite cafe has a binary clock just like this one. It draws my eye like nothing else, and I always have to calculate what time it shows. Unfortunately, they recently moved it but didn’t reset it, so now it’s about 20 minutes off. I’m dying to go fix it, but I’m probably the only person who can tell that it’s not right . . .
I thought I was the only one. It seems no matter how much I reduce my stress, I can’t kick that habit totally. I wish I could.
I have lots of OC behaviors, but none that are major, like Monk level. Just lots of little things like how I always have to turn off my white noise machine before my fan when I get out of bed. And I have a place for everything, from keys to DVD’s to knick-knacks. And I like things in even numbers.
No. I have a few behaviors that I have forced myself to stop from will. When I was a kid, I was, like GilaB obsessed with making the two sides of my body totally even, but now I resist the urge. I also worked in a bookstore for awhile and after spending all my time alphabetizing books, I began to compulsively arrange my own books. I separated them into fiction and non-fiction sections, and then I started to separate the non-fiction in smaller sections (history, science, biography, etc.). It was very upsetting that this didn’t always work right, for instance if one book was too big for a shelf, I had to rearrange the whole thing so that the entire section was on a shelf with more space.
Eventually I decided this was crazy and one day I rearranged my books to have no order at all. They’re still like that.
Oh, I know exactly where you’re coming from on this one. I’ve spent whole days just rearranging books and cd’s. Sometimes if I get a new cd or something that won’t fit where it needs to go, I’ll have to rearrange everything to make it all work. It’s not quite as bad anymore, since I’ve become a bit of a minimalist, but I do still have everything in its place. Maybe I should adopt your idea and just put them all in random order.
I almost always have to go back and check to make sure I locked the door behind me. Of course, I am fairly absent-minded so it’s not completely OCD.
I do this, except if I’m a passenger in a car it transfers to that, as well (i.e., a filled crack that only goes under one wheel will bother me.) Fortunately it doesn’t affect me when I’m busy driving, so I suspect it has more to do with my brain coming up with things to do than me being actually crazy.
Right?
(I do the clock thing, too.)
I don’t even choose to bite my fingernails. Something stronger than my will forces me to. It’s way beyond the realm of “bad habit” and halfway across crazy street. I can’t even describe the overwhelming compulsion to bite my nails if they are the appropriate biting size. Trimming them won’t do, either. Only biting.
I can’t think of any that would be considered OC.
Sometimes.
Like somebody else mentioned, I could listen to a song about 30 times in one night. It tends to happen most after I’ve first bought the song or downloaded it after hearing it for a long time. I’ll listen to it over and over and over before it gets added to my collection like a regular song. I know a guy who listens to songs HUNDREDS of times over. I’m glad I’m not that bad.
I have a counting thing too. When I’m walking, biking, cooking, or doing pretty much any other menial task I catch myself counting each step/pedal/stir/etc. It’s weird.
I also have this thing while working out on cardio machines where I MUST end on an even 5 or 0 number. If I can, I like to end the amount of calories burned at a 00/25/50/75 mark. No decimals. Otherwise I feel weird.
nikonikosuru, it just might be the satisfaction of stopping at a “round” number. For me, five divides equally (that is, twice) into ten, and 2 is a fundamental divisor.
As for those who like biting their nails and want to stop? Interesting idea: How about getting a manicure? Might be a waste of money if you don’t notice yourself doing it, though. Alternatively, my parents used aversion therapy to deal with a similar situation (thumb sucking, when I was a baby). They put mentholatum on it, which tastes pretty bitter.
As for my own OCD-ish tendencies… for the longest time, I had to step on and off stairs with my right foot… and when eating, my chopsticks always had to be aligned so that the right chopstick stuck out a tad father than the left chopstick (so the right side was ‘winning’). I also stepped on cracks (or over cracks) with my right foot.
I’ve since made the conscious decision to stop, so perhaps I don’t truly understand the inability to stop. I’ve had a relationship ruined by OCD once…
You are not really OCD if you can accept that you are OCD.
My wife insists that is wrong, it should be CDO, "you have to put the letters in order.
I would be hopelessly lost forever if I ever get one of these.
Also, OCD helps in being a pilot or you just have to make it a habit to do things in a certain order.
I don’t have compulsions, but my thoughts will occassionally loop in bizarre and strangely soothing ways. For instance, my mind will spend an inordinate amount of time repeating “I love you” or “I want to see you smile” over and over again. That’s when I’m not anxious. When I’m anxious or depressed, I have very intrusive violent imagery and thoughts. I used to be bothered by these thoughts, but now I’ve become desensitized. Which may or may not be a good thing.
For awhile I was in denial because I’d like to think I’m in full control of my mind. Also, with the exception of schizophrenics, OCD suffers are the laughing stocks of the mental health ward. But now I’m starting to accept that I probably have a mild form of pure-OCD (no compulsions, just obsessions). As long as it doesn’t get worse (and I’m not sure it won’t), then I guess I’ll be okay.
I can’t quite get used to owning a car with a blipper. So when I lock my car with the blipper I’ll pull the handle to make sure it’s locked.
Sometimes I walk away from the car, and if I’m less than 95% sure I’ve checked, I’ll walk back and check again.
I think it’s the only OCD thing I have, unless you count liking to wash my hands a lot (usually after eating)
In the name of fighting ignorance…this is incorrect. People with undiagnosed OCD commonly worry about whether they are mentally ill, and those who are diagnosed understand their diagnosis. People with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder refuse to believe their obsessive and compulsive behaviors are abnormal.
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I have to check my alarm clock a few times before I fall asleep. I check the time, that it’s on “buzzer”, and that the volume knob is turned loud enough. I’d say I check it twice, on average, after initially setting it each night.
I’m fairly sure that’s the only one I do.