hey guys, i semi-recently found out my friend has OCD. just wondering if you guys can help me walk in his shoes a bit? i mean, i was curious as to what (if anything) goes through your mind when you go to do something caused by your OCD (hope you know what i mean ), how it has affected your life, if you had therapy, how it went and all that... just basically anything you can tell me (that you feel comfortable saying, of course!)

I have been in a few of these OCD type situations, such as myself who feel i may a a mild case. so its almost like having a new phone. you want to play with it. then you must put it down and have dinner. then you have this strong urge to play with that phone again. then imagine being stressed out and having a panic attack because you cant play with that phone again. maybe you feel something bad could happen if you dont. then you have to go back to it. and this repeats itself over and over again. well, this is how i feel, could differ from others

thanks dx. yea, i can sorta understand that part of it, the urges and everything.
do you ever feel scared about what you're doing? or only scared if you DON'T do it? is it common to fear certain things, such as change and germs? sorry guys, i must sound so stupid...

For me, it's a compulsion that won't leave -like a song you get in your head. I have to balance things out and then when I have it the way I thought was perfect I have to start all over again because the rules have changed and now I have a new perfect to achieve. This can be about putting things in order or arranging them...or starting a collection...or whatever hobby I begin. I become despondent if I'm impeded in any way. I don't get scared any more but I used to think bad things would happen if I didn't do things in a certain way. I'm so glad that I don't feel that way anymore. I think the meds I'm on have changed my life. I'm finally free of my need to organize the world.
Lots of people with OCD suffer from irrational fears but it's how they cope ...or rather how they think they cope that makes it truly horrible. After my car accident I used to try to convince people to avoid certain situations in traffic that made me feel anxious...like crossing intersections or going on the highway. I'd invent all sorts of reasons to avoid long trips. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 45 years old...I spent years begging for rides, walking long distances and riding buses- all because I was too scared to do something that millions of people do everyday.
I'm sorry this post is so long but I hope it helps.

that was quite helpful, thank you for sharing, nanobelle

yea he doesn't drive either. pretty sure it's because of similar reasons to yours. and it doesn't matter to me that he had/has this because we're all still human, right? i just want to see if i can understand (more than i already do haha)

to me, it is scary. you need to feel like everything around you is perfection. my mum has ocd. she constantly washes her hands because she needs to be clean. she was sexually abused as a kid. she feels scared.

that's terrible. i'm sorry to hear that.

yea, i imagine it would be very difficult to live in such a fucked up world and need it to be perfect.