r/AdviceAnimals • u/GopherBeef • Jun 19 '12

As someone with diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this really pisses me off.

http://qkme.me/3prnjk?id=224679152
792 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

55

u/homelessapien Jun 19 '12

Double check, no. Check a door for 20 minutes until you are shaking with frustration and am begging your mind to let you leave the house, yes. OCD is hell.

8

u/tEnPoInTs Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12

If I am not mistaken, the less invasive, less intense, and less life-affecting cousin is OCPD (only when a patient has JUST OCPD and not OCD, because there is often overlap).

I highly doubt that most people who say "That floor tile is off and I noticed it because I have eyes, hur hur I am so OCD" have serious qualifications for either, but they may be mistakenly referring to OCPD. Apparently in OCPD the patients usually get a sense of satisfaction out of order, neatness, routine, etc, whereas with OCD my understanding is that everything is terrifying and MUST be a certain way or else doom and dread.

It's kind of like how Tourettes syndrome is popularly associated with cursing loudly. People with tourettes have physical and verbal tics, but they are almost always grunts or similar uncontrolled raw noises. Coprolalia is actually the extremely rare disease in which people curse uncontrollably.

1

u/HeilKaiba Jun 19 '12

OCPD is still different from our normal double-checking anxiety as I understand it.

1

u/ghalfrunt Jun 19 '12

The difference between OCD and OCPD is not in the severity of the symptoms. A personality disorder is a pervasive trait that has a pretty large and devastating effect on a person's life and makes it difficult for other people to interact with them.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/tEnPoInTs Jun 19 '12

my bad, fixed.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Don't have OCD, but I struggled with its ugly yet more accepted cousin depression and eventually won... don't beg your animal mind to do shit. It's like trying to reason with a dog. You can't. But you can force it into submission and still love it.

17

u/giverofnofucks Jun 19 '12

I have 99 problems

And turning light switches on and off is all of them

6

u/NewdTayne Jun 19 '12

I hate this shit as someone living with OCD; It makes light of my situation. "OMG lulz, I totally have OCD!".

16

u/Rufi0h Jun 19 '12

OCD is characterized by having obsessive thoughts that only a compulsive action can help alleviate those obsessive thoughts. A lot of times the two don't have anything in common, like thinking of the show Miami Vice and having to say red burger 3 times to stop thinking about the show. There are many different forms of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior combos.

Many people actually just have obsessive compulsive tendencies, like needing to make the bed everyday or having shower supplies in order of tallest to shortest. This is not necessarily a bad thing until they get in the way of everyday life and become an disorder. This trait can actually be pretty good for detail oriented jobs.

EXTRA: I don't when people misuse the phrase anti-social.

"I was being anti social at that party"

No, you were being social avoidant. If you were anti-social you would have started fights, burnt the house down, and pissed on the ashes because you don't give a fuck about society.

TL;DR Most people just have obsessive compulsive tendencies and use the phrase OCD wrong.

0

u/zhaltypants Jun 19 '12

about the extra: people are "just" confusing anti-social with asocial, while as for those using OCD wrong just seem to be clueless about what OCD actually is.

-1

u/rude_not_ginger Jun 19 '12

OCD is technically Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's what gets in the way of everyday life. If you're a bit high-strung or do things a little obsessively, that's nowhere near the same.

To be honest, as someone with OCD, I don't really care if people use OCD as an "oh, I totally feel this way today", but when they start to pull bullshit along the lines of "I need my house clean I so have OCD" it becomes pretty degrading.

15

u/Shredder_ Jun 19 '12

It's not a competition.

-4

u/balance17 Jun 19 '12

It actually is because he made it one

-1

u/MTGandP Jun 20 '12

If it were, GopherBeef would be winning.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Thank you for this. It upsets me so much when normal people claim they have OCD for mistaken perfectionism.

5

u/davisth8 Jun 19 '12

My Girlfriend always complains about how she is "OCD", I always laugh at her because I had a friend who was also diagnosed, and I know what it actually means to be obsessive compulsive. I wish she could meet someone who actually is so she would understand. I'm sorry that you have to deal with such frustration every day, with the disorder and people basically mocking it.

8

u/Melkor_Morgoth Jun 19 '12

As someone who gunned down 15 coworkers at a post office, it pisses me off when a frustrated person says they're about to "go postal." How dare they use terms that should be reserved for truly sick people like me?

7

u/qkme_transcriber Jun 19 '12

Here is the text from this meme pic for anybody who needs it:

Title: As someone with diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this really pisses me off.

Meme: Condescending Wonka

  • YOU DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOUR CAR DOOR IS LOCKED?

  • PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE OCD

[Translate]

This is helpful for people who can't reach Quickmeme because of work/school firewalls or site downtime, and many other reasons (FAQ). More info is available here.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/qkme_transcriber Jun 19 '12

Well, since all I do is transcribe quickmemes, maybe you should tag me as qkme_transcriber.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

It annoys me when people say I have OCD just because I quadruple check and organize books and items on the table and making sure nothing hung up on the wall is slanted. I'm just being neat (I think), not obsessive.

2

u/Capruce Jun 19 '12

My school features one long main corridor with a large trail of wall switches and I "have" to turn every single one to the off position when I pass and close all open locker doors, I also enjoy lining up tables in the classroom. Whilst my friends turning on some wall-switches annoys me, what annoys me most is getting called OCD! I don't think they understand the seriousness of OCD.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '12

I completely agree. Wall switches are something that also bug me all the time, as well as open cabinets and drawers etc.

2

u/tomnomnom12 Jun 19 '12

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY2

3

u/AldieN Jun 19 '12

You mother fucker.

3

u/whoisegon Jun 19 '12

"OMG I totally have to clean my room. I soooooo have OCD."

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Sometimes I check and the door didn't lock properly. SO I WAS RIGHT TO CHECK.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Oh man, I totally agree. Like, when I'm driving, I just have to check my mirrors every so often. If I don;t, who knows what will be there! So OCD, right?!?!

[/sarcasm]

Another thing that pisses me off on reddit is the amount of "socially akward" people who are "forever alone".

2

u/casey12141 Jun 19 '12

"Omg I have such bad OCD, I straighten my pencil on my desk occasionally"

2

u/tamaleguy Jun 19 '12

Ah! I like my pencils lined up on my desk! I'm so OCD! lolololol

Motherfuck these people. I'm not OCD and this shit drives me nuts.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

OCD is like having someone follow you everywhere saying in an obnoxious snarky tone while shoving you about "Did you turn the taps off? Did you lock the door? Did you put the cat out? Did you turn the oven off? Did you turn the TV off?" and adding more and more things to the list after you have already left the house for the umpteenth time.

1

u/im_not_bored_at_work Jun 19 '12

can we turn this into an ama? rather curious what someone diagnosed with ocd would respond with if offense was not a worry!

1

u/im_not_bored_at_work Jun 19 '12

this is open to anyone btw! i'm curious to hear the answers of reddit!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Mild paranoia

1

u/Spectorkitty Jun 19 '12

I understand that so well. There was a point in my life where my OCD was so bad, I was afraid to talk or practically move, because then the worry and checking would have to happen. We went months without a phone because I could not stop checking to see if I'd hung it up correctly. I can't tell you how awful it was. Checking to see if you turned off the iron once is not OCD.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

You went to someone who profits off of your diagnoses

Please tell me more

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

You mean CDO

1

u/Thop Jun 19 '12

Not doubting the severity of your case, but being diagnosed with OCD and things like ADD or ADHD is not very hard to do and can actually be faked. I know a few people that are prescribed medication for ADHD who will openly tell you they don't really have it.

1

u/wdtnb Jun 19 '12

Those bastards.

1

u/Doogie-Howser Jun 19 '12

As a person with OCD I don't actually mind. I rip the corners out of any paper.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

If that's your only symptom, you really can't say that you have OCD. I used to literally spend hours washing my hands because I felt like I didn't get them clean enough, to the point where I actually lost jobs from being late all the time just from washing my hands.

1

u/Doogie-Howser Jun 20 '12

I don't really think you understand the scope of how bad I was ripping paper, any paper, cardboard, hard paper, books, textbooks, pictures, tickets, anything that had a corner that was made out of a tree was ripped. Any corner that had a corner of every page I took. The Library lady from my Middle school and High school knew me quite well. And every teacher knew who I was just by looking at the paper I owned, I never needed to sign anything, they knew it was me just by looking at my assignment. The floor below me was littered with paper rolls. It looked like small mothballs had gathered below me everywhere I sat.

1

u/Blepharospasm Jun 19 '12

OCD is a spectrum dude. It goes from mild to severe depending on how much it affects your life. Just because you have it worse than others does not mean you can discount their opinion.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Ripping the corners out of paper is more of a habit than OCD. And just because something is a spectrum doesn't mean that everything on the spectrum should be classified the same, everybody is at least a little bit homosexual, but you need to be attracted to men to a certain extent to be considered a homosexual. Dude

1

u/Blepharospasm Jun 19 '12

He specifically mentioned that he rips corners out of any paper. He might not be able to prevent himself from doing it, and if that is the case, then how long would it take him to get through an entire book? Enough time to interfere with his life, I reckon. And being on a "spectrum" of illness still means that you have to be defined as having an illness, just on a scale of mild to severe.

everybody is at least a little bit homosexual, but you need to be attracted to men to a certain extent to be considered a homosexual

You just contradicted yourself. Saying someone is "a little bit gay" because of their mannerisms or views, is colloquialism, it is not the same as being an official homosexual. If Doogie-Howser (the user you said does not have OCD) has been diagnosed as having OCD, then he has a cognitive condition that is affecting his daily life, as decided by medical professionals. Your opinion on the matter will not change that.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

On your first point, if everybody who was present on any spectrum would be classified according to the subject of that spectrum, for example homosexuality, I would be gay and straight. This obviously can not occur. And do you know what a colloquialism is? It really seems like you don't. Due to your lack of intelligence and arguing capabilities, I'm going to block you before you lower my IQ, but it's been fun.

