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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:44 am
I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to stand on something, like a tree stump or chair, spread my arms wide, and proclaim with tears of astounded joy, "MY PEOPLE!"
Much of what everyone is saying here feels so very familiar, even if I don't share the exact same symptoms.
1. Numbers. I'm awful at math, but I do like numbers themselves. I like even numbers; if they're divisible by 4, and/or if they're perfect squares or cubes, even better. Odd numbers are only okay if they're divisible by 5, or if they're repeating numbers like 1111 or 777, but it's better if they're repeating 9's, because 9 is a perfect square. My favorite numbers are 0, a mathematical oddity, and 2, another such -- the only even prime number.
2. Orderliness. Oh, boy, you should see my kitchen. Mind you, not everything is exactly in place all the time. However, even if something isn't in place, it's in its color-coded area: one cabinet, countertop, stove element, and toaster oven for dairy; one cabinet, countertop, stove element, and crock pot for meat; two cabinets, countertops, and stove elements for parve, along with a crock pot and the main oven (except during holidays in which it's customary to serve meat, when I use the big oven, then re-kasher almost immediately). Blue for dairy, red for meat, green/white/yellow for parve -- utensils, pot holders, cutting boards, aprons, you name it. If it relates to kashrut, it's there, it's perfectly ordered, and I never take a leniency if I don't have to. I choose to be machmir (stringent) about everything.
3. Cleanliness. My home has a certain amount of clutter, but there is no thin layer of dust, dirt, grime, or lost hairs anywhere. Everything is wiped, then wiped under, then replaced.
4. ...And yet, I'm also into piles. My laundry comes out of the dryer and is either hung on the backs of dining chairs to dry out the rest of the way, or it's spread over the table in a pile to air-dry the rest of the way. Thursday night and Friday mornings, I tend to run around like a madwoman, folding and putting things away that probably could've been put away long before. Heck, I've got a respectable pile of socks and towels on the dining table right now.
5. Punctuation, syntax, grammar, spelling, precision of terminology. I do make mistakes sometimes, but I'm sure you've all noticed that it's rare. I'm tolerant of others' typos and errors, as long as I can understand their meaning, but I have no tolerance for my own errors. If I see one, I'll go back and edit the post, even if it's months old and no one cares but me.
6. HAIR. I would spend at least an hour every morning, just brushing and fixing my hair so that no hairs were out of place and everything was "even." This, by the way, is bloody near impossible with curly hair, especially in humid times when it's also frizzy. Thank G*D I've chosen to cover my hair these days. Now I can throw on a scarf, hat, snood, or cap and be out the door in ten minutes. But I still will brush and fix my hair before going to bed at night, and spend a lot of time adjusting so none of it is touching my face, neck, or ears while I'm trying to sleep.
7. Insomnia. Yes, Cindy, it IS relevant to this thread. The reasons I can't sleep: hair is touching my face, neck, or ears. The pillow is shaped wrong and must be adjusted. The blankets are wrinkled in the wrong way, and even though the temperature is satisfactory and nothing is binding me from being able to move, I still can't stand it. I wonder if I've left food on the counter instead of putting it away after dinner, or if there's a dish that's not done. I've actually started to drift off to sleep, but then the beginning of the dream doesn't make sense, so my brain wakes me up and orders me to make sense of the dream before I can go back to sleep. I suddenly remember something that MUST go on the grocery list, that I know I'll forget by morning. Was that a noise? Was that a light? Is something ON ME? Aaaaaah!
8. Grooming. As mention above, I can't really leave my hair alone. I also can't leave alone anything else. I have to fight my inner inclination to overpluck my eyebrows to thinness. I have to adjust the fall of my skirt, the folds of my shirt, the tautness of my socks or nylons, the tag on the inside of my garments. My clothes need to match; if they don't, there'd better be a bloody good stylistic reason. I'm bad at fashion, but at least the colors and textures need to go well together. I have to brush my teeth and/or floss just one more time. My nail needs cutting, filing, or buffing; then all the others need it too, so they're exactly the same length, and then they all need to be cleaned beneath, the cuticles pushed back, and sometimes re-buffed after all of this. You don't even want to know how retentive I can get about preparing for the mikvah.
