# Things you do that are OCD-like, but you don't have OCD **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284 "2000-07-01T16:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/21 "2000-07-02T03:23:37Z")
vandal admitted: > [@](#): > > \*\* > Also, whenever I go to someone else’s computer, I just have to change their start menu to use **small icons**. I try to remember to change it back when I’m done, but, of course, I sometimes forget. But, oh well, that’s just my OCD kicking in. > \*\* I do this too (hands head in shame…no, wait, I’m not ashamed about this but oddly glad to hear I’m not the only one to do this too). I have to say **out loud** “I am turning off the coffee-maker” before I leave my abode. In fact, I have to say this quite loudly so that when I get in the car 2 seconds later, I know the coffee-maker is off. If I forget to say it and I’m halfway to work, I’ll turn around and go check it. Usually it’s off, but a few times it has been on, reinforcing my little ritual. ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/22 "2000-07-02T03:43:28Z")
I invariably announce to the room “I’m going to the bathroom” when I rise to do to the “necessary”. I can suppress the impulse, but it takes a conscious effort. Other than that, I can’t think of any other “crazy” behavior. I have to go now. The dogs have told me to log off. [ul]“Yess, masters…”[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/23 "2000-07-02T05:16:23Z")
**RTFirefly:** Naaaah…it’s nothing too serious. For the most part, once I fall asleep I’m perfectly fine. There are rare occasions where I will wake up a few times for about an hour after I initially drop off, but like I said, they’re rare. I think the paranoia stems from past occasions where I have either not turned on the alarm and was late to work, gotten up in my sleep and turned off the alarm and then went back to bed (despite placing the alarm across the room), or just plain slept through the alarm completely. I have to be paranoid, I’ve run out of good excuses for my tardiness. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/24 "2000-07-02T06:01:48Z")
**Drain Bead** I do that too! I’ve noticed that around the lights on roofs which are speckled or whatever that is it usually makes this really nifty spiral design that fans out. > [@](#): > > When I like a song, I will literally listen to it 50 or 100 times in a row if I’m at home all day. Again, this drives everyone else nuts, so I either use headphones or fight the compulsion. You think this would count by listening to a song for about 6 hours straight… one song only that is… it would have been 8 but I changed it eventually… That song was Savage Garden, Affirmation btw. **beakerxf** I also have a thing about my CD’s… they all have to go together in some way like similar groups, if I have all a certain groups CD’s they all must go in order from the first one to the last one they put out. Movie soundtracks go together as do compilations. I don’t freak out when one isn’t where it should be but it does get annoying cuz then I have to go through it all and find it toput it back where it belongs. What about spreading stuff on bread? I find that I must have whatever spread I’m using right to the edge and in a nice level layer instead of all clumped (I hate cold butter because it always clumps and tears the bread) I don’t freak if its not like that but it makes it better that way. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/25 "2000-07-02T08:01:26Z")
I type (without keyboard) the words I hear. Not as much anymore, but when I was first learning to type, it was almost a compulsion. Weird, huh? Also will repeat in my mind a word or phrase that my eyes saw and my mind picked up without my being conscious of it. Then I have to look around until I find that word or phrase, so I can have the peace of mind of knowing WHY I have that word or phrase in mind. I think I’ll make an appointment with a shrink now. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/26 "2000-07-02T16:06:54Z")
Folks, if you think your life sucks, read the OCD newsgroup, I think that its alt.support.ocd OCD comes in three basic flavors: counters, checkers, cleaners. There are also hoarders, purgers, etc. My friend & I wrote a joke: How many OCD people does it take to change lightbulb? 12345 12345 12345… See, it can be funny too. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/27 "2000-07-02T16:08:14Z")
GuanoLad, yep. Everyone has some amount of it. But its usually more normal so they don’t notice it. Maybe they comb their hair every morning? ---
**Author:** ![Brunetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Brunetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brunetter)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/28 "2000-07-02T16:34:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Another feature of OCD is making up little rules for yourself. I used to make these up as a child to keep me from being paralyzed by my overactive imagination (i.e. the shark in the pool couldn’t bite me if I was touching the side; the monster under the bed can’t reach up and get me if no part of me is hanging over the edge; the troll under the stairs can’t get me if the light is on, etc etc). I find myself sometimes STILL obeying these “rules.” Like if I wake up freaked out about a nightmare, it can’t come true or hurt me as long as I am safely on the bed with not a toe extended beyond the mattress. > \*\* Hey Cranky, I do this too! Yes the overactive imagination can be a powerful enemy … I was so afraid of the dark (and a lot of other stuff, actually) when I was a kid that this was the only was I could feel SANE. Ironic eh? Now I do it for other stuff, like my husband was applying for some funding recently (which we REALLY REALLY needed to get) and I would say to myself, “If I get all my work done by noon, they’ll call and say we got the funding” and things like that. Another weird thing I did when I was young: Like I said I had lots of fears. For example, I will use the swing in my backyard, which I was always terrified would break and send me hurtling to my death. So I would swing as high as I could and pray to whatever gods might be in charge of such a situation, and plead with them that if something was going to go wrong, please let it happen in the next 60 seconds. Then I would be fully alert, petrified, every muscle tensed, counting the seconds down. When time was up and the swing (along with my body) was still intact, I would relax and enjoy the rest of the ride. I also like to have everything lined up, on my table, desk or other surface. It REALLY bugs me when a paper is hanging over the edge. I probably have lots more but that’s all I can think of for now … ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/29 "2000-07-02T21:36:30Z")
Having Luck has a lot to do with OCD ruminations. e.g. ruminate ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/30 "2000-07-02T22:31:24Z")
Compulsive ear-cleaning. I have no idea why. I go through Q-tips like they were candy. I always finish my fries before I start my hamburger After pouring the Cheerios, I must flatten the heap with my hand before pouring the milk. Every once in a while, if I’m alone and it’s very quiet, I hear my mother calling me in the distance. She sounds annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284/31 "2000-07-02T23:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I type (without keyboard) the words I hear. Not as much anymore, but when I was first learning to type, it was almost a compulsion. Weird, huh? Also will repeat in my mind a word or phrase that my eyes saw and my mind picked up without my being conscious of it. Then I have to look around until I find that word or phrase, so I can have the peace of mind of knowing WHY I have that word or phrase in mind. I think I’ll make an appointment with a shrink now. > \*\* I do the typing thing too. it drives me nuts when i catch myself doing it. Especially if it’s at a time where it’s not exactly the most appropriate place to be doing this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-are-ocd-like-but-you-dont-have-ocd/24284.md?page=1)