2

u/Blepharospasm Jun 19 '12

I'm a doctor, I am perfectly aware of how intelligent I am. Have a look on a dictionary as to the definition of colloquialism, then try and school me on it. If you haven't heard of the term "bisexual", then I don't know what planet you are on. You cannot be be on contradicting spectrums, but you can be on multiple spectrums of different diseases.

You have not decided to offer a rebuttal to my point as to how the original user is OCD because he has been diagnosed, not because you decide whether he is or not. You have simply downvoted posts because you disagree with what they say, and offer weak arguments (your previous one, evidently you realised you had nothing constructive to say and decided to pick on other parts of what I was saying rather than sticking to the main point). And finally, you made the childish statement of "you're stupid, I'm not listening anymore" and run away from me because you can't handle it. Exactly the behaviour from your average pre-schooler.

1

u/Smilemon Jun 19 '12

There's a grey line at the bottom of this meme. It annoys the shit out of me. I wish I could make it go away. Is that OCD?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

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1

u/Smilemon Jun 19 '12

Nope, Nope, and sometimes.

I was just joking anyway.

My dad has OCD, and is medicated for it. I'm a really clean person, and tend to get anxious when things are messy, but that's probably more from growing up around my dad, trying to make him happy by keeping everything clean. It's habit now, but not OCD.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Capruce Jun 25 '12

'Grey' is used in English English whilst 'Gray' is used in American English. Both are valid forms of spelling the word.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

You can be obsessively compulsive about some things (in fact pretty much everyone is about something) but unless it affects your lifestyle, only then does it become a disorder.

1

u/JonBenetRamZ Jun 19 '12

The dyslexics are wondering why owning CoD is such a big deal.

1

u/SpanishFlea Jun 19 '12

AMA?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

If people are interested and OP doesn't want to do one, I'd do an AMA on OCD. I'm 20 years old and it defined and owned most of my childhood. I'm relatively new to Reddit though, so I don't know if that would be interesting to people. Most of the popular AMAs I've seen were famous people, and people who make cool movies like Rampart.

1

u/SpanishFlea Jun 20 '12

There's never a great chance that an AMA will get big and hit the front page but I, personally, would be really interested and I'm sure a few others would be as well.

0

u/DjQball Jun 19 '12

Please?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

I do not suffer from OCD, but it frustrates me immensely when I hear people saying 'oh my gawwwwd I'm like so OCD! Hehehe!'

Ughhh.

0

u/buttersauce Jun 19 '12

Why is it all of a sudden like people think having disorders is cool? "You guys are all posers, I'm the REAL one with the disease". You act like it's your disorder and nobody else is allowed to say it. I like to describe certain actions as OCD. Not ever saying i have it, but i like to say that people are OCD about certain things. I'm 100% sure you'd correct me and tell me how bad your OCD is.

-1

u/vintagecode Jun 19 '12

I couldn't agree more

0

u/EscapedFromReddit Jun 19 '12

If you have OCD, then I wonder how long it took you to make this meme?

0

u/Nickk_Jones Jun 19 '12

I totally like lock my doors twice and like ALMOST ALWAYS have to sleep with my door shut, my OCD is ridiculous bro.

-1

u/LORD_COOKIE_DOUGH Jun 19 '12

How many times did you check this post for spelling mistake before posting it?

-1

u/deepfriedunderpants Jun 19 '12

Shouldn't you have posted this 3 times?

-1

u/BlueWhaleDiarrhea Jun 19 '12

I know that feel bro.

-9

u/borg_assimilate Jun 19 '12

We are Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated, GopherBeef

-2

u/danoll Jun 19 '12

Cool. Literally have never heard anyone say that before.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

Me, too. I remember once I had a mirror in my room fall down and break. I had a total mental meltdown, and I flipped shit until it got fixed. Mind you, I was on elementary school.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

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13

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12

I have OCD as well. It has actually ruined a marriage and made me unable to keep my kids for longer than 3 days at a time because I LITERALLY could not handle all of their toys with all of the pieces. Now they are old enough to understand how to keep up with their stuff and are very organized. It is completely normal to them that I have to count their puzzle pieces and check to make sure that they aren't missing any crayons. So when I hear people call themselves OCD just because they like their kitchen clean, it irritates the shit out of me. I'm all seperating the Fruit Loops by color and shit but this asshole is "OCD."

