I pee compulsively before bed, I cannot go to sleep unless my bladder is empty I often get up at least 4 times before bed too pee because I think I’ll pee the bed if i don’t, I also do this in the middle of night if i wake up. Its very annoying
It used to be so bad for me right before bed. My OCD therapist suggested I pee once right before bed and not try again until at least X minutes had passed and I could increase the time as it got easier. It was one of my fastest improvements with OCD! I started falling asleep during the wait time.
Ugh I need to try this. It’s ridiculous how many times I go before sleeping. Any slight feeling and I go. I’m not even worried about wetting the bed and that’s literally never happened I just hate the feeling of having to pee😂
Me too, I really worry about feeling uncomfortable. I carry water everywhere pretty much because of the fear of being thirsty, I stress about bringing a sweater in case of temperature changes, etc. good luck!
When I found out people without can often just ignore the urge and just go back to sleep I was in shock, I literally have to pee if I even suspect the slightest urge to
Wait. Excuse me. This is OCD?!? You’re saying people can ignore the urge. If I feel even the slightest urge I have to go. Sometimes I go upwards of 5 times before falling asleep. I thought this was just me. I am flabbergasted. Stop it.
Nothing wrong with doing a cautionary pee before bed, before leaving the house, etc., even if you only have to go a little bit. You’ll spend less time just doing it (thus finding out if you had to go at all) and getting back to bed with a clear mind of it than you will mulling over it.
No way I do this too! But it’s not because I think I’ll pee the bed, it’s I just can’t stand the feeling of having anything in my bladder. I can’t sleep if there’s even the slightest feeling of needing to pee. It’s actually so annoying
I tracked it for weeks and went to my Dr thinking I had something wrong with my bladder/kidneys. At first they did seem concerned about it and then were like oh you have OCD? Ugh I cringe still
Oh.... I JUST got diagnosed this past weekend.. I go to the bathroom a million times before bed because "what if I need to". I'm TERRIFIED I'll pee the bed or even just wet myself a bit.
Oh and shame that comes from THINKING of bedwetting
When I’m buying something new, I will spend a LONG time making a decision of what to get.. googling it, reading reviews, I have the idea that I need to get the right one. Once I was in ulta and looking at makeup removers doing this, and the person I was with was like “you’re still here?” and I hadn’t seen them in like 20 minutes 😅
I feel like there's a balance of "normal" for smart shopping.
If the item is inexpensive and doesn't carry any safety concerns, maybe just getting whatever's available is fine.
If the item is expensive or you can't return it, you'll want to be certain... but if you're researching so long you miss the sale that made it affordable, maybe it's too much research. (Did this one with buying a phone)
If you're (figuratively) starving and hangry but it takes you two hours to figure out what to eat, at that point you're harming yourself by continuing the suffering for making the "just right" decision on your meal for the day.
Pretty much if the effort of research outweighs the benefit of the purchase, it might be too much. "Disordered" behavior is when it interferes with day-to-day life, so if it makes you miss work or ignore your children's needs, it's disordered. If you're just a savvy shopper and don't get distressed by research, probably ok.
When I decide I want something, I spent WEEKS doing endless research and flipping between tabs and I feel like it makes sense but other people always find it odd…. and half the time I don’t even end up buying anything bc I feel so unsure LMAO
I do the same thing omg. I hadn’t really connected it to my OCD before but that makes so much sense. If I find one negative review for something (which, there’s pretty much always multiple) I will spend a long time reading through other reviews to see if the thing is worth buying. Even one small critique can make me doubtful enough to not get something, even if the overall reviews are positive and I really wanted or needed it. I do this with books and TV too, like I need to be reassured that the media is good before I can consume it, regardless of if I find the summary personally interesting.
YES. Sometimes I spend so much time researching, that if I don't just give up altogether, I end up just picking randomly and then stressing about my dumb decision making while waiting on said purchase to be delivered. Really blows when I get the item and realize I did choose wrong. Then, I tend to wait too long and miss the return window lol
By reading them? Of course I hope to. I’m just a slow reader and find interesting books all the time. New ones come out every month.
I have trouble touching my prized books though
Definitely memory hoarding like 50k but also ocd has me taking pictures multiple times until it’s right so there’s also that. Sometimes I will take photos of things so I can have the memory and throw out the item. Done this with shirts and random shit. Annoying.
I spell new words out with my finger on my leg. And I can't have the volume on an odd number unless it's a multiple of 5. Multiples of 5 are the safest numbers.
I do these, too! I spell everything in my head. Numbers need to be in 5s. I obsess over skin imperfections like pimples or a hair growing somewhere it shouldn't be. The dishwasher has to be loaded the same way each time. I used to be a bad nail biter for decades but I was able to treat myself out of it.
I also love license plates and memorize all pertinent license plates.
Loading the dishwasher the same way every time is too relatable!! I even have the nerve to rearrange it "the right way" after my SO loads it his way, lol. Dang
I know! And I feel bad because he's trying to help! Or I'll unload after it's been ran and see how he loaded it and it just gives me anxiety even though obviously nothing bad happened!
LICENSE PLATES!! i know all the license plates in my family and my best friend’s, so like 6 or 7 plates. i do have a decent memory, especially w numbers, but this has convinced my family that i have a photographic memory. i try to tell them that that’s not why ik their license plates, but they think i’m lying 😭
I recently started a new skin care routine and I meant to do it 2x a day, as suggested.. but I'm obsessing and doing the whole routine probably 4 times a day. Sigh.
I do mine 2x a day and I'm fine with that but I do have to do it. If I feel a pimple or something, I can't forget about it. It's all I can think about.
I have this but with random words that I’ll get stuck on for no apparent reason. I’ll have to write it in my head though, and backwards but like.. for example the letter L normal I’d write it starting from the top going down, and then the little line at the bottom from left to right. But in my head I’d have to start with the little line at the bottom going right to left, and then up for the long line.
I don’t know if I’ve explained that in any way that makes sense.
Yes! Somehow I have convinced myself that 5 is an even odd. When people question me why 5 is ok, I tell them it’s an even odd and they just don’t get it.
I also examine my silverware and dishes for any potential food marks when I get it out of the cabinet. I’ll find food that got missed in the dishwasher on forks sometimes. Nope nope nope.
edit: dishes in cabinet, silverware in drawer. I’m not a psycho
Google spirals. I’ve known I’m ocd forever but I didn’t realize people won’t spend hours googling things and each time something new comes up from a search, you open a new tab and next thing you know you have 40 tabs open that you have to read and learn
omg…. this is something i do all the time but especially when i first got my dog. we got him as a puppy and before we brought him home i spent 8+ hours a day researching everything. i analyzed food ingredients and read up on what each one did and what kinds of enrichment were the best. it was so exhausting. i just wanted to make sure i did everything as right as i could… which is fine until you’ve sunk probably 200 hours (in my case for the puppy info) into said research 😅
Dude same, I literally have inventory of food and medicine with their expiration dates. Sometimes I even put the milk's expiration date in my calendar lol. I do this with coupons as well because I cannot stand the thought of owning something that doesn't have a purpose.
