Pure O

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else have this type of OCD? I haven't been formally diagnosed but I seem to fit the criteria.

My OCD symptoms were fairly typical as a teen - rechecking I'd locked the door, lining objects in straight line and repeating a prayer over and over in my head until I said it perfectly. It used to drive me mad.

It seems as I've gotten older it has transformed into the Pure O type. Basically, you get these repetitive, anxiety-provoking thoughts. The compulsions are all mental, such as over-analysing your thoughts to determine whether they are true or not, researching online, etc. Some people get intrusive thoughts telling them they could be a paedophile or murderer, so they start avoiding children or objects, such as knives. Others become convinced they might be gay or transgender, when they actually aren't.

Does anyone else get this and how do you cope?

Hi I have OCD (I think it was diagnosed by the clinical psychologist who diagnosed me with Aspergers and also has been hinted to by my cognitive behavioural therapist).
Usually when I talk about my OCD with my therapist it focuses on my toilet anxiety (I go to the toilet constantly and get intrusive thoughts about going crazy and purposefully wetting myself or doing it accidentally). However I have intrusive thoughts about a lot of other things. Usually related to sexuality and also certain phobias I have (visualising the images that make me uncomfortable or disgusted and struggling to get the images out of my head). I think OCD doesn't necessarily just affect the way you think about a particular issue (e.g. sexuality or hygiene) I feel like it might make a person generally anxious or indecisive because their mind just has a capacity to obsess or question? I could be wrong, maybe that is more to do with aspergers? I'd be interested to learn more about why people with aspergers develop OCD.

I also check that I've locked the door repeatedly etc. I feel it might have something to do with Aspies usually having memory deficits, i.e those affecting working memory and short term memory. It might make someone doubt the knowledge of their own actions "did I really lock the door? But I can't remember doing it...".

If you're asking about whether anyone can relate to the way your OCD has changed, I think mine has in that it's moved from one obsession to another obsession etc. When I was talking about this with my therapist we realised the similarities between the obsessions were that they stemmed from a belief in the sheer unpredictablility of the world and a fear of the unpredictable.

I'm not sure if this information is useful but I hope it helps in some way.

Hi selin, thanks for the reply.

I understand what you mean about short term memory deficits. I suspect some of my tendencies came from the fact that I actually have made stupid mistakes, like forgetting to lock the door, due to poor short term memory. The obsession then kicks in because I'm afraid it will happen again. Similar thing happened in work when I forgot to return stock to the refrigerator during my break. For a time afterward I would panic after I got home in case I'd left it out again, and all the stock would have to be wasted.

My tendencies at the minute are about being transgender. It terrifies me because I know I couldn't deal with that life - rejection, abuse, discrimination, etc. At least now I can blend in and go unnoticed. Sometimes I'm convinced it must be true, while other times I'm convinced it isn't. It's extremely anxiety provoking.