I've found myself making sure that the volume on my TV has to be an even number and apparently that's a sign of OCD.

Pep Guardiola

https://t.co/ncjHXy1IMW

I think a lot of people do that to be fair. Not sure if it classes as OCD. If it does, then there are likely different degrees of severity with TV volume being on the lower end

My wife says I’m OCD with things being tidy. My version of tidy is very different from hers.

I do like things to be square or parallel, not to the extent of measuring with rulers or spirit levels mind!

My TV volume has always got to be on a 5 or 0, thought I was alone with that one!

Craig from Corrie

I suspect EVERYBODY has it to some degree. We all have little quirks which these days would be termed OCD. For most people it's not really an issue, but for some it can become extreme and impinge on their day to day life I guess.

My wife developed OCD following her stroke....flipping heck it can be hard at times but I love her but she now sees the slightest of things that annoys her....

The Queen's head has to be facing the right way on the notes in my wallet.

Anything less would be a treasonable act

A much-overused term. It doesn't really do any harm when people say, "I'm a bit OCD, ha ha." when they mean, "I much prefer the cans of Diet Coke to sit separately from the cans of Coke because it feels better". But properly having OCD isn't much of a laugh. We all have quirks to varying extents around feelings of control, anxiety and order; that's natural. Not being able to live as well as you could because the rituals or obsessions take up so much of your time and energy isn't.

Here's one that I have that I think is more common than I thought: I have an imaginary thread connected to my body and if I turn in, for instance, an anti-clockwise direction I have to turn back clockwise otherwise I'll get tangled up, theoretically that is. My first wife could never understand either why I would never put 6 chips on a butty (neither do I).

Does anybody have OCD?

I once had it. The antibiotics cleared it up.

houseboy wrote:Here's one that I have that I think is more common than I thought: I have an imaginary thread connected to my body and if I turn in, for instance, an anti-clockwise direction I have to turn back clockwise otherwise I'll get tangled up, theoretically that is. My first wife could never understand either why I would never put 6 chips on a butty (neither do I).

I do similar if I spin on my chair at work. For means it’s a feeling of being neutral, not wound up in the clockwise or anti-clockwise.

I could just have a chip butty.

RalphCoatesComb wrote:The Queen's head has to be facing the right way on the notes in my wallet.

Anything less would be a treasonable act

Try running an Accy Clarets coach to West Ham and counting out £1660 of notes without a table.

I made sure every one was facing the same way.

It really should be CDO. As then all the letters will be in a nice alphabetical order.

The switch on an empty plug socket has to be in the off position

When we are playing away from home I will not switch on Soccer Saturday until 4:55.

My Mrs. Except when it comes to doing my laundry. Then everythings a boil wash with 3 different chemicals!!!!!

If a light switch in the house has a partner they have to be down for on.
Line up all the tins so I can see what we are getting short on.(I think this is practical, Mrs Broke thinks I'm mental) btw, I never shop!
Fold all my euro notes in four with the value showing.
All my shirts are hung with the buttons to the right.(they just seem to slide out easier than button on button)
And the tv volume plus others.

My TV volume number has to end in a 3, 6 or 9.

A little perhaps...

I’ve got lots of things that I can’t get on with.

TV remote is one. Has to go up in two’s for me. 26, 28, 30 is all fine 31 no good.

Counting tiles in any room. If I’m in a new place I have to work it out.

Measurements of things. I’m incredibly accurate with my spacial perception and can usually work out an area just by looking. I do however have a tape measure with me almost all the time.

I sometimes overcheck things. But I can stop myself.

As a child I had a thing about symmetry and balance. If I touched something with one hand I had to touch it with another to balance myself up. This has gone.

I’ve had a thing with money in my pocket. The coins in size order. This has also gone

I’m always playing mental games of Tetris with anything around me. Using the shape between two trees or telegraph poles and trying to mentally fit object accurately in the space.

I can easily understand the Imaginary Thread and the Spinning Chair from houseboy and ClaretEngineer.

I like many like to have things arranged in certain ways, be it light switches or the volume control on the telly etc. I also have the thing mentioned above regarding spinning around. Like others have said I suspect everyone is on the OCD 'spectrum' somewhere, and unless it is stopping you live your life properly it isn't an issue.

The only time it's ever got bad for me is when I'm under a lot of stress. I recall during my school exams that I 'had' to touch all four walls of my room 16 times with each hand before I could get into bed, making sure that both feet touched each of the 4 rungs of the ladders for my upper deck bed 4 times each on the way up. I clearly have a thing for multiples of four.

Do you drive a 4x4?

I can't stop blinking.

I always the wash my hands thoroughly after using the toilet, it's not OCD though, it's basic hygiene. When out and about I am shocked by the number of people who don't bother!

TV Remote is a given, it has to be an even number. Tins in cupboards and items with shelf life limits should always be in order, is this really OCD or is it simply being organized and efficient?

UpTheBeehole wrote:Do you drive a 4x4?

The new Kia Sorento.

Arranging all your banknotes to face the same way - that's not OCD. But if that's what you do, and when you get to the front of the queue you find that they aren't arranged right, can you accept it? If you can hand them to the cashier unsorted, then you haven't got OCD. If you need to leave the queue and check they're facing the right way before joining the back of the queue, that's a bad sign. If you get to the front of the queue a second time and decide you need to go away and check just to make sure they're right, that's OCD.

dsr wrote:Arranging all your banknotes to face the same way - that's not OCD.

Are you sure?

ColonelCool wrote:Are you sure?