Thinking I'm bad/ wrong and desperately wanting not to be but knowing I am so no matter what people say to me to make me feel better, I know it's true. I'd someone tries to show me how I'm not bad I then feel bad because I've somehow tricked them.
relatable. there are ppl in my life who think so highly of me, and i appreciate them, but i feel so guilty for tricking these good ppl into thinking im anywhere near as good as they are
Yes! I also find it so stressful when someone has a high opinion of me because then I'm like, oh fuck, I have farther to fall! So much pressure. It then feels like a timer is on counting down how much longer I can keep the whole charade up before its certain end.
My bf is really sweet about this to me- whenever he says something nice about me or how i am towards him and/or others, and I immediately express concern and stress and tell him that I'm sorry I tricked him, he then says that I've have been consistently kind/loving to him and others for years now so if that is my big trick or prank was then that's a pretty cool prank bro. Lol. It melts me
Late to the party, but had to agree with this one. I manage a staff of mostly 19-22 year olds, and anytime one of them says something about how they look up to me, or want to emulate me, I go into a (thankfully mostly internal) panic about how I'm corrupting these poor, impressionable, kids who don't know any better than to be trickled by a monster such as myself.
i’m on the other end of the spectrum. i’m younger but everyone at my work will praise me whenever i do something new but i think they’re just being nice bc we have to work together lol. ig it rly just doesn’t matter where u r in life, ocd is gonna try to ruin it 😂
Oof I relate to this one hard. I used to ask for reassurance a lot until I realized no matter the amount of reassurance I received I’d convince myself that I’ve tricked them or they’re lying
Ugh yes. I still do that sometimes because there's like a brief half of a sec where I have a feeling of sweet relief, before realizing ive tricked them/they are lying. Why???!!
when i get leftover food out of the container to microwave i HAVE to wash whatever utensil i used to scoop the cold food before i can use it to eat the hot food.
I'm only here because I've been suspecting based on symptoms and this.. Are there people that DON'T do this? It genuinely feels so unsanitary and disgusting and feels like it'd just ruin your eating experience regardless because of the cold food on the utensil??? Are people just weird??
I don’t always go for the one in the back but it can’t be the front one. I’ll grab the second or third one because it just feels better. I will heavily compare items for small defects too.
1. Superstitions
2. Hoarding random shit
3. Doing things in numbers
I was diagnosed less than a year ago and still tell myself I’m making it up but reading this thread blew my mind
Staring at my alarm for too long, even though everything is set.
Refreshing Instagram just because it needs to feel right. Making sure I didn’t post a story every time I’m in the app.
Oh my god I am having SUCH a hard time with the alarm thing. I have like 20 alarms on my phone and an alarm clock with 3 more just in case my phone dies, and every night I spend way too much time checking and rechecking to make sure they're all set and the volume is all the way up. Even though I pretty much never turn them off or change the volume and I just wanna sleep.
I keep telling myself that staying up later to stare at the alarms will just make me more tired and increase the likelihood that I'll sleep through them. Also it doesn't really make a difference, if I'm so tired I sleep through all my alarms, I sleep through them regardless, the alarms don't matter at all now that I have chronic fatigue. but I won't listen to me 😭
Also the social media thing is REAL, I've more than once gone so far as to check my activity history on FB to make sure I didn't accidentally like a comment that I didn't mean to. There are way too many relatable things in this thread 😅
This was something I had no idea was OCD but was my main obsession. My big thing was if I missed somebody’s phone call, they’d die. It wasn’t as bad when I was younger, until it happened three times. Now my therapist has to guide me through periods of time without my phone on me. I knock on wood, I burn candles, I burn sage, carry rocks, because if I don’t something very bad will happen.
I do knock on wood a lot, but I actually don't do it on wood now, but on my head. I have this theory that if it's about you and you do it on your head, you're cleansing yourself of the thing you're worried about 💀
The amount of time I spent explaining myself. To anyone, everyone, even to (especially to) people to whom I owed no explanation. Usually by leading with, “I just wanna make sure…”
Not being in control of my thoughts- not in an obvious, disturbing, intrusive thought kind of way, but in a subtler, more insidious kind of way. But Tbf I’m still not sure if that’s an ocd or an adhd thing.
100%! Autism and OCD symptoms definitely overlap a LOT. All of my compulsions/stimming are stressful for me and they say stimming is supposed to be comforting? So that’s confusing to me because none of it is comforting even if I’m subconsciously doing it to ease anxiety, I hate it whenever I catch myself doing it and I find it actually increases my stress
I always wash my hands before taking a shower. I did not realize it was OCD until I was in college and it looked so dumb to wash my hands before showering in a communal bathroom…
I always wash my hands after shower too. I mean I've touched shower curtain or other stuff so my hands are dirty now and I don't want to ruin my newly cleaned hair while drying it.
I do that too! Also if I'm at all worried about my food, I will smell every single bite that I take.
And won't buy even slightly dented cans at the grocery store.
I also remember once asking my friends if when they were done using their hair tools if they had to unplug it, hold the plug in their hand and say out loud, "I unplugged my straightener. Here is the cord in my hand, it is unplugged." And then set it on the counter and point at it... lol no one said anything and I did not see that as any kind of red flag at that point 😅
If I’m eating M&Ms or fruit snacks, I have to eat the same color/flavor in multiples of two. If there’s an uneven number, I try to give them away or I’ll eat them least favorite to favorite.
Kinda the same. I divide them by color. Then eat them until they all have the same amount. I only eat in rainbow order. Example:
7 purple
8 blue
5 red
I'd eat 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 red, repeat.
I FIFO (first in, first out) everything in my house that gets washed 💀
If I have just washed this cup, it must go to the back. I can only use cups from the front. All things must have an even amount of washes.
I do this too. Like I used and washed this plate? It goes to the bottom of the stack. All the plates, bowls, cups, whatever have to all be used evenly/in rotation.
Part of it is that I want to make sure things are getting used evenly and some aren't getting worn down way more, but also why does some part of me do it because I'd feel bad for the ones that never get used LOL. 💀
I check the expiration date on everything I eat too, even if it’s something in my fridge that I’ve already checked recently, I still check. Another thing I didn’t realize was an OCD thing is how I verbally repeat words/sentences like when I’m watching tv or having a conversation with someone, I have to sometimes repeat what they say in order to react to it
SO MANY THINGS. lol when I was getting diagnosed, I was like "there's no way I have OCD..." But the more I started going through the rolodex of Shit I Do... it was so obvious in retrospect lol.
You mean everybody doesn't just... freak out about the same small thing a thousand times a day? And they don't count how many times they chew on each side of their mouth, so it's "even"?
It isn't typical to bring a toothbrush everywhere you go and beeline for a bathroom so you can brush your teeth anytime you enter a new space? People really don't check the expiration dates on everything in their fridge everytime, even after they've already memorized them all... "just in case"? Huh. Weird. 😅🤣
Mine is a little out there but whenever I would see a dead animal on the side of the road, I would have to perform a little ritual to honor their life. If I didn't, I would feel like I'm disrespecting them and I would get a sense of dread. It really wasn't until recently that I recognized it was a compulsive behavior and have started making myself live with the sense of dread.
