OCD Support Thread

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Yeah, we need it!

Thank you for sharing your story and your support League_Girl- I will reply as soon as I can .

DataB4 you are perfectly fine. Sometimes people just misinterpret things, and your comment was hilarious when taken in the correct context.

I think everything will be okay in the end once everything is sorted out.

Yes Stampy, true. And I can't worry about it either. There's no way I could've predicted that reaction. So...

I haven't watched AGT in ages, but I used to have so much fun watching and either oohing, ahing, or laughing, with my aunt in particular. I should see if she still watches the show. I don't really see her during AGT season much anymore. I can always check out clips on Youtube too.

I remember reading your posts about cleaning before I joined this forum. I used to clean obsessively as well. It was less of an OCD obsession for me (I know it was for you), but it was still pretty obsessive. It all started when I went over to my friend's house. She has a younger brother with autism Level 3 and pretty severe sensory issues. Their house was always very clean, and I loved it there. It wasn't chaotic, like my home. I honestly think my cleaning obsession was more related to ASD than OCD, but I could be wrong. OCD for me is much more intrusive and disturbing. You're always welcome here, no matter what !

AGT is awesome! I love some of the singers especially this year. Some people say that it is becoming all singers on the show, but hey, that's still talent! My favorite is probably Darci Lynne. She is a ventriloquist, and she can sing with her mouth closed! I guessed that she would win a while ago, but I'll find out what really happens in September (that is when the AGT finale is!).

Also thanks for the reassurance, Blackicmenace. I saw your comment after I had already submitted my post.

Stampy, yeah, the ventriloquist kid is cool. If it's the same one I'm thinking of, I've heard her on Youtube. Any goofy acts this season?

Puddles Pity Party was kind of odd. He was a singer, but he didn't speak at all when he wasn't singing, and he was dressed up like a clown. ^^^^^

I am the Wolfman!

Yes but I wonder how you differentiate between the two for cleaning. I keep reading that OCD involves anxiety and intrusive thoughts and thinking something bad will happen and I can't relate to that because I don't see that about cleaning. Wouldn't it also drive an ASD person crazy if something was in the wrong spot or if they had routines they must follow but they couldn't do them because someone wasn't letting them do it or because there was a change?

Ever seen Snow Cake, that was how I was about a clean out and also would freak out over shoes on the floor or dog piss on the floor like she did. That was why I also think she had OCD too with her autism. She also couldn't even touch trash bags while I could. The movie didn't explain, it could have been sensory or she thought it was icky because she didn't want to get her hands and clothes dirty. Lot of people associate that with OCD, same as for cleaning. I assumed that was how I got that diagnoses just because I loved to clean and keeping our house clean. My family supported it until high school because it was driving my brothers crazy and I am like "How hard is it to keep the house clean, is that so much to ask? you clean up when you are done and when you make the mess."

Some people think they have OCD because they like things organized and neat and it also drives them crazy if it's out of place and because they like their house clean and keep it clean. "I am so OCD about my clean house" or "I am so OCD about my DVD collection." But then again I also thought that was OCD too because I was also misinformed which is why I question that diagnoses. I believe I have had tenancies because I remember having a true compulsion and it was when my parents got me a new bed and I always had to push the mattress against the wall over and over and that was a different feeling than I have about my other compulsions because this bed one drove me crazy and I hated it and I couldn't stop and I had to do it to get rid of that thought. For years I just thought OCD was another symptom of autism but it was a separate label for those who don't have enough to be autistic or aspie because I was so misinformed. If anyone mentioned OCD, I just thought they were talking about a symptom of AS.

I also can relate to you about clean houses because it all started when I was nine when I noticed other homes were clean and always looked clean so I wanted my house to look that way and wa la. Then we moved and everyone had messy homes and things out of places and my obsession with cleaning didn't go away. It's like once I get obsessed or when I start, I can't stop because my brain seems to get locked into it. I still took a shower at eight because it was a routine I fell into when I was in school and then I was an adult and no longer in school but that routine stuck to my brain and then I got out of it when I worked swingshift so I would stay up till 2 am. Then It stayed that way for years even after I was no longer working there and I broke out of it finally by getting tired sooner and it was hard to let myself go to bed sooner. But like I say there is no bad thoughts behind it or magical thinking or any worries. I am so confused how OCD even fits me if I keep reading the opposite about it behind their routines and rituals and obsessions.

