[beachborn]

I think I have o.c.d but I'm not sure my friend has is and I've watched her I don't repeatedly wash my hands but I have habits that I have to do like flick through radio channels until I get to a song and just keep flicking through to I get to one. If I'm in a lift I have to hold the railing and stand against the wall and when I'm about to get out I have to stand right against the opening door but I don't know why I like things in a certain order and typing this I can't stand having the red lines if I make a mistake I'm to afraid to ask my mum or dad to know if they had it but I know my aunty has it.

[joypulv]

You don't have ocd unless your life has lost a lot of enjoyment and the ability to get through a day. You sound like you just have a few quirks and maybe wish you had ocd to be like your friend. They aren't even very odd quirks. Let's not all jump on the next diagnosis du jour.

[Jake2008]

You don't have OCD until a qualified Doctor tells you you do. And that is only after a thourough analysis.

If you are worried, go and see your Doctor, and if necessary, he/she will advise you on what is necessary to be done, in order to determine a diagnosis.

I agree with Joy that the diagnosis du jour, is far too commonly self-applied, or applied by unqualified people, and before you know it, you think you have a mental illness.

Please seek an appointment with your Doctor, and talk this out thouroughly with that person, to get yourself on a healthy road to getting the answers you need.

[beachborn]

I don't think o.c.d would stop you enjoying your day do you have it and I don't want to be like my friend

[Wondergirl]

i dont think o.c.d would stop you enjoying your day do u have it and i dont wanna be like my friend

Yes, OCD can keep you from enjoying your day.

How do you know your friend or aunty has OCD? Has either one been officially and formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist? (Usually one doesn't "get" OCD until late teens or early 20s.)

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, OCD stops you from doing things you want to do.

I don't like to sit in public with my back to a door or window.
I use hand cleaner about 30 to 50 times a day ( but work in a medical enviorment)

[Wondergirl]

Maybe I have OCD. I peel potatoes always from end to end instead of around and around. I have the same routine every night before bed -- eat snack, put on jammies, brush teeth, say prayers, get into bed. I like to polish chrome and other silver surfaces so they shine. In my wallet, my money is in order with the largest bills on the inside of the fold and the smallest on the outside, with all faces rightside up. My Post-it Note pads are neatly stacked on my computer cabinet shelf. I straighten them if they look crooked.

[Lyra123]

OCD can definitely mess up your day. It can turn everything into a fight with a significant other and other people you live with. It can be depressing at times but not all the time.

Liking a few things your way is not OCD. Having uncontrollable urges that are obsessive is. For instance: superstition, not OCD. Routine: Not OCD.
Failing your state assessment because you can't do ANYTHING unless you have a clock visible: OCD.

[joypulv]

Right on, Lyra.
The point it that you can't go around diagnosing yourself, or even getting a diagnosis online. And even doctors are dishing out diagnoses like candy these days.
And Wondergirl is being tongue in cheek. She can neaten her little items all day long but gets along just fine and has been promoted 10 times. It's all relative. We all have our little ocd's. I have Asperger's because I find doing calculations very soothing. Right?

[Wondergirl]

Wondergirl... been promoted 10 times.

That's because I peel the site owner's and admin's potatoes for them.

I have Asperger's because I find doing calculations very soothing. Right?

But you don't seem to have any problem with reciprocal social interactions. Hmmmmmmm. You might be just a geek.

[joypulv]

I LOLed right off my chair

[DrBill100]

.... I'm to afraid to ask my mum or dad to know if they had it but i know my aunty has it.

Now you can go to your mum and dad and say "Guess what? I'm perfectly normal......and so are you."

[Fr_Chuck]

First stop worrying so much, all people have some things that they do differently than others,

Fall to many people want to call it some disorder and there are always doctors out there willing to call it something.

If you friend is washing their hands 100 to 300 times after doing something so much they miss apointment, can't leave the house, can't touch door handles, then it is a worry.

If they wash their hands three or four times more than you, they are just cleaner