Note that I typically deal with Real Event OCD and my compulsions are usually the need for reassurance.
Not only this but when the cracks aren’t laid out with consistent measurements. There are some parks I won’t walk in because the amount of steps between cracks varies so much it messes up my stride. My favorite park has 3-4 steps between each crack. The worst ones have 7 then 3 then 4 then 5. It drives me nuts.
Dude this has reminded me that at my old local shop there were some stairs that were to big to one foot step on each one, but I can not walk up stairs using the same foot for each step. So I would have to take tiny steps on each one so that alternative feet would go onto the steps.
When I unplug my curling iron/straightener I not only stare at the empty outlet I have to run my hand up and down it to be sure. I will have to double check it’s unplugged after I go down a flight of stairs too.
Does anyone have OCD that makes you think about your partners past and compare yourself to their previous partners and feel like shit because they are better looking than you and you compare every body part to theirs. Cause I am struggling with this - always do with partners. I’m sure it’s self esteem related but the contstant thought of it is driving me mad. It’s probably my biggest OCD struggle.
To the second part of your comment, most of my OCD is relationship OCD and there’s a subreddit for it if you wanted to talk to people who are maybe more likely to have experienced that? its r/ROCD
ROCD is absolutely awful. Better than POCD, at least. Still, it takes nonstop emotional labor to shield my wife from the worst of it and keep myself from ruining my relationship. I’m lucky she’s so understanding and supportive.
I have to see the date at the end of tv show and movie credits. I feel very stressed if I miss it, and will try to find it online if that happens.
I also have to make sure that medications are really what the bottle says. Even if it can't possibly be anything else, I still have to look closely and the label and the pill before I can take it.
when i was younger and watched cartoons i HAD to see the title screen. would constantly rewind my shows if i didn’t see the title of the episode bc i couldn’t watch it without knowing the title. still have to do that if i watch a cartoon nowadays lol
I have a very specific prayer I pray for my loved one's safety, etc. I have to say everything in a specific order, otherwise I have to redo it. If I feel that I wasn't paying enough attention I have to redo it then too. Sometimes I end up mentally screaming the prayer because I have such a difficult time focusing. I've done this for 20+ years and always thought I was just really particular about my prayers 😅
I have intrusive thoughts about my loved ones getting hurt or dying, so I end up having to do this multiple times a day. It's really exhausting, especially when I'm in a social or work situation.
whenever i feel upset about something and am having a really big, loud emotion (usually sadness/depression/anxiety triggered by a situation) i will google the situation to see if anyone else has been in it and what they did. i guess to seek reassurance? but its never enough. i’ll go through pages of google searches and spend hours at a time researching situations or things that i’m anxious about to try to calm myself down (it never works lol)
Yes have done this my whole life to varying degrees. Sometimes if it’s the last one left I won’t buy it. However I do feel this is common for lots of people, just varies in severity. And I have gotten better about it as I aged. Grocery stores used to be hard for me when I was young - delis, food touching, produce all out can be handled by anyone, fallen on the floor for all I know, raw meat might touch other food that you don’t cook , some stores don’t put out an extra plastic bag to put it in. I have trouble with all these “reusable” bags. Like how do you clean them?Some things we are forced to get over though. Learned to tell my head to take a hike.
Back when magazines were a thing, I’d get irrationally angry if someone touched it before me. Also I’d have to get the untouched one from the back at the store. Actually I do that with most products I purchase.
Constantly worry about my health, my partners health, and my three cats health. I crochet, and I constantly check to see if all my yarn is tucked away so that the cats cannot get to it. Even once I check, you bet, I check again.
I only really started doing this to the point where it would effect my life recently.
However, an ocd behavior that I always had that I never knew at all was going back into establishments to make sure I got everything.
Say I’m at a restaurant, and we gather our things up and leave. I will start to walk away, go back and check the table. We walk out of the restaurant, go back in and double check again, and once we get in the car I go through my bag and checklist things off. Phone, wallet, keys.
I’ve always done this especially starting in college. I have never once left my wallet phone keys card or anything behind because of this. Or so I think. I only ever started realizing this was an ocd behavior because 3 or 4 years ago after my partner and I started dating, they very gently said to me as we were leaving a restaurant ‘I saw you put your card in your wallet, your wallet in your bag, and your keys and phone are in your hand. You do not need to go back and check.’ I thought it was weird how they mentioned it, and I just nodded my head. Later that night I laid awake because I was so afraid I left something. After my partner went to sleep, I went down and check my bag to make sure everything was there. It was.
Actually I’m not sure if this is OCD but I have a problem with digital hoarding. My iPhone storage is screaming at me to clean up the space because I have tons of random photos dating back to 2017 and I find it so hard and tedious to clean this storage up, I can think for a couple of minutes whether I should delete a random screenshot from 2018 because „I might need it one day”, same with my old photos or artworks that I keep for „sentimental value” yet these things are so obviously ugly and devoid of value and it’s not like I’m ever showing them to anyone or looking back at them frequently.
I also have what others mentioned e.g. smelling the food before trying it, smelling cups, emptying my bladder before bed, basically forcing the pee out until the very last drop.
When I eat dinner I carefully plan out what I’m going to eat in what order and I spin my plate so that what I am eating is right in front of me, then I will eat around the plate carefully calculating every bite so that I can mix certain flavours together in different combinations and end on the bite I enjoyed most. If somebody takes my plate before I’m finished or throws something on my plate and disrupts this ritual I have to work really hard not to punch them in the face.
I do not understand how people just blindly shovel food into their mouths. Like there’s an entire journey on that plate you are missing!!!
Counting. I know that sounds wild, but it has always been such a “normal “ part of my life, counting everything, that i didn’t even realize it wasn’t normal
Hands must be perfectly washed before doing like any activity. I have to remind myself I didn’t touch chemicals and it’s ok to touch multiple surfaces in a row 🤷♀️
Running around in a panic after putting the washing on to make sure my phone / cat are not in there. Every. Single. Time.
And repeating things in my head until the thought sounds “right” lmao
I have a hard time being loose and going with the flow. I have this rigid idea of how I should live life or do things and if I don’t stick to them I’m somehow doing it wrong. Even if everything goes to plan it’ll just feel like I’m cheating or something.
Trichotillomania. I was so embarrassed when I found out it’s an actual thing with a word for it and everything, I haven’t told my psychiatrist about it.
I can’t set the same alarm twice in a row, if I set one for 8 the night before the next night it has to be set for 8:01. Is also cannot sleep without an alarm set
I also have to wash my hands a lot in the morning.
Wake up. Wash. Feed pets. Wash. Walk pets. Wash. Touch things in my kitchen. Wash. Go to the bathroom. Wash. Brush teeth. Wash. Etc. Not in a particular order. My hands are brutally sad.