Now I am wondering if this is my OCD about my diagnoses of OCD but then that would mean Caitlin in the book Mockingbird also has it too because of her obsession with the word closure. We're both trying to get an answer.

I can see that my cleaning obsession is more ASD because it doesn't cause me anxiety. That is a requirement for OCD. ASD creates an obsessive nature, but if it doesn't cause me constant obsessing and anxiety then I don't consider it OCD.

Of course it could be OCD in your case, however. If it got that obsessive, then it is possible. I have never heard of obsessions without some sort of negative feeling, such as anxiety or depression associated with it. I have seen people here who wash their hands a lot. Does that necessarily imply OCD, well, no, but it just seems like OCD because that is a common stereotype. The reasoning behind the behaviors are different. There isn't really an easy way to differentiate between OCD and just "obsessive-like behavior" unless you are the person experiencing it. It is almost like tics vs. stims. It can be virtually impossible to tell the difference unless you are the person who takes part in the behavior, as they can very easily mimic one another.

I hope you are able to find out what it actually is, and feel free to ask me any more questions about my own experience!

But don't you get anxiety if your routines are disrupted and what if someone prevented you from cleaning and what if someone made a mess and didn't clean it? Did you like the house clean or did you just liked to clean and would hate it if everyone were neat and always cleaned and picked up after themselves before you could do it?

Also isn't it anxiety if an aspie can't engage in an interest because they would have meltdowns and shut downs and be anxious without their obsession? How many times here have people written how they would get depressed or suicidal without their interest and have meltdowns if someone took away their special interest and one member wrote here how he would punch holes in walls whenever his mom took away his special interests.

I wouldn't have had anxiety about cleaning if my family just followed my rules and I did fine when they did follow my rules about being clean. I didn't have those anxious feelings when cleaning until my family got out of control.

I think my anxiety, OCD and autism look so much alike and the same I bet even the psychiatrist couldn't figure it out (even though he specialized in autism and AS) so he gave me all three diagnoses. Yes ASD people get anxiety too when someone moves their things or when their routines get disrupted or when others don't follow the rules, etc.

I was also told OCD was part of AS.

Stampy, Puddles has an odd singing style, I just checked him out on Youtube. He's not funny. But Howie likes him, not sure what the charm is. A sad clown?

Dear Stampy,

I wish to extend my apology to you. I am very sorry for what I wrote, this morning. I have never reacted so irrationally to anything. I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am. I wish I could delete my post. I feel I have tarnished your thread, and I wish to fix it.

All I can think of, after much introspection, is that I have had a difficult situation that has been looming in my mind, that may have been brought to the surface, by reading here, this morning. There is no excuse, however, for having written or thought as I had. and I am aware that I could have prevented it, by handling the difficulty I have been having, in the appropriate manner.

Neither, you, nor Ferris did anything wrong. It has made me, immensely, happy to see you happy and enjoying yourself, and that is the purpose of this thread. Things can seem in disarray, or, out of order, when I become anxious, however, my dis-ease, is mine and mine, alone, to sort through, and it wasn't right for me to express what I had. I have tools that I use in such instances, and I neglected them, and instead, behaved disrespectfully and inappropriately. I don't know if there are words to express to you, and others, how sorry I am. You are the last person on earth, who I would ever want to cause distress to.

I am very sorry, Stampy.

Britte

I got anxious and very overwhelmed when I couldn't clean something as part of my routine. I also got very annoyed when someone else would clean something or put it in the wrong place. Maybe I am wrong. I honestly don't know.

I get what you mean about ASD anxiety, but OCD anxiety is different, at least in my experience. When I am obsessing over something, my thoughts nag me over and over, and every time I ignore them and try to brush it off it just gets stronger until I can't bear it anymore. It isn't even anxiety sometimes- sometimes it becomes depression, but I still ruminate over my thought and try to make it stop by performing a compulsion.

I'm 13, so I'm probably not the best expert to judge whether you have OCD or ASD . However, I can vouch that OCD isn't part of AS, although the faulty brain wiring (from AS) can cause OCD, as it seems so in my case. There are many people out there who have OCD who don't have AS and vice versa, so even though it is more common in AS, it certainly isn't always part of it. Like I said, it's really up to how you feel or felt when you had this. It could even be something like borderline OCD that was caused by the AS. I've read some of your other posts about your psychiatrist, and he doesn't seem very good! He sounds like the one I went to once before. I don't blame him for not being able to tell the difference, but honestly, he is a professional! You'd think he would give you some answers .