9. If I hear part of a song I know, I need to sing the whole thing (mentally, not right out loud... most of the time).
10. I didn't want to stop with just nine, when a nice round even number was so close.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:08 am
Heh-my insomnia has nothing to do with OCD, but just made me think of various physical/psychological disorders.
If I am OCD, it's only in a very small number of ways. Actually, I don't even know if the following counts, but I'll write it anyway because I'm bored!
1. Perfectionism- When I do anything, particularly academic, it has to be perfect. I'm okay with 98s and 99s (which is more than I used to be), but "A-"s make me wince. (Though again, I have improved much on accepting them in recent years) In engineering projects, if there's an extra strand of hot glue out of place, I will either cut or chisel it until it's perfect. And the sad part? Nothing I do is ever perfect.
2. Whenever I look at the time, I have to come up with a mathematical expression to get both sides to equal the other. I can add, subtract, use exponents, or whatever I need, but it has to work with as few symbols as possible.
3. I like even numbers and tend to do things in even amounts. Usually I refuse to stop a book unless I stop on an even page number. Not completely obsessive about this, though.
4. Routine. Particularly on school days, I follow a set routine and if a part changes, my whole days gets thrown off a bit. Though again, I can be spontaneous if I feel like it, so in the unlikely event this counts as OCD, it's very mild.
EDIT: Oh, and Divash, I don't mind irrelevancy- every thread people make gets off topic anyway. blaugh
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darkphoenix1247 Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:24 pm
Darkphoenix, though your concerns are relevant, i just want to say for the record: OCD is actually a gray area itself because OCD is actually just an extension of normal behavior.
For me:
-'I won't eat this because it fell on the floor' eventually became 'I wont eat this because Roxanne was sick a month ago and she used the microwave which is within a foot of the box in which that food is contained." (Did I mention I'm a SEVERE contamination person?)
-"I should be respectful during services" eventually became "I must be evil and G-d will smite me because I read about polytheistic myths and think about the multiple gods."
For others:
-"My hair is a mess. I should fix it." might become "Is that a stray hair? Can I fix it without unraveling more hair? That is really concerning!"
For Marc Summers:
-"That rug is a mess. Here, let me straighten it to beautify the room." became "Must straighten every fringe parallel!" Seriously. That happened. He's better now.
Also, people can have real OCD symptoms but not have OCD. It's technically only a disorder if it interferes with 'normal' function. A year or two ago I realized I didn't know what 'normal' meant, but I have firends for that.
Did you know there are dogs with OCD? Well, There aren't, exactly, but there are dogs and birds whith lick off all of their fur or plumage in groming similar to how people wash their hands until they crack and turn red like I do.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:26 pm
Oh, yeah, and I used to make equations with the time, too. 12:39 would be 12=3+9.
And, 'Cindy?'
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darkphoenix1247 Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:17 pm
Hm. That's not a good thing then, as a few of those have gotten worse. At least not too bad yet!