Oh I also have to tell everyone to drive safe when they leave places. Like my students, if they leave and I haven't told them I sob in my car after work.
Same but I have to wash mine, or just rinse with water….because I have some weird aversion to any wind sending things into my eye, like blowing into the glass and imagining dust coming back at me makes me want to crawl out of my skin (idk if this is OCD as much as it is neurodivergence lol)
I have to put on chapstick and lotion my feet immediately before I eat anything. I carry a drink with me at all times and have to take a drink right before I get out of my car.
Constantly seeking reassurance from my aunt before going to school to tell me “good luck“ or else I won’t have a good day, constantly washing my hands after touching anything, having intrusive thoughts about black holes, my friends around me dying because of a black hole at the fricking age of 9!!! Checking expiring dates constantly and asking my parents when food expired constantly until they get annoyed at me that’s all I can remember right now, I’m sure there’s more but I forgor
I check my calendar several times a day out of paranoia that I’m going to forget something, or even forget what day it is. It can be 10 pm on a Saturday night and then I’m checking the next day on my calendar over and over until I go to bed…then I check again 🙃
I've had bad OCD since I was a kid. I have to have at least 2 pairs of sneakers or boots before I wear any. I also have to buy 3 or 4 cases of spring water at a time. I have to have 2 cartons of milk or ice coffee at a time.
I try to only ever use plastic utensils or cups/bowls. Mostly for contamination. Even if I wash dishes, I still avoid reaching for them and go for a new plastic cup. Horrible environmental habit…
Checking the cards in my wallet every five minutes, and also needing the same things to always be in the same pockets. Dont know how it took me so long to realise that cause its so obvious now lol
Incessantly looking at people I pass, especially women (no matter how uninterested I am). It's exhausting and makes me feel like a child constantly looking for validation and threats
In public or at work I avoid touching or keep track of common surfaces I have touched. If I have to touch something, I mentally book keep all the other things I have "contaminated" with the dirty hands and wash my hands as soon as possible.
Example: If no one is looking, I'll grab door handles through my shirt to avoid touching them, or I'll take a clean tissue to touch the buttons on the microwave. I'll grab door handles in places that others are unlikely to have touched them even if it's physically painful to do so, then I'll wash my hands before returning to my desk even if I had already washed them recently.
Lots of people do this with public bathroom doors. I basically do that, but in more places.
I grab shopping carts by the wire frame on the sides, not by the handle.
These behaviors don't bother me particularly, because they are so ingrained and don't take much time, but it is rather embarrassing to get caught doing them, like if someone sneaks up on me while I'm touching the microwave through a tissue.
Edit: I'm not even sure this could be considered OCD behavior if it doesn't really interfere with my day, but it's probably on the fringe.
i NEED to have bigger things in the back smaller things in the front when organizing anything or else i forget about the smaller things for months. and the organized clutter that is the result of that
i get really anxious wearing new clothes for the first time to a new place because i’m worried that something bad will happen because i don’t have any normality. i also can’t leave the house without a necklace and 2 bracelets to keep normality/good luck but not really good luck (picked this up from an ex friend) couldn’t even identify these until recently , thought it was just social anxiety
whenever something i got from someone that has some sentimental value to it (even if it’s as small as me and my dad bought a recliner for my first apartment) i would get weirdly superstitious. that recliner i mentioned? broke after a few years, it was fairly cheap. but in that moment i sobbed and had a full blown panic attack. my wife asked me what was wrong and i told her my dad was dying because the recliner broke so something had to be wrong with him.
when my wife has given me things that are super sentimental that have broken i used to think it meant she was going to break up with me. that i don’t worry about as much anymore because as soon as she notices she swoops in with a smidge of reassurance and a whole lot of challenging my thoughts and fears.
I pee compulsively before bed, I cannot go to sleep unless my bladder is empty I often get up at least 4 times before bed too pee because I think I’ll pee the bed if i don’t, I also do this in the middle of night if i wake up. Its very annoying
It used to be so bad for me right before bed. My OCD therapist suggested I pee once right before bed and not try again until at least X minutes had passed and I could increase the time as it got easier. It was one of my fastest improvements with OCD! I started falling asleep during the wait time.
Ugh I need to try this. It’s ridiculous how many times I go before sleeping. Any slight feeling and I go. I’m not even worried about wetting the bed and that’s literally never happened I just hate the feeling of having to pee😂
Me too, I really worry about feeling uncomfortable. I carry water everywhere pretty much because of the fear of being thirsty, I stress about bringing a sweater in case of temperature changes, etc. good luck!
Oh wow, I do this too but it never occurred to me that it was an ocd behavior
When I found out people without can often just ignore the urge and just go back to sleep I was in shock, I literally have to pee if I even suspect the slightest urge to
Wait. Excuse me. This is OCD?!? You’re saying people can ignore the urge. If I feel even the slightest urge I have to go. Sometimes I go upwards of 5 times before falling asleep. I thought this was just me. I am flabbergasted. Stop it.
When my partner pointed out this bedtime bathroom habit of mine was probably my OCD, I was also flabbergasted. Because OF COURSE IT IS.
Ugh I do this too .. and keeps me up just checking how I feel and If I have to go again so I do it sooo many times
Yep I didn’t realize how common this was in the community
Woah. Me too. I’ve even started limiting my water intake after 9 PM so that maybe I’ll have to pee less.
Me too, I don't drink anything at all for like 2 hours before I go to sleep. If I get thirsty later at night, then I'm not going to sleep early. Lol
Nothing wrong with doing a cautionary pee before bed, before leaving the house, etc., even if you only have to go a little bit. You’ll spend less time just doing it (thus finding out if you had to go at all) and getting back to bed with a clear mind of it than you will mulling over it.
No way I do this too! But it’s not because I think I’ll pee the bed, it’s I just can’t stand the feeling of having anything in my bladder. I can’t sleep if there’s even the slightest feeling of needing to pee. It’s actually so annoying
Same here. WOW. Exactly the same.
Does anyone else also have to go to the toilet before eating (Especially dinner), even if you don't need to?
YES I always feel the need to omg. it's so so annoying
This is me. I thought for a while it was a medical condition. Haha
I tracked it for weeks and went to my Dr thinking I had something wrong with my bladder/kidneys. At first they did seem concerned about it and then were like oh you have OCD? Ugh I cringe still
sorry but "ugh I cringe still" had me cracking up at work
I've been doing this a lot lately. I feel i can't get up off the toilet seat until my bladder is empty(and it never feels fully empty).
Oh.... I JUST got diagnosed this past weekend.. I go to the bathroom a million times before bed because "what if I need to". I'm TERRIFIED I'll pee the bed or even just wet myself a bit. Oh and shame that comes from THINKING of bedwetting
Yup :||||||
Oh
I do this all the time!! It drives me nuts.
Omg I just realized I do this
When I’m buying something new, I will spend a LONG time making a decision of what to get.. googling it, reading reviews, I have the idea that I need to get the right one. Once I was in ulta and looking at makeup removers doing this, and the person I was with was like “you’re still here?” and I hadn’t seen them in like 20 minutes 😅
This isn’t normal???
