Ok I found whats happening.
Compulsions:
http://www.ocdtypes.com/unusual-compulsions.phpQuote:
Urges to tell or confess: People with OCD may constantly wonder if they have done something wrong or made a mistake. One way they often try to cope with this fear is by telling every detail of their actions to another person. This behavior can be particularly troublesome in relationships, as for example, a husband may have an urge to tell his wife every time he notices an attractive woman, to assure her she does not think he is looking at her in an improper manner. Likewise, Catholics may feel compelled to confess every small sin to the priest to be sure that they have not accidentally omitted a cardinal sin to prevent damnation. People with OCD may even stress their therapists as they may feel the need to disclose every detail of their past mental health history to be sure that the therapist will have all the information needed to render a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. As a result people often get tired and frustrated listening to the person with OCD confess or explain things to an extreme degree. The need to tell or confess is often coupled by the need to obtain reassurance (see below).
It's unusual because it's likely not actually OCD and probably more a peripheral co-morbid or "related" thing with the exception of the Catholic feeling a need to confess even the smallest sins, which would fall under scrupulosity and can affect even those who are not religious (implying it IS OCD since it makes no sense). The person logically knows they will not go to hell for forgetting to confess a sin but worry they will anyway.
While I've been known to describe things in great detail, this is not due to the fact that I have OCD. If it were due to OCD, I would likely feel the need to either repeat details or call up later to reassure myself I did not miss any details or unintentionally give the wrong answer.
Ai_Ling wrote:
Excessive reassurance seeking: People with OCD often seek reassurance from others as a way of reducing anxiety from obsessions. Research has shown that people plagued by obsessions about sex, religion, morality, and bodily concerns tend to be the most likely to use reassurance to cope with their distress. Requests for reassurance can come in the form of demands or can be elicited more subtly.
This is true but this is because people with OCD either do not remember the information they need to feel reassured, or their brain did not properly process that information, thinks it didn't get it, and is producing a sensation of doubt to provoke the person to re-collect the relevant information or re-perform the relevant task.
Ai_Ling wrote:
People with concerns about illness may visit a doctor repeatedly to be reassured that they have not contracted an illness. People who worry about having said the wrong thing, may seek reassurance from others to ensure that have caused offense.
Though I realize this was an example, I would like to point out that true hypochondria is a separate disorder from OCD. A person with OCD may, however engage in hypochondria like behavior though they are not actually worried about themselves in the way the hypochondriac is. For example, a true hypochondriac is worried FOR themselves. They are worried they have some horrible thing and might die and this scares them. A person with OCD might worry they have been contaminated or infected/infested with something but they are not actually so concerned about the effects of this. Their fixation is simply that they might "have" it and that alone is often the source of the disturbance. The hypochondriac is worried about what might happen to them as a result of having something.
As far as saying the wrong thing, I think the person with OCD would generally be more concerned that they said something horrible or used the wrong tone and were misunderstood.
Ai_Ling wrote:
People who use reassurance to cope can be very skilled at eliciting reassuring feedback from others, and neither party may even be aware that the obsessive-compulsive process is occurring. Therapists often provide reassurance to clients as part of the treatment process, but people with OCD should not be reassured as this only perpetuates the OCD cycle.
This is generally true. However I do believe there are some situations where reassurance can prove conductive to treatment.
I can see how you would think you might be experiencing a form of OCD. You could have OCD...I'm not in a position to tell you you don't, but it's important to keep in mind that on the surface, OCD can be indistinguishable from many other things, to the person without OCD. Internally, OCD is entirely different and the name of the disorder is actually very misleading because the obsessions aren't obsessions in the sense most people think about them and the compulsions aren't compulsions in the sense most people think about them.
The fear and anxiety associated with OCD is more hallucinatory in nature as is generally illogical and just the a part of the brain trying to compel a person to do something because it thinks it's something important that hasn't been done when it actually has, and can be invoked in situations that don't warrant it.
Umm you would not find this on most websites. Sigh...I need to have a discussion with my psych. *Officially tacks on another self-diagnosis*
29 Jun 2011, 12:26 am
