Thursday, August 11, 2011

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or popularly known as OCD. So many of us suffer from it. It is not a good or a bad thing. It is just there inside us. I don't know whether there is any cure for OCD or not, but if it drives you mad, then please go look for its cure!

You might have heard this from many people that they are cleanliness freaks. Erm, to be honest, cleanliness freaks is more of a fashion statement than an OCD symptom thanks to Monica of Friends. But I do know certain people who suffer from an extreme case of OCD when it comes to cleaning. A friend of mine suffers from such an OCD. She has to clean each and every corner of her room. Everything has to be kept in its own place. She does not like it if you leave the mobile charger in the switch board, or comb on the dressing table, or clothes behind the door. She even arranges her wardrobe in colour coordinated manner - all blacks together, whites together, different sack for formals, semi formals, casuals, Indian wear, Sarees - phew!

When we were doing our masters together, we had gone to pune to appear for the exam. Now I suffer from OCD too. I cannot study in a very clean room. I have to have all my books around me when I sit down to study, whether I refer to them or not. I sit with the books of other subjects too, whether I have that exam or not. This makes me realize that I am done with my studies now. Ah I miss it!

Talking about my OCDs, my worst OCD is about reading. Once I start a book, no matter how pathetic it is, I have to finish reading it. I will give up on my sleep, my peace of mind behind that awful book, but I have to read the whole damn thing!

How clean is your desktop? I have to have items in odd numbers on my desktop. 3, 5 or maximum 7. More than 7 items on desktop makes me uneasy. Each night before sleeping, I clear chat history if it is there. I cannot keep any mail unread. If I am in hurry, I will open it and close it again, but I will not leave it unread. Any unimportant mail goes directly into trash. Trash is cleared too before logging out. Checking privacy setting every now and then is another habit!

And those calculations. I have this irritating habit of adding the digits of car numbers while travelling. If I miss out on one, I become too restless. It is my best passtime while travelling. Even when I am walking and pass by any parked vehicle, I calculate the digits. I keep a track of milestones. I look for patterns in them. If any of the milestone is missing a pattern, I feel weird. When I was in college, I knew which pole had what number plate it. On railway tracks, the kilometres are mentioned on a plate, and I knew the whole pattern by heart! It scared my friends a lot, but that is how my mind worked then. Now I no longer look for milestone or pole patterns, though digit counting continues.

Another habit was of remembering phone numbers and account numbers. I remember most of my friends' mobile numbers even today. I remember all my past and present account numbers. I remember my debit and credit card numbers, BB Pin, room numbers of the hotels I have stayed in so far - I am way too obsessed with numbers.

Too many OCDs! Phew! But none of them drive me crazy anymore. There is no extreme restlessness feeling when I skip some number calculation. It is still there in case of reading, but that's that. I read only fiction, so it does not as such harm me, but yeah, I suffer from OCD. So, what are your OCDs? Or there is only one?

14 comments:

  1. There is a cure for OCD both via medication and therapy. Sounds like you do have several obsessions and compulsive behaviours as most of us do. It only becomes a problem when it interferes with your day to day functioning. For instance I've had clients who would be late for school due to their compulsions of being clean or a client who had this weird compulsion of needing to drive on the other lane and then get back to the initial lane if someone overtook them or if she had a thought that she or the family would be hurt in some way...that was a dangerous compulsive behaviour!

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  2. Oh boy! You remind me of Charlie Eppes from the series Numb3rs. But on a serious note, every one of us does this some time or the other, but never realize it. And as long there is no harm done, I don't see a reason to stop it. ;)

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  3. I have a chocolate OCD.
    I also have an empty desktop OCD.
    I have a refresh page OCD as well.
    I have yet another OCD which makes me comment on separate lines.

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  4. Even I keep a watch on mot of the car numbers,add all those and arrive at lucky numbers 9 and 7.I feel very good after getting to add up hese two numbers.
    And, another one. I wash my hands every every possible excuse.May be, i do so more than twenty times a day.

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  5. I'm not sure if I have OCD, but I too cannot have unread mail or sms in my inbox...

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  6. While many of the what you say border in the range of quirks, am not sure if they graduate to call it a 'disorder'!

    I add up the digits too. Have to binge on chocolate especially when am having a low ! Am not sure if they have 'matured' or 'degenerated' to the level of a OCD !

    :)

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  7. I do clear spam messages from my inbox once in two days .Had this habit of fixing a tilted wall painting/wall hanging anywhere i spotted one but it is under control now .

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  8. Very interesting and quirky :). Yes, I have seen cleanliness freaks though I am not one. I actually belong to the other side. I like a little chaos around the house or call me lazy :). Yes, I have an OCD, crazy remembrance of all birthdays and even other irrelevant dates :). I am also extra hyper about simple things like trips and fussing over what dress to wear. Does that qualify as OCD?

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  9. wooaaaa i think the doctors working on OCD would find you extremely interesting :D
    so many cases of OCD ... but then while I read your post, it reminded be of my OCDs... maybe I too will do a post on that :D

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  10. Whoa...number maniac...me too :P It irritates me when they dont add up to 3 or its multiple!! :P
    Good one :)

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  11. Numbers? Oh yess. They have to add to 5/9!
    +1(Credit/Debit card, acc nos, dates)

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  12. Neha,

    I do not think you have OCD as reading a book to finish is a good habit. Remembering all numbers shows how active your mind is. And one does something or the other to keep busy while travelling, be it counting milestones or pole numbers. I also keep watch out for car numbers and link up with each other.

    Take care

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  13. Can I borrow your OCD pliss? Can't for the life in me remember numbers! Past, present,future - it's all blank.

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