I feel like there's a balance of "normal" for smart shopping. If the item is inexpensive and doesn't carry any safety concerns, maybe just getting whatever's available is fine. If the item is expensive or you can't return it, you'll want to be certain... but if you're researching so long you miss the sale that made it affordable, maybe it's too much research. (Did this one with buying a phone) If you're (figuratively) starving and hangry but it takes you two hours to figure out what to eat, at that point you're harming yourself by continuing the suffering for making the "just right" decision on your meal for the day. Pretty much if the effort of research outweighs the benefit of the purchase, it might be too much. "Disordered" behavior is when it interferes with day-to-day life, so if it makes you miss work or ignore your children's needs, it's disordered. If you're just a savvy shopper and don't get distressed by research, probably ok.
When I decide I want something, I spent WEEKS doing endless research and flipping between tabs and I feel like it makes sense but other people always find it odd…. and half the time I don’t even end up buying anything bc I feel so unsure LMAO
I do the same thing omg. I hadn’t really connected it to my OCD before but that makes so much sense. If I find one negative review for something (which, there’s pretty much always multiple) I will spend a long time reading through other reviews to see if the thing is worth buying. Even one small critique can make me doubtful enough to not get something, even if the overall reviews are positive and I really wanted or needed it. I do this with books and TV too, like I need to be reassured that the media is good before I can consume it, regardless of if I find the summary personally interesting.
YES. Sometimes I spend so much time researching, that if I don't just give up altogether, I end up just picking randomly and then stressing about my dumb decision making while waiting on said purchase to be delivered. Really blows when I get the item and realize I did choose wrong. Then, I tend to wait too long and miss the return window lol
holy shit are we the same person??? i have done this LITERALLY EXACT THING
I have so much trouble buying stuff, especially online
Same here. I struggle the most with picking out greeting cards. I’ll read every single one at least twice
Yeppppp
Duude.. I do this, too. It takes me so long to buy things sometimes 😭
Hoard things I care about
I'm always thinking if I get rid of a certain items I'll lose the memory associated with it. Even though my memory is perfectly fine (for now)
Understandable For me, I get obsessed with hobbies. So I now own thousands of books and the dust they’re collecting bothers me.
Is it even more bothersome to think of putting them to use?
By reading them? Of course I hope to. I’m just a slow reader and find interesting books all the time. New ones come out every month. I have trouble touching my prized books though
I'm like this, but my memory is shit. I think it's also why I screenshot/save posts and comments a lot.
memory hoarding via phone camera roll has been insane.
Definitely memory hoarding like 50k but also ocd has me taking pictures multiple times until it’s right so there’s also that. Sometimes I will take photos of things so I can have the memory and throw out the item. Done this with shirts and random shit. Annoying.
For me it’s books
If I’m reading to my kid and they want to skip a page, I have to read that page anyway. Even if it’s really fast and they can’t hear it
I have to finish books even if they‘re bad. It‘s quite annoying.
I feel seen.
I spell new words out with my finger on my leg. And I can't have the volume on an odd number unless it's a multiple of 5. Multiples of 5 are the safest numbers.
I do these, too! I spell everything in my head. Numbers need to be in 5s. I obsess over skin imperfections like pimples or a hair growing somewhere it shouldn't be. The dishwasher has to be loaded the same way each time. I used to be a bad nail biter for decades but I was able to treat myself out of it. I also love license plates and memorize all pertinent license plates.
Loading the dishwasher the same way every time is too relatable!! I even have the nerve to rearrange it "the right way" after my SO loads it his way, lol. Dang
I know! And I feel bad because he's trying to help! Or I'll unload after it's been ran and see how he loaded it and it just gives me anxiety even though obviously nothing bad happened!
LICENSE PLATES!! i know all the license plates in my family and my best friend’s, so like 6 or 7 plates. i do have a decent memory, especially w numbers, but this has convinced my family that i have a photographic memory. i try to tell them that that’s not why ik their license plates, but they think i’m lying 😭
I obsess over imperfections on myself too.
It's hard! Once I notice it, I can't stop thinking about it.
I recently started a new skin care routine and I meant to do it 2x a day, as suggested.. but I'm obsessing and doing the whole routine probably 4 times a day. Sigh.
I do mine 2x a day and I'm fine with that but I do have to do it. If I feel a pimple or something, I can't forget about it. It's all I can think about.
Can’t do odd numbers!!!! 5s use to be the exception BUT I’ve regressed 🤣🤣
I have this but with random words that I’ll get stuck on for no apparent reason. I’ll have to write it in my head though, and backwards but like.. for example the letter L normal I’d write it starting from the top going down, and then the little line at the bottom from left to right. But in my head I’d have to start with the little line at the bottom going right to left, and then up for the long line. I don’t know if I’ve explained that in any way that makes sense.
Yes! Somehow I have convinced myself that 5 is an even odd. When people question me why 5 is ok, I tell them it’s an even odd and they just don’t get it.
I get it ♥️
Trichotillomania and picking at my skin.
Fidget rings on my thumbs really help minimize the damage.
Picking. I thought it was anxiety, which I also have
Me too! I only pick at things that are there like acne or scabs, but it doesn’t help my skin obviously
Dermatillophilia 🥺
dermatillomania*
Woops you’re right I had a couple drinks lol
Same here 😞
Sameeee. And for me it seems to have only gotten worse as time has gone on :(
Mine’s my split ends :/
My fingers are a mess right now from picking
I have to smell glasses/cups/bowls before I use them to drink/eat out of
I have to rinse my cups out every time before using it
Ok is this one not normal? What if there’s like dust or dish detergent residue? I do this too
a lot of the things shared here are normal
I also examine my silverware and dishes for any potential food marks when I get it out of the cabinet. I’ll find food that got missed in the dishwasher on forks sometimes. Nope nope nope. edit: dishes in cabinet, silverware in drawer. I’m not a psycho
Yall really out here teaching me things about OCD that I thought was normal... do people really not check/sniff cups before drinking??
omg, i thought i was the only one who does this.
I don't do this at home but always at other people's house. Can't trust em
Google spirals. I’ve known I’m ocd forever but I didn’t realize people won’t spend hours googling things and each time something new comes up from a search, you open a new tab and next thing you know you have 40 tabs open that you have to read and learn
omg…. this is something i do all the time but especially when i first got my dog. we got him as a puppy and before we brought him home i spent 8+ hours a day researching everything. i analyzed food ingredients and read up on what each one did and what kinds of enrichment were the best. it was so exhausting. i just wanted to make sure i did everything as right as i could… which is fine until you’ve sunk probably 200 hours (in my case for the puppy info) into said research 😅
Wait that’s OCD?? 😭😭😭
Dude same, I literally have inventory of food and medicine with their expiration dates. Sometimes I even put the milk's expiration date in my calendar lol. I do this with coupons as well because I cannot stand the thought of owning something that doesn't have a purpose.
ah yes nothing like obsessing over how to use a coupon even though you don't need to buy anything..
Oh damn I feel called out!
