Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) talk

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For as long as I can remember (which is since 1997/8ish), I have been aware of the condition that is known as "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder". So, this a thread for that, if there isn't one already.
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Again, as with my other conditions, I can't say this with certainty, but given how I am very regimented about how I want things in my room, I think I may have it. That and obsessing about certain things, if that is a side effect of this, doesn't help matters either for me. But I've learned to deal with it over the past 10-odd years, so that is something going for me on that front.

I have OCD tendencies, but not full-blown OCD. Something which I'm very grateful for, in fact.

I developed it as a child, and my parents had no clue what it was or how to deal with it. They basically scolded me for it and lost their patience a lot....
It phased out for a few years (was still there mildly, but not near as bad) and then came back. My therapist chose to work with it first instead of my depression and the ASD, and I don't know why.

I've had OCD since I was 3. I developed full-blown classic pure "O" symptoms at age 11 1/2. My biggest OCD obsessions always have had to do with scrupulosity and not doing anything "wrong" or "bad." I've always had confessing compulsions. I have other types of obsessive thoughts and certain mental rituals, but the scrupulosity and confessing has been around since age 3.

I've had OCD since I was 7. By the time I was a teenager, it was completely out of control. I had the classic fear of germs. I would wash my hands until they were raw, and I changed my pajamas multiple times each night because I couldn't shake the feeling that they were unclean. I would frequently spit out my own saliva into a trashcan because I thought it was "contaminated". I couldn't touch doorknobs with my hands; I had to use my sleeve, elbow or the bottom of my shirt. I was completely miserable. I have been on medication since I was 14, and my symptoms have completely disappeared. But I fear that they may be coming back as of recently, because I am starting to avoid touching doorknobs again and the other day my brother told me I needed to put lotion on my hands...

I want to keep this thread going.

I've noticed that the more depressed I am, the worse my OCD is.

Does this hold for anyone else?

I don't have depression, so no, this does not apply to me. My OCD waxes and wanes, but the only thing that really makes it more likely for it to get worse is stress. Other times, though, there is no obvious connection to why it gets worse.

Hm.

Maybe for me, depression = stress.

But then, out of nowhere, I will get worse and then get better and it be seemingly unconnected to my anxiety at the time.

It's amazing: I was diagnosed with my Aspie's in 1988, and then over 10 years later, I suspect I have OCD. Those two things are like, what the dangerous duo of my undoing, perhaps?

My psych agrees that I probably have OCD. I'm not sure if it's worth getting medicated or not. [Mine most noticeably comes in the form of me constantly messing with my hair {I can't stop scratching my scalp} if I can't occupy my hands in other ways.]

I think it's actually coupled with autism quite regularly.

I find when I'm depressed I lose all motivation to "fight" my OCD. If I'm having an all right or even good day, when I get a compulsion to disinfect the oven I'm able to at least try to break down my thoughts with CBT etc. But if I'm feeling depressed in any way I just surrender and begin to go through the motions.

Used to have it mildly had washing issues. Resent trauma has brought it back on ten fold when cook I wash my hand after touching any thing.

I've had OCD since I was 7, or rather, I realized it was OCD when I was 7, but I can think back of OC episodes even before that...

It's the same for me too, and I think that cycling thoughts, typical of depression might be part of the cause for this, combined of course with stress, tiredness and lack of motivation and more.

Aaand I have a question: how many of you (if any) hear the OC thoughts in their heads? I mean, for me the voice is not an hallucination, it's just that (depending on the context) I'm either an extremely verbal or visual thinker, so i think the voice is the mainfestation of this. I am curious to know how it is for you.

I would say obsessions are quite a part of AS.

Though not as a typical OCD, but there are aspects I feel that could fit.

For me it is like being obsessed with wanting to know things that I have trouble with.

And, unfortunately also things that I want to do although I know I shouldn't.

Persistence, stubbornness. Refusing to change certain things.

Believing strongly in something that you feel is right with some irrational aspects that you also know.

Doing anything to reach a goal and feeling really bad if that fails.

Doing it and go over boundaries that you should not touch because it makes others feel bad.
Feeling wrong about what you are doing but still cannot help to pursue it.
And if you'll find out that they'd judge you for that
you'd claim it to be unfair.

This unfairness is somewhat subjective, because the end result can be really stupid and bad for you.

This description fits quite well the texts that you'll read at wikipedia if you look closer into it and compare.
Though, without some concrete description of situations here in the forum, I would have never been able to find it out.

For me OCD can be triggered, but I have some self-doubt that is there all the time in the back of my mind.
Otherwise I have obsessions, but they'd seldom lead to a problem.

OCD is an essential thing about how you perceive yourself as a person.
Thus in that aspect it does get worse when you are depressed because of it.

Something like that?

I've had symptoms of OCD since I was little kid but wasn't diagnosed until I was 14 (I'm one of those people who went through life with basically a new diagnosis every week). I take fluoxetine for it; as far as I can tell it doesn't really do anything to control my symptoms, but if I stop taking it for a few days I'll have a complete meltdown. It's really hard managing my OCD while at school, and people on my floor are always noticing the weird things I do and commenting on them, though frankly I can't understand why they think it's any of their business if I want to touuch every single fence post I walk by on campus.

I have what you'd probably call very severe OCD. I used to have touch symmetry OCD, where any sensation on one side of my body had to be replicated on the other(however then it went too far the other way, and I had to go through this back-and-forth routine). Then I decided that I only had to do this if the touch was on the left side, because I felt that my right side got touched less overall. It distracts me and makes me super stressed for an entire day if someone touches me in an especially sensitive area. Sometimes the stress over one incident doesn't fully abate for weeks, and in extreme cases, years.

I spent most of last night and some of today feeling very stressed, distracted, and pissed off because my friend touched me in a way he knew I wouldn't like the other day. I can't do much to stop the stress except try to ignore it.

I also can't touch (or touch things that have touched) any intricate, small designs. That means a lot of foods and other products are off-limits to me.