And Cindy is my name IRL. I don't give out my last name at all, though- Divash just knows it since I met her IRL. (And Yoni and Nathan since I'm Facebook friends with them, but neither have been active in at least a year, so those names probably don't mean anything to you)
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:25 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:25 pm
I have had about 10 hours of sleep in 7 days. Insomnia is moi. And my girlfriend fauns over Edward Cullen in that new vampire film, so she's loving it. mrgreen
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:31 pm
Hm, I'm not saying I have OCD but I despise not having my own kitchen. I want everything to be where I want it to be all the times or I get so frustrated! Nothing makes me angrier than putting dishes on the right side of the sink, the part for hand washing. Two different types of dishes being stacked together grinds my gears. That and I also have to perfectly straighten my cutlery before I eat anything in public. (Just weird, I know)
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:48 pm
kingpinsqeezels Hm, I'm not saying I have OCD but I despise not having my own kitchen. I want everything to be where I want it to be all the times or I get so frustrated! Nothing makes me angrier than putting dishes on the right side of the sink, the part for hand washing. Two different types of dishes being stacked together grinds my gears. That and I also have to perfectly straighten my cutlery before I eat anything in public. (Just weird, I know) That's more or less your passion for food, and less a neurotic disorder. Regardless about what I say about Scientologists, I do think they have a good point about Psychiatry and over medication. I just... don't think psychiatrists were behind the Holocaust, 9/11, the Salem Witch Trials or anything else they attribute Psychiatry with. But... has anyone here ever heard of Oppositional Defiance Disorder? It is defined as... A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least six months during which four or more of the following are present: 1. Often loses temper 2. often argues with adults 3. often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules 4. often deliberately annoys people 5. often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior 6. is often touchy or easily annoyed by others 7. is often angry and resentful 8. is often spiteful and vindictive The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning... I happen to call this pattern of behavior as "being a teenager." however before I graduated, I knew a bunch of kids who had ADD or ADHD and ODD. Hell someone told me I have ADD back when I was a wee tyke. I wasn't medicated for it. (I was medicated for psychotic depression but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish) And as an adult I determined to beat it. I am a Journalist, I take care of the elderly and I also do construction work. 3 jobs that ADD does not really apply to. So I dismissed my earlier diagnosis of ADD and just called it... "A Personality." Just because I cannot do math very well, does not mean I have Dyscalculia. It's just another trait of my personality.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:50 pm
I do that... quite a lot. Even if no one's there.
Lummany, do you also do weird things involving counting, blinking and random objects you pass? Or is it just me that blinks once for motorbikes, twice for cars, once for every 3 plants, once or twice, depending on the street lamp's light colour, distance, etc... and once per mountain?
Yep, just me...
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darkphoenix1247 Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:09 pm
Behatzlacha-S I do that... quite a lot. Even if no one's there. Lummany, do you also do weird things involving counting, blinking and random objects you pass? Or is it just me that blinks once for motorbikes, twice for cars, once for every 3 plants, once or twice, depending on the street lamp's light colour, distance, etc... and once per mountain? Yep, just me... xd When I was younger I did that! And I thought I was just weird!
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:13 pm
darkphoenix1247 Behatzlacha-S I do that... quite a lot. Even if no one's there. Lummany, do you also do weird things involving counting, blinking and random objects you pass? Or is it just me that blinks once for motorbikes, twice for cars, once for every 3 plants, once or twice, depending on the street lamp's light colour, distance, etc... and once per mountain? Yep, just me... xd When I was younger I did that! And I thought I was just weird! It is a bit odd. xd
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The Fabulous Prince Babel
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:20 pm
Yeah but I've been doing that for (*carefully avoids citing age*) years! It's less of a habit and more of a disturbance. My eyes hurt after car journeys longer than 20 minutes, and I just have to sleep on trains to stop seizures...
rolleyes (fitting emote?)
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:47 am
I have Asperger's Syndrome, and sometimes that causes mild OCD-like behaviors. It usually causes me to want to clean my room but it always wears off before I finish and it leaves my room a total mess. Anyway, I once had this undying urge to spend my entire life submerged in Judaism. I actually spent the better part of a month at my synagogue doing one thing or another. But then I hit my head on a pole and I started obsessing over vampire novels.
So I know that wasn't even moderately helpful, but I hope it makes you laugh a little. If not, sorry dude.
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darkphoenix1247 Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:10 am
Skrapz I have Asperger's Syndrome, and sometimes that causes mild OCD-like behaviors. It usually causes me to want to clean my room but it always wears off before I finish and it leaves my room a total mess. Anyway, I once had this undying urge to spend my entire life submerged in Judaism. I actually spent the better part of a month at my synagogue doing one thing or another. But then I hit my head on a pole and I started obsessing over vampire novels. So I know that wasn't even moderately helpful, but I hope it makes you laugh a little. If not, sorry dude. xd Well, it made me laugh! Another friend of mine has Asperger's, but I think his a bit different. Behatz: Do you have a compulsion to look out the window if you're not driving? Or if you are, does it help to focus on the cars/lines instead?
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