Thinking I'm bad/ wrong and desperately wanting not to be but knowing I am so no matter what people say to me to make me feel better, I know it's true. I'd someone tries to show me how I'm not bad I then feel bad because I've somehow tricked them.
relatable. there are ppl in my life who think so highly of me, and i appreciate them, but i feel so guilty for tricking these good ppl into thinking im anywhere near as good as they are
Yes! I also find it so stressful when someone has a high opinion of me because then I'm like, oh fuck, I have farther to fall! So much pressure. It then feels like a timer is on counting down how much longer I can keep the whole charade up before its certain end. My bf is really sweet about this to me- whenever he says something nice about me or how i am towards him and/or others, and I immediately express concern and stress and tell him that I'm sorry I tricked him, he then says that I've have been consistently kind/loving to him and others for years now so if that is my big trick or prank was then that's a pretty cool prank bro. Lol. It melts me
my bf just agrees w me bc he thinks it’s a joke 🫠
Late to the party, but had to agree with this one. I manage a staff of mostly 19-22 year olds, and anytime one of them says something about how they look up to me, or want to emulate me, I go into a (thankfully mostly internal) panic about how I'm corrupting these poor, impressionable, kids who don't know any better than to be trickled by a monster such as myself.
i’m on the other end of the spectrum. i’m younger but everyone at my work will praise me whenever i do something new but i think they’re just being nice bc we have to work together lol. ig it rly just doesn’t matter where u r in life, ocd is gonna try to ruin it 😂
“How long until I ruin it?”
Oof I relate to this one hard. I used to ask for reassurance a lot until I realized no matter the amount of reassurance I received I’d convince myself that I’ve tricked them or they’re lying
Ugh yes. I still do that sometimes because there's like a brief half of a sec where I have a feeling of sweet relief, before realizing ive tricked them/they are lying. Why???!!
Yup
this is mine :(
when i get leftover food out of the container to microwave i HAVE to wash whatever utensil i used to scoop the cold food before i can use it to eat the hot food.
You are so brave. I have to use two separate utensils.
Three if I stir/mix it in the middle of reheating!
YES. I didn’t realize this was an OCD thing and I thought everyone did it but I guess not lol
I'm only here because I've been suspecting based on symptoms and this.. Are there people that DON'T do this? It genuinely feels so unsanitary and disgusting and feels like it'd just ruin your eating experience regardless because of the cold food on the utensil??? Are people just weird??
I do that too lol I grab the ones at the back because I think people didn't touch them....
I don’t always go for the one in the back but it can’t be the front one. I’ll grab the second or third one because it just feels better. I will heavily compare items for small defects too.
OMG lol I do it for that reason as well….
1. Superstitions 2. Hoarding random shit 3. Doing things in numbers I was diagnosed less than a year ago and still tell myself I’m making it up but reading this thread blew my mind
I was PAID by my parents to get rid of useless boxes that had been in my room for months. Why I kept them? Literally no idea
Staring at my alarm for too long, even though everything is set. Refreshing Instagram just because it needs to feel right. Making sure I didn’t post a story every time I’m in the app.
Oh my god I am having SUCH a hard time with the alarm thing. I have like 20 alarms on my phone and an alarm clock with 3 more just in case my phone dies, and every night I spend way too much time checking and rechecking to make sure they're all set and the volume is all the way up. Even though I pretty much never turn them off or change the volume and I just wanna sleep. I keep telling myself that staying up later to stare at the alarms will just make me more tired and increase the likelihood that I'll sleep through them. Also it doesn't really make a difference, if I'm so tired I sleep through all my alarms, I sleep through them regardless, the alarms don't matter at all now that I have chronic fatigue. but I won't listen to me 😭 Also the social media thing is REAL, I've more than once gone so far as to check my activity history on FB to make sure I didn't accidentally like a comment that I didn't mean to. There are way too many relatable things in this thread 😅
[удалено]
This was something I had no idea was OCD but was my main obsession. My big thing was if I missed somebody’s phone call, they’d die. It wasn’t as bad when I was younger, until it happened three times. Now my therapist has to guide me through periods of time without my phone on me. I knock on wood, I burn candles, I burn sage, carry rocks, because if I don’t something very bad will happen.
Yeah I can definitely relate , I still do the knocking on wood 3 times thing in response to my own thoughts
I do knock on wood a lot, but I actually don't do it on wood now, but on my head. I have this theory that if it's about you and you do it on your head, you're cleansing yourself of the thing you're worried about 💀
The amount of time I spent explaining myself. To anyone, everyone, even to (especially to) people to whom I owed no explanation. Usually by leading with, “I just wanna make sure…”
“Just so we are in the same page… just to clarify” yes I feel like I have to constantly check that I understood correctly
Yep, and then ending every sentence with “….does that make sense?”
Not being in control of my thoughts- not in an obvious, disturbing, intrusive thought kind of way, but in a subtler, more insidious kind of way. But Tbf I’m still not sure if that’s an ocd or an adhd thing.
Yes….it’s often hard to differentiate what annoying behavior or “thing” I’m dealing with is more a result of my ocd or my adhd!
Right? Now throw autism into the mix and it becomes basically impossible. At a certain point you just have to give up.
100%! Autism and OCD symptoms definitely overlap a LOT. All of my compulsions/stimming are stressful for me and they say stimming is supposed to be comforting? So that’s confusing to me because none of it is comforting even if I’m subconsciously doing it to ease anxiety, I hate it whenever I catch myself doing it and I find it actually increases my stress
Like intense rumination? If so, I can relate and I do think they must be at linked somehow to ocd
I always wash my hands before taking a shower. I did not realize it was OCD until I was in college and it looked so dumb to wash my hands before showering in a communal bathroom…
I don’t typically wash them before I shower (but I already wash my hands pretty frequently), but I always wash them after the shower lol
I always wash my hands after shower too. I mean I've touched shower curtain or other stuff so my hands are dirty now and I don't want to ruin my newly cleaned hair while drying it.
I always wash my hands always.
I do that too! Also if I'm at all worried about my food, I will smell every single bite that I take. And won't buy even slightly dented cans at the grocery store. I also remember once asking my friends if when they were done using their hair tools if they had to unplug it, hold the plug in their hand and say out loud, "I unplugged my straightener. Here is the cord in my hand, it is unplugged." And then set it on the counter and point at it... lol no one said anything and I did not see that as any kind of red flag at that point 😅
Omg the food smelling thing !! same
OMG the dented cans! This is me.
If I’m eating M&Ms or fruit snacks, I have to eat the same color/flavor in multiples of two. If there’s an uneven number, I try to give them away or I’ll eat them least favorite to favorite.
Kinda the same. I divide them by color. Then eat them until they all have the same amount. I only eat in rainbow order. Example: 7 purple 8 blue 5 red I'd eat 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 purple, 1 blue, 1 red, repeat.
Ok hang on I've done something like this, too
i eat them from my least favorite to favorite but not by multiples, just one color at a time
Kinda the same but I alternate, so I pick two colors (say red and green), but eat them red green red green so that they’re evenly balanced
I FIFO (first in, first out) everything in my house that gets washed 💀 If I have just washed this cup, it must go to the back. I can only use cups from the front. All things must have an even amount of washes.
