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Hyouka
Mar 9, 2015, 07:42 PM
I know that people throw OCD term around lightly lately. And I've heard of OCPD, which is just a tendency to keep doing something in a particular way, it doesn't give anxiety. I do not experience anxiety when things aren't organized in a particular way, I don't wash my hands unnecessarily many times, I do not check if doors are locked all the time. I don't have most common symptoms. Though If I scratch one side, I must scratch the other, chew with both sides of the mouth, all of them body/touch/pain related. All of these "rituals" and many more cause anxiety, and following an order relieves it. What actually made me write this was something else.

It's like twitching . If I raise my right shoulder a little, I must raise my left shoulder a little, now I must extend both of them sideways, invert inside and push downwards to complete a full circle. Sounds like "normal" OCD, but nothing else causes me anxiety like this one, it makes me feel restless, hurts my concentration.
After I do one circle, I need to do another one and another one, sometimes I do this hundreds of time everyday. Once a person sitting in a classroom behind me asked if something was wrong because I was twitching. And I didn't even know what he was talking about at first, because I don't even notice when I'm doing it. It became as natural as breathing. I should mention, stretching a lot and working out helps, the feeling of restlessness goes away and I forget about this twitching for a pretty long period.

I've heard that some muscle twitching might be caused by some kind of muscle/nerve disorder, so I wanted to ask, If anyone knows anything about it.

P.S. I haven't been diagnosed with OCD and was not tested for anything else , and most likely will never be, because these things cost a fortune. It doesn't get in the way of my life. Sometimes the twitching may make me look weird but I can live with that.

tickle
Mar 10, 2015, 01:08 AM
You actually do need professional help to correct this muscle twitching because it will look so disoriented after a while that people will actually avoid you because of it. This, in turn, will lead to disruptions in your day to day life including relationship situations. You already mentioned that someone in class commented on this shoulder-rolling-twitching and you didn't know you were doing it, so it is beyond the point where you can control it.

My advice, seek medical intervention to correct this. It may be quite simple and not expensive.

You owe it to your future well-being.

Fr_Chuck
Mar 10, 2015, 02:59 AM
I agree, this is not a normal reaction, you mention restlessness which is in itself a form of nervousness. It happens and you do not even notice, eating on both sides of mouth, seems a obsessive behavior.

You need professional review of this.

Jake2008
Mar 11, 2015, 06:17 AM
When you say, " I should mention, stretching a lot and working out helps, the feeling of restlessness goes away and I forget about this twitching for a pretty long period", that to me seems like a problem that could be addressed medically. Or at least assessed for a possible medical, physical cause.

It just seems a part is missing, in that you have symptoms (twitching), and then you have a way to may the symptoms stop.

Please get a complete physical, and maybe the cause of the twitching might be better addressed.

joypulv
Mar 11, 2015, 09:09 AM
You can list well known OCD symptoms all day long, but they don't matter. All that matters is that you have a bit of O (Obsessive thinking) and plenty of C (compulsive behavior), and most importantly, that you feel anxiety if you don't follow through.

I'm sure you realize that OCD can be very mild all the way to very debilitating. You don't seem sure of where you fall on the spectrum. I suppose if you don't run out of a room so that you can perform a ritual that might be embarrassing, then you are at the mild end. Only you know how much it is hampering your life, especially in social situations.

There are new medications for OCD, and unless you also have some sort of mental illness, which it doesn't sound like, it doesn't generally require therapy, unless you want support in giving up the behaviors that some people are reluctant to give up, no matter how miserable they make them.

This isn't to say that everyone responds to the meds, or to certain ones, or what combinations might be needed, and so on. So usually you do need to be seen by your doctor frequently to get feedback. And you do need someone well versed in the latest advances in this subject.