Hi,

I've always thought that OCD was only the symptoms that you see onTV or movies. Seems like the OCD character is always wiping things clean, or doing routines. I'm learning that there's alot more to it than that.

Since I'm ADHD, I tend to lock in to things that excite me. But I noticed that sometimes these distractions really grab hold of me and I spend alot of time on them.

My main obsession are my guitars. But instead of just playing them, I zone in on the mechanics of the guitar. I could have a perfect guitar, yet I focus in on things that I think are wrong with it. On the positive side, I've learned alot about working on them and building them. On the negative side, I've ruined some nice guitars.

Talking with my psychologist, we've determined that I have some aspects of OCD. He had me get a copy of The OCD Workbook. Reading the book brought alot of my OCD tendencies to light. Here's some:

When I was younger, i remember that if I ever spun around in a clockwise direction, I had to spin back the other way. It just felt wrong if I didn't do it.

I get words stuck in my head and say them over and over. I remember hearing Haliburton on the news. There was a soothing rythem when i said it in my head.

I never throw things out, even parts of broken things. I'm always making things and fear that somewhere down the line I'm going to need a part and not have it.


My embarrassing trait, picking scabs. It's more than than just picking them, I also think about them. When I try to force myself not to do it, the anxiety rises.

Obsessed with time. My sleep time is always changing, so I find myself calculating how much sleep time I'll get. When i don't fall asleep right away, I calculate the new sleep time. If I wake up, I calcule how much I slept and how much time I have left, and calculate the time. If I have a day trip planned, I'm calculating the time I have for different things as the day goes on.

Ice Cream, snacks, rum, fun food. Suppose I treat myself to a half gallon of ice-cream, I usually end up eating it all the same night. I don't binge on the whole thing at one sitting, but after I make my big snack, later on in the night I have to finish the rest of it. It's like i want it to be gone.(might be a guilt thing going on).

Most of these don't really affect my life too much, except for something I'm really excited about. I really wish i could just leave my guitars alone and just play them. I am working on it though. There are two modes of guitar fixing; one is fixing small flaws, and the other is modding to make it different. I made a commitment to myself that the guitars will stay as they are,,,no modifications. I am still fixing things and am trying to commit to leaving it alone whhen it's done.

Hopefully, the OCD workbook will help me think thru why I do all this stuff and change.

thanks for listening,

al

I can identify with you on many, many of your traits. Picking, balance, consumption, hyperfocusing on an object to the point where I find the flaws and begin to tear it apart. Yep, yep, yep. I haven't heard of the workbook but I would be very interested in learning more about it. I have been lucky enough that many of the meds that I currently take are helping "some" with my OCD but when I'm losing that sense of "control" that's when I notice that the rituals start creeping back in...not that they truly trouble me, it's others that seem to complain :p

I wish you lots of luck and more than willing to listen :)

I can identify too. There's a lot of little stuff I do that I never thought much about, but now that I'm learning about what OCD involves, fit. Like pretending to type the same sentence over and over in the air while in the car. My counselor says mild OCD traits are very common in ADDers -- apparently they share some of the same genetic pathways.

A study I was reading about in Shadow Sydromes that showed good success with behavioral treatment (showing changes that even showed up on brain scans) involved not only resisting doing the OCD behavior but replacing it with a positive activity (IE: hobby, activity with friends, doing something for someone else -- this one was especially helpful). Just resisting isn't enough substitution was also necessary.

I might look for the OCD Workbook -- sounds interesting.

Take care,
Scattered