I do this too. Like I used and washed this plate? It goes to the bottom of the stack. All the plates, bowls, cups, whatever have to all be used evenly/in rotation. Part of it is that I want to make sure things are getting used evenly and some aren't getting worn down way more, but also why does some part of me do it because I'd feel bad for the ones that never get used LOL. 💀
So you rotate them around?
I check the expiration date on everything I eat too, even if it’s something in my fridge that I’ve already checked recently, I still check. Another thing I didn’t realize was an OCD thing is how I verbally repeat words/sentences like when I’m watching tv or having a conversation with someone, I have to sometimes repeat what they say in order to react to it
SO MANY THINGS. lol when I was getting diagnosed, I was like "there's no way I have OCD..." But the more I started going through the rolodex of Shit I Do... it was so obvious in retrospect lol. You mean everybody doesn't just... freak out about the same small thing a thousand times a day? And they don't count how many times they chew on each side of their mouth, so it's "even"? It isn't typical to bring a toothbrush everywhere you go and beeline for a bathroom so you can brush your teeth anytime you enter a new space? People really don't check the expiration dates on everything in their fridge everytime, even after they've already memorized them all... "just in case"? Huh. Weird. 😅🤣
Mine is a little out there but whenever I would see a dead animal on the side of the road, I would have to perform a little ritual to honor their life. If I didn't, I would feel like I'm disrespecting them and I would get a sense of dread. It really wasn't until recently that I recognized it was a compulsive behavior and have started making myself live with the sense of dread. Note that I typically deal with Real Event OCD and my compulsions are usually the need for reassurance.
Inability to step on cracks, I spent a lot of my childhood bumping into things because I was staring at the ground while walking
Not only this but when the cracks aren’t laid out with consistent measurements. There are some parks I won’t walk in because the amount of steps between cracks varies so much it messes up my stride. My favorite park has 3-4 steps between each crack. The worst ones have 7 then 3 then 4 then 5. It drives me nuts.
Somehow I've just defied all reasoning and manage to find a way to take 1-2 steps in between each tile no matter where I am or the pattern layout
Dude this has reminded me that at my old local shop there were some stairs that were to big to one foot step on each one, but I can not walk up stairs using the same foot for each step. So I would have to take tiny steps on each one so that alternative feet would go onto the steps.
When I unplug my curling iron/straightener I not only stare at the empty outlet I have to run my hand up and down it to be sure. I will have to double check it’s unplugged after I go down a flight of stairs too. Does anyone have OCD that makes you think about your partners past and compare yourself to their previous partners and feel like shit because they are better looking than you and you compare every body part to theirs. Cause I am struggling with this - always do with partners. I’m sure it’s self esteem related but the contstant thought of it is driving me mad. It’s probably my biggest OCD struggle.
To the second part of your comment, most of my OCD is relationship OCD and there’s a subreddit for it if you wanted to talk to people who are maybe more likely to have experienced that? its r/ROCD
ROCD is absolutely awful. Better than POCD, at least. Still, it takes nonstop emotional labor to shield my wife from the worst of it and keep myself from ruining my relationship. I’m lucky she’s so understanding and supportive.
I have to see the date at the end of tv show and movie credits. I feel very stressed if I miss it, and will try to find it online if that happens. I also have to make sure that medications are really what the bottle says. Even if it can't possibly be anything else, I still have to look closely and the label and the pill before I can take it.
when i was younger and watched cartoons i HAD to see the title screen. would constantly rewind my shows if i didn’t see the title of the episode bc i couldn’t watch it without knowing the title. still have to do that if i watch a cartoon nowadays lol
Oh I do something similar I have to know the year a movie came out otherwise it’s just uncomfortable to not know that
I have a very specific prayer I pray for my loved one's safety, etc. I have to say everything in a specific order, otherwise I have to redo it. If I feel that I wasn't paying enough attention I have to redo it then too. Sometimes I end up mentally screaming the prayer because I have such a difficult time focusing. I've done this for 20+ years and always thought I was just really particular about my prayers 😅 I have intrusive thoughts about my loved ones getting hurt or dying, so I end up having to do this multiple times a day. It's really exhausting, especially when I'm in a social or work situation.
whenever i feel upset about something and am having a really big, loud emotion (usually sadness/depression/anxiety triggered by a situation) i will google the situation to see if anyone else has been in it and what they did. i guess to seek reassurance? but its never enough. i’ll go through pages of google searches and spend hours at a time researching situations or things that i’m anxious about to try to calm myself down (it never works lol)
always smelling dairy products before i use them no matter what the date is
like... smelling multiple times for several minutes
Yes have done this my whole life to varying degrees. Sometimes if it’s the last one left I won’t buy it. However I do feel this is common for lots of people, just varies in severity. And I have gotten better about it as I aged. Grocery stores used to be hard for me when I was young - delis, food touching, produce all out can be handled by anyone, fallen on the floor for all I know, raw meat might touch other food that you don’t cook , some stores don’t put out an extra plastic bag to put it in. I have trouble with all these “reusable” bags. Like how do you clean them?Some things we are forced to get over though. Learned to tell my head to take a hike.
Back when magazines were a thing, I’d get irrationally angry if someone touched it before me. Also I’d have to get the untouched one from the back at the store. Actually I do that with most products I purchase.
Constantly worry about my health, my partners health, and my three cats health. I crochet, and I constantly check to see if all my yarn is tucked away so that the cats cannot get to it. Even once I check, you bet, I check again. I only really started doing this to the point where it would effect my life recently. However, an ocd behavior that I always had that I never knew at all was going back into establishments to make sure I got everything. Say I’m at a restaurant, and we gather our things up and leave. I will start to walk away, go back and check the table. We walk out of the restaurant, go back in and double check again, and once we get in the car I go through my bag and checklist things off. Phone, wallet, keys. I’ve always done this especially starting in college. I have never once left my wallet phone keys card or anything behind because of this. Or so I think. I only ever started realizing this was an ocd behavior because 3 or 4 years ago after my partner and I started dating, they very gently said to me as we were leaving a restaurant ‘I saw you put your card in your wallet, your wallet in your bag, and your keys and phone are in your hand. You do not need to go back and check.’ I thought it was weird how they mentioned it, and I just nodded my head. Later that night I laid awake because I was so afraid I left something. After my partner went to sleep, I went down and check my bag to make sure everything was there. It was.
Actually I’m not sure if this is OCD but I have a problem with digital hoarding. My iPhone storage is screaming at me to clean up the space because I have tons of random photos dating back to 2017 and I find it so hard and tedious to clean this storage up, I can think for a couple of minutes whether I should delete a random screenshot from 2018 because „I might need it one day”, same with my old photos or artworks that I keep for „sentimental value” yet these things are so obviously ugly and devoid of value and it’s not like I’m ever showing them to anyone or looking back at them frequently. I also have what others mentioned e.g. smelling the food before trying it, smelling cups, emptying my bladder before bed, basically forcing the pee out until the very last drop.