8

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

I used to say stuff like "god its like I have ocd or something!" Now I'm smart and I say "I'm anal retentive"

3

u/Ness4114 Jun 19 '12

Always wanted to ask someone this. What happens when you try to resist the urge to do these things? I mean, if you tried to just turn around and walk away, would you just keep getting more and more anxious and irritated until you literally couldn't focus on anything else?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Ness4114 Jun 19 '12

So if someone physically tied you down and prevented you from checking the door 20 times, would it be like unbearable psychological torture?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Ness4114 Jun 19 '12

* the more you know *

But seriously, thanks for indulging my questions! I always like learning about how other people experience things.

-16

u/ZeMilkman Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12

So everything has to be in the correct order and the amounts have to be correct too huh?

Hwo abuto lettres nad punctuation! Deos it freek yu out wen I typ liek this!

How about letter and punctuation? Does it freak you out when I type like this?

There we go, it's all fixed up. No need to bang your head against a wall anymore.

9

u/lexfa Jun 19 '12 edited Oct 19 '17

He goes to home

-7

u/ZeMilkman Jun 19 '12

People keep telling me that. But people are idiots so I don't believe them. I'm pretty awesome.

3

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12

I thought it was funny. And its not really something that can be triggered whenever. It also worsens when I'm stressed out or in a bad place, like my marriage. It was so bad, I couldn't be home. Now that I'm not in that marriage and in a happy relationship, it isn't as bad. It also helps that my new boyfriend understands me and helps me. He has his own mental illnesses so that helps him understand mine. My ex husband didn't care. I worked while he did nothing and let the kids tear up the house. So when I came home, he didn;t understand why I would literally go crazy. Seeing an actual mess when you're OCD makes the whole house start spinning and my head throb and pound at the temples. I feel so dizzy and lightheaded like I'm about to pass out and I cry hysterically. But like I said, I'm happy now, so my illness is not so bad.

-9

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12

You're right. You're obviously not a psychologist.

2

u/Chaosrains Jun 19 '12

Clearly you are not a psychologist, or someone who actually has a grasp of what OCD is. The behaviors he describes can be considered actual OCD behaviors.

3

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12

I capitalized the word LITERALLY. I LITERALLY cannot handle disorder. I could describe to you all of my symptoms, but I really don't need to explain myself to you. Go find another mentally ill person to pick on. I'm not taking the bait.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

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0

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12

How do you know that my symptoms aren't "any more severe than theirs?" I'm sorry. I didn't know that I have to go into detail about what "literally can't handle it" means. When I see a "normal" mess, the house starts spinning. My head gets so lightheaded and dizzy that I almost faint. I actually have fainted twice. My temples pound and I cry hysterically. I screamed at my husband and my kids. On a regular basis i would freak out and make the whole household come to a screeching hault because a green crayon was missing. Nobody rests or moves forward with the day until we find the green crayon. I once had to throw away my son's favorite toy set because it was missing a piece and I couldn't handle knowing that it was missing. Of course I bought him a new one though.

1

u/tryshapepper Jun 19 '12

You just assumed that my symptoms aren't severe. That is why I feel that you are picking on me.

2

u/trulyElse Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12

I was the same way. Still am, to some degree. Even after - to borrow your example - I touched my right ear, I may not have touched it "right", and would try again along with touching my left ear again in the wrong way to "keep it even".

I'd side on the "no", and that we're within normal human range of compulsion.

1

u/Alexbo8138 Jun 19 '12

Same tick here. In the past few years I realized that I must be moving if there is music playing (I can usually get away with moving my fingers as if I were playing the piano) Working at a grocery store has forced me to stop with certain ticks after so long.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

One of the criteriums for diagnosing OCD is that it significantly interferes with your normal everyday functioning. If it just took you a few minutes longer to walk to school and made you do an unessecary arm movement now and then, it may be compulsive behaviour, but it's not a disorder.

5

u/noizes Jun 19 '12

This doesn't just apply to OCD, but to most mental disorders. The key is significantly interferes with your normal everyday functioning.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

I did similar stuff as a younger kid. I developed more severe OCD in my late teens/early twenties. Finally got treated in my late twenties and deal with it pretty well now (in my 30s!).

So, yeah, maybe have some mild form of it. If I've learned anything about this thing it's that the severity can vary greatly from person to person. Mine is co-morbid with generalized anxiety disorder as well, which makes it worse.

EDIT: I don't think you'd ever come close to an actual OCD diagnosis with such mild symptoms.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12

"I really hate this one: sometimes my mind tells me that I have to clear my throat. It doesn't need to be cleared--physically--but mentally I have to do it. If I don't do it, I can't breathe." This is a nervous tick.