Yes. OCD is obsessive and compulsive - to know that something isn't just so will ruin your day because you're obssessed and you can't stop yourself. OCD isn't just ingrained habit.

dsr wrote:Yes. OCD is obsessive and compulsive - to know that something isn't just so will ruin your day because you're obssessed and you can't stop yourself. OCD isn't just ingrained habit.

I'm pretty sure making sure your notes are always aligned in a certain way, is minor OCD. The number of times you do it depends on the number of times you go into your wallet. It's still OCD.

tybfc wrote:Try running an Accy Clarets coach to West Ham and counting out £1660 of notes without a table.

I made sure every one was facing the same way.

JohnMac wrote:I always the wash my hands thoroughly after using the toilet, it's not OCD though, it's basic hygiene. When out and about I am shocked by the number of people who don't bother!

Can never believe this. And its one thing I always make a point of commenting on when they don't!! Disgusting.

I used to draw footy stadiums for half the class to madly count and fill in the crowd with ink dots during Chemistry. I think there IS sometimes a reason and it's not entirely OCD, there is intuition. for sure.

Check out my video of a home improvised blood pressure and 'water diviner' type of object and have a go at aiming round the room to see what's what. I do it, but I cannot say for sure what it is about:

https://youtu.be/UqZ9xCKf7sk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Can never believe this. And its one thing I always make a point of commenting on when they don't!! Disgusting.

It's one of the reasons why you should wash your hands after you've looked at the menu and ordered your food when eating out - the menu is one of the dirtiest things in a restaurent due to people going to the toilet and not bothering to wash their hands.

ColonelCool wrote:It's one of the reasons why you should wash your hands after you've looked at the menu and ordered your food when eating out - the menu is one of the dirtiest things in a restaurent due to people going to the toilet and not bothering to wash their hands.

Some places round here the cutlery is dirtier!

ColonelCool wrote:It's one of the reasons why you should wash your hands after you've looked at the menu and ordered your food when eating out - the menu is one of the dirtiest things in a restaurent due to people going to the toilet and not bothering to wash their hands.

You should never touch the chairs or the table for the same reason, and always carry your own condiment tongs for handling the salt pot.

dsr wrote:You should never touch the chairs or the table for the same reason

Can you let us in on the secret of levitation?

Or do you just stand up?

Regarding cleanliness - a study was done which showed that the toilet nearest the entrance/exit is normally the cleanest one. This is because people think it's the most used and so don't go in, so it actually ends up being the least used.

Obsessiveness Compulsive Disorder is when those traits that have been described in many responses above have such a detrimental effect on your wellbeing that they impinge on your life. We are all on the spectrum to some degree - hence the use of the word "spectrum" - but OCD is a debilitating condition that impact severely on your mental health.

DustyBawls wrote:I've found myself making sure that the volume on my TV has to be an even number and apparently that's a sign of OCD.

I do but it's more of a clinical disabling form associated with extreme anxiety and depressive disorders rather than the type where people like things to look even and stuff.

Reb wrote:but OCD is a debilitating condition that impact severely on your mental health.

Sometimes, not always.

The TV volume is OCD. It's just not one that normally impacts somebody's life. But it's still a form of OCD. There is both the obsession and the compulsive components there.

UpTheBeehole wrote:Can you let us in on the secret of levitation?

Or do you just stand up?

It doesn't bother me - I handle the menu as if it was a normally everyday object and not in the least dangerous. But to people who are bothered about these things, menus are second only to salt cellars in the degree of danger, and chairs are seldom if ever disinfected.

ColonelCool wrote:Sometimes, not always.

The TV volume is OCD. It's just not one that normally impacts somebody's life. But it's still a form of OCD. There is both the obsession and the compulsive components there.

Surely the point of obsession is that you can't be "a bit obsessed"? Think about football - Dave Burnley could be said to be obsessed with BFC, and fair play to him if that's what he wants - no criticism from me. But I only go to home games, perhaps one away per year, and listen on the radio when I'm in Lancashire - I exhibit some of the signs that Dave shows, but that doesn't make me slightly obsessed, because it isn't possible to be slightly obsessed. Like being a little bit unique.

Can we please have a space in between the 'OCD' and the '?'
It's really bugging me

There's no objective difference between the behaviours of being "exacting" and wanting things neat, tidy and in order then there is between having "OCD".

Whether you draw a difference is subjective and normally depends on whether the person is distressed by their behaviour. Two people exhibiting the exact same behavior - one could be classed as "OCD", the other as simply a tidy person.

So how useful is it as a label?

People constantly tell me I "have OCD" but it's not a label I'd bother to attach to myself. I don't find it in any way useful. However, I DO find it useful to have things put away tidily, to have draws which are properly organized, to run a pub where things are in order where the bar layout helps customers get served quicker and ensures the bar is easier to keep clean and tidy ... All these things and more are often mis-labelled as OCD; they're not. It's a modern fashion trend.

Be careful how you label things, especially yourself, as the labels stick. Labels restrict how you view the world, other people and yourself.

ColonelCool wrote:Sometimes, not always.

The TV volume is OCD. It's just not one that normally impacts somebody's life. But it's still a form of OCD. There is both the obsession and the compulsive components there.

No, it's not. From ocd.org.uk (and very similar definitions elsewhere in credible medical sites);
"Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition where a person experiences frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses or urges."

Not serious. Not frequent. Not intrusive. Not obsessional. Not causing repetitive compulsions.

I've read this thread 35 times and will read it again,as i can't leave it on an odd number.

thatdberight wrote:No, it's not. From ocd.org.uk (and very similar definitions elsewhere in credible medical sites);
"Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition where a person experiences frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses or urges."

Not serious. Not frequent. Not intrusive. Not obsessional. Not causing repetitive compulsions.

Slight point - there's a tiