What Do You Get Obsessive About?

[bumblepipi]

For some reason green is a preoccupation. The coolour sends me into a rapture and I look for it to identify safe places. I have to wear green I love green traffic lights infact I would really like to install one in my house but I don't know if this is possible. I drink water from a green bottle into a green glass and am drinking green tea. What do you guys get obsessed with? I'm hoping some of you do stuff like this because I'm feeling like a sol;itary freak.

[drew]

placebo

[Marchmadness]

Basketball - UNC - Order - and brushing my teeth 2x before I leave the house.

March

[Tray]

odd numbers, everything has to be odd, even down to how many potatoes i have on my dinner.

i have a fear of green.

i have to have things facing the rigfht way in the cupboards etc.

i have to put my left arm/leg into things first

i have to step into places with my ;left foot first

i cannot eat out of packets that have been opened upside down.

there are prob many more...

[*elizabeth*]

For some reason green is a preoccupation. The coolour sends me into a rapture and I look for it to identify safe places. I have to wear green I love green traffic lights infact I would really like to install one in my house but I don't know if this is possible. I drink water from a green bottle into a green glass and am drinking green tea. What do you guys get obsessed with? I'm hoping some of you do stuff like this because I'm feeling like a sol;itary freak.

it is very odd reading your post, as i too have an obsession with a colour. white.

if i have a panic attack, or am scared or lonely i need to be near something white. i drive a white care, drink from white mugs, have a white phone, only use white towels, will only use white toothpaste (not with the blue lines in it or anything!!!) will only smoke menthol fags as they are all white, and can only sleep in white bed linin.

your not alone!! x

[wordsmithy]

empty chairs. i will not sleep until they are either filled in, or firmly tucked into a corner at night.

i'd sooner not have an empty chair, but i'm worried that my family would find it odd if i got rid of it without a "real" reason.

at night, if i leave my room my bedroom door must be closed behind me so nothing can enter without me seeing.

also the door must remain closed at night, it cannot be left open without me guarding it.

i think its more habitual now that i do this stuff, because my anxiety over what would happen is lowered atm.

[arwentheelfqueen]

I count things. I count time a lot via scheduling. I count pages left in chapters to read, hours and minutes I've worked, hours I have left to complete a task. I'm not sure what else I count, but I count pretty much everything in my life, how many meetings I've had with therapists or appointments I've had with other people. I am always counting.

[walker]

yes counting , endlessly 0

and even numbers (sorry tray !!)

even numbers of things and events and doint things

and reading , re re re re reading until each sentence, word, letter is carefully checked and formed in my head

and plugs, locks, swithches - omg

there is a colour

a shade of yellow

that makes me feel very very unsafe - really disturbs me - but i dont know why

[Crackers]

and reading , re re re re reading until each sentence, word, letter is carefully checked and formed in my head

Ah, I do that too, it can be quite tiring at times can't it.

I have a whole host of others but I would keep you up all night, my main obsession is with the middles of things, i have to touch them and look at them.

[Lance]

I remember a similar topic to this quite a while ago. I won't list them all again but instead, I'll just ask if anybody else holds their breath or exhales when joggers run past you in the street? I just have a thing about inhaling sweaty moist warm air. It's proper minging!

EDIT: OK so I also flush toilets with my foot and not my hand. And as I'm washing my hands, I splash water over the tap handles to rinse off the germs I put on them by turning them on! Very unusual for somebody who often eats shit that dropped on the floor...

Peace, Lance

[Pink stars]

I find that I have to do most things 3 times......(e.g-turn the light on and off 3 times before getting into bed)

All the drawers and coupboard doors have to be closed, there can't be any cracks!

There can be no cracks showing when the curtains are closed.

When I leave the house I have to check and re-check and re-check all the windows are shut and that the plugs are switched off, then I have to make sure the front door is shut, even if I have checked it 5 times and am half way down the road but am feeling un-sure I will walk all the way back to check it again.

[purplechick]

well iv never been diagnosed ocd but i do have a few annoying habits that might count...

i constantly have to sniff things, especially my hands.

and sometimes when i get a word someone has said fixed in my head, i have to spell it out using my finger 'like writting in the air' i do this over and over til the word is finally out my head.

and also when im a passenger in a car, i get so anxious that to calm me down i have to breath in everytime i am half way between 2 lamp posts.

i think they are all due to high anxiety

[profound1]

I have a mixture of obsessions, germ and dirt phobic and so yes avoid touching lots of things, especially door handles, cash machines, wash my hands ridiculous amounts of times and yeah wash the taps first, then sniff, I sniff everything and if I think it smells dirty it gets cleaned - even brand new books have been wiped with disinfectant. I check and recheck stuff, I avoid anything to do with touching my cat or any other animal, I dislike holding hands even my children's hands (although I will do this, I just wash them afterwards). I have everything folded perfectly in my drawers and hung in order in my wardrobe. I am obsessed with other people touching my things, I go mad if my husband lies on my side of the bed, I will not eat anything that anyone else has touched (which I know is irrational cos most food has been touched by someone at some point). Oh the list could go on and on. I also have very uncomfortable thoughts about breathing in other peoples' exhaled air, and this especially bothers me if they sneeze or cough near me or in an enclosed space, yuk, I am also obsessed about my own breath and worry that I might have bad breath and try to avoid being very close to anyone, and even hold my breath or turn my head to breath in a direction away from other people. Public swimming pools are a no no and sitting down on a public chair is dodgy for me, just in case I am contaminated. I also have a huge obssession about dog poo. I have had it tread in my house a couple of times in the past despite cleaning and cleaning the carpet I could not relax until I got new carpet, I have a sign on my door now telling everyone to check their feet cos I cannot afford another new carpet and I know I would go bonkers if someone came in with shit on their shoes.

[AveMaria]

I can't stand inside of mouths. I find them disgusting and revolting. If I see someone lick something I immediately gag... or throw up. Ewww!! Like people who feed babies, but lick the bottom of the spoon before each bite they give them.... wtf? That is the most disgusting thing!

xxx

[successful_workthru]

OCD like things, checking appliances. checking I don't smell. loads of others.

Drugs, and their associated issues.

Worst of all, re-regurgitating conversations repeatedly. I emphasised the 'Re', because it's something that drives me so mad, it can give me bad guts.

There's probably more, but I am braindead today, so cannot think of them and will have to post at a later date.

[axtell1080]

CLEANING:i have to make sure my house is clean befor i ever leave it or it has to be clean befor i go to bed,i just have to have a clean house geting up or going to bed or if i have visitors too...and this is so hard to keep up with wen ive got 4 kids messing it up all day long.........

[Kia]

Oh so many things.

Pegs on each item of laundry must be the same colour and size - I don't mind different items having different pegs but each peg on the same item must match.

If something is folded it has to be exactly in half, not just a random fold - I hate it so much if someone hands me a sheet of paper and they just randomly fold it.

Even numbers, everything has to be even. Slices of bread (unless it's a crust for some reason), potatoes, any foods really.

Symmetry, I like things to balance, be the same on both sides. If I have an itch on one leg I have to scratch both.

I really hate it when people open packets upside down, or when they just poke a hole in the paper seal under the lid (like in a coffee jar) instead of carefully peeling the paper off.

Mirrors have to be covered or positioned so I can't see them.

I always feel I have to read car number plates when I pass them and it frustrates me that I do it.

Conversations I've had with people will replay over and over in my head and I sometimes get words stuck in my head and have to analyse them, see how the word can be used, what it means before I can shift it, sometimes it will just keep popping back into my head randomly all day.

There's more but I think those are the main things.

[successful_workthru]

Checking

Drugs

Booze

Shoplifting

People

Dates

Places

too many things to write.

The things like drink/drugs/shoplifting are areas I have addressed.

If I think I may steal, I now, just dont go in the shop - simple - this was a more of a problem, when I had limited times to get to shops.

Drink/drugs - the obsession was more talking about them, than doing them. I have had addictions in the past, and managed to get a handle on them, but the obsessions are still there. I think I shy away from them, atm, because I got my arse badly kicked by ovedoing them in the past.

Checking, this was a nightmare, and was triggered by having to leave the house when I didnt feel like it.

[Roses]

Taking senokot

Exercising

Making sure the doors are locked and windows are shut

[Lily-Bee]

I worry obsessively about anything and everything and I am a checker, need to check stove a lot esspecially make sure its off.

Lilly

[Lilac]

I haven't been diagnosed with anything yet, but I have a few of these "charming habits".

When I go up or down stairs I count everyone, every time. This is because I have a fear of heights and am worried about missing a step and falling. Problem is, you need to walk up a flight of stairs to get into my house, so I'm counting several times a day at times.

When tired I will count each turn of the can opener, or each chop of a vegetable.

Have to make sure my key is in my bad before I shut the front door, even if I only just put it in, I can't relax til I've checked while outside. I also check to make sure I have my wallet on me when getting off a bus, but usually check after getting off when its too late to do anything about it (go figure).

Really weird one - when I use a public toilet, is someone else comes in, I have to be out, washed my hands and out of the room before they get out of their cubicle. If the public toilets are down a small corridor, then I have to be gone down that as well and mingling with the crowd before they come out. Basically, I don't want them to be able to know it was me in there at all.

I used to have a huge issue with the thought of getting faeces on my hands when going to the toilet and then getting it onto other things. Don't have this anymore, but have issues about getting other people's on me (bit of a problem when I was working in child care!)

Things have to balance. Doesn't matter if its odd numbers or even numbers, the overall look has to be balanced.

If I go to the bank or a shop and they have leaflets on the counter which are messy, I have to pick them up and straighten them.

If I'm having a conversation or writing something and I come to a point where I think of 2 words to describe the same thing, then I have to say/write it twice, using each word once.

I know there are more but they are the main ones I can think of right now. My sister has OCD and tells me often that I have it. Beginning to wonder if she's right.

[x-Bliss-x]

I hate the feeling of when my nails scratch a surface by accident. Particulary something with that glossy surface like a shoebox. I have then rub my nails on it afterwards to get rid of the feeling.

If I watch a series on DVD, I have to go from the start. I can't start half way through or just pick a favourite episode. Which can be very annoying as I rarely manage to get to the end without thinking it's been too long and I need to start them again

A bad one is my self harm. I can't have an odd number of cuts.

The other big thing I guess is things I do. Like if I decide to start a game on my DS, I'll be playing for hours and will do the same thing for a couple of days until I sicken myself of it. I'll move onto something else and do the same thing

Not sure if this counts as obsessive behaviour but when I can't make a decision... which is most of the time I list the options, label them with numbers and then get my dice out. Only after the first roll, I then have to decide whether that will be the one I go with or if it's the first one to cancel out (out comes another set of dice)

x-Bliss-x

[Sammi.B]

Have to put clothes on in a certain order..and has to be my right leg/arm first

Needs to be even numbers

Touching walls/walking along ..touching them constantly..

Avoiding certain numbers

Re-cleaning all forks/spoon etc..

Not using public toilets..

Routine in the morning and at night..like when im on my way to school i have to do everything a cetain way..and then getting ready for bed has to be done in a certain way..

Lining everything up..everything has to be straight..

[successful_workthru]

I just get anything on my mind and cannot let go.

I also do a bit of the old checking of taps and stuff.

[Mariposa]

My main one is turning off lights or the last thing I see when leaving a room. I must be thinking of something happy and non-threatening when the light goes out, I have to feel ok. If I'm in any way nervous, panicking, worried I have to switch the light back on and repeat until "it feels ok". I think it's like the psychological sealing or entrapment of the negative thought when the light goes out. If it's a positive thought or feeling I have then the night will be ok.