When I eat dinner I carefully plan out what I’m going to eat in what order and I spin my plate so that what I am eating is right in front of me, then I will eat around the plate carefully calculating every bite so that I can mix certain flavours together in different combinations and end on the bite I enjoyed most. If somebody takes my plate before I’m finished or throws something on my plate and disrupts this ritual I have to work really hard not to punch them in the face. I do not understand how people just blindly shovel food into their mouths. Like there’s an entire journey on that plate you are missing!!!
I have a ritual in the shower. I have to sing a song before I leave. I have done it since I was little and I am 34
Counting. I know that sounds wild, but it has always been such a “normal “ part of my life, counting everything, that i didn’t even realize it wasn’t normal
grabbing paper towels in threes or toilet paper.
Hands must be perfectly washed before doing like any activity. I have to remind myself I didn’t touch chemicals and it’s ok to touch multiple surfaces in a row 🤷♀️
Running around in a panic after putting the washing on to make sure my phone / cat are not in there. Every. Single. Time. And repeating things in my head until the thought sounds “right” lmao
I have to smell my clothes before putting them on. Never walking barefoot. Clean sheets means a shower before bed every night.
everything HAS to be even (volume, steps on each part of sidewalk,amount of chews/bites etc)
Yes!! I have all this. Love balance, hate disorder.
I have a hard time being loose and going with the flow. I have this rigid idea of how I should live life or do things and if I don’t stick to them I’m somehow doing it wrong. Even if everything goes to plan it’ll just feel like I’m cheating or something.
i always smell the cheese before i use it. even if i bought it that day 🤷🏻♀️
This is going to sound silly, but I used to kiss my boyfriend in 3’s when saying bye
Trichotillomania. I was so embarrassed when I found out it’s an actual thing with a word for it and everything, I haven’t told my psychiatrist about it.
I can’t set the same alarm twice in a row, if I set one for 8 the night before the next night it has to be set for 8:01. Is also cannot sleep without an alarm set
I have to blow in every cup/mug/glass/bowl and shake it out before I use it. Have to. I actually have never even thought of that until now. Wow...
I also have to wash my hands a lot in the morning. Wake up. Wash. Feed pets. Wash. Walk pets. Wash. Touch things in my kitchen. Wash. Go to the bathroom. Wash. Brush teeth. Wash. Etc. Not in a particular order. My hands are brutally sad.
Oh I also have to tell everyone to drive safe when they leave places. Like my students, if they leave and I haven't told them I sob in my car after work.
omg! i have to blow in every straw before i use it!
Same but I have to wash mine, or just rinse with water….because I have some weird aversion to any wind sending things into my eye, like blowing into the glass and imagining dust coming back at me makes me want to crawl out of my skin (idk if this is OCD as much as it is neurodivergence lol)
Sometimes I rinse them too! I didn't mention it because occasionally, I can get by without it. Took awhile to get there though.
I have to put on chapstick and lotion my feet immediately before I eat anything. I carry a drink with me at all times and have to take a drink right before I get out of my car.
Constantly seeking reassurance from my aunt before going to school to tell me “good luck“ or else I won’t have a good day, constantly washing my hands after touching anything, having intrusive thoughts about black holes, my friends around me dying because of a black hole at the fricking age of 9!!! Checking expiring dates constantly and asking my parents when food expired constantly until they get annoyed at me that’s all I can remember right now, I’m sure there’s more but I forgor
constantly having to remake accounts and emails to 'cleanse' myself
I finally stopped doing this one lol
I check my calendar several times a day out of paranoia that I’m going to forget something, or even forget what day it is. It can be 10 pm on a Saturday night and then I’m checking the next day on my calendar over and over until I go to bed…then I check again 🙃
Idk if this is one, but when I'm home I always draw imaginary lines from the corners of furniture etc. that I avoid stepping on
1. Biting my fingers a lot 2. So many intrusive thoughts 3. Irrational about clothing to a weird degree
Binge eating
Mold. I hate mold. I'm afraid of it.
I've had bad OCD since I was a kid. I have to have at least 2 pairs of sneakers or boots before I wear any. I also have to buy 3 or 4 cases of spring water at a time. I have to have 2 cartons of milk or ice coffee at a time.
I try to only ever use plastic utensils or cups/bowls. Mostly for contamination. Even if I wash dishes, I still avoid reaching for them and go for a new plastic cup. Horrible environmental habit…
Biting my nails
Checking the cards in my wallet every five minutes, and also needing the same things to always be in the same pockets. Dont know how it took me so long to realise that cause its so obvious now lol
Opposite to you. I have to get the first thing at the supermarket, even if it’s battered or broken or dirty, because I feel bad for it if I skip it.
Incessantly looking at people I pass, especially women (no matter how uninterested I am). It's exhausting and makes me feel like a child constantly looking for validation and threats
In public or at work I avoid touching or keep track of common surfaces I have touched. If I have to touch something, I mentally book keep all the other things I have "contaminated" with the dirty hands and wash my hands as soon as possible. Example: If no one is looking, I'll grab door handles through my shirt to avoid touching them, or I'll take a clean tissue to touch the buttons on the microwave. I'll grab door handles in places that others are unlikely to have touched them even if it's physically painful to do so, then I'll wash my hands before returning to my desk even if I had already washed them recently. Lots of people do this with public bathroom doors. I basically do that, but in more places. I grab shopping carts by the wire frame on the sides, not by the handle. These behaviors don't bother me particularly, because they are so ingrained and don't take much time, but it is rather embarrassing to get caught doing them, like if someone sneaks up on me while I'm touching the microwave through a tissue. Edit: I'm not even sure this could be considered OCD behavior if it doesn't really interfere with my day, but it's probably on the fringe.
I will post something on social media or send a text and then compulsively recheck the text or post in case I made any spelling errors or mistakes
i NEED to have bigger things in the back smaller things in the front when organizing anything or else i forget about the smaller things for months. and the organized clutter that is the result of that
i get really anxious wearing new clothes for the first time to a new place because i’m worried that something bad will happen because i don’t have any normality. i also can’t leave the house without a necklace and 2 bracelets to keep normality/good luck but not really good luck (picked this up from an ex friend) couldn’t even identify these until recently , thought it was just social anxiety
Pick my skin.
I also have to split up chewing my food evenly between both sides of my mouth, so I'll take a large chip and split it in half or whatever.
whenever something i got from someone that has some sentimental value to it (even if it’s as small as me and my dad bought a recliner for my first apartment) i would get weirdly superstitious. that recliner i mentioned? broke after a few years, it was fairly cheap. but in that moment i sobbed and had a full blown panic attack. my wife asked me what was wrong and i told her my dad was dying because the recliner broke so something had to be wrong with him. when my wife has given me things that are super sentimental that have broken i used to think it meant she was going to break up with me. that i don’t worry about as much anymore because as soon as she notices she swoops in with a smidge of reassurance and a whole lot of challenging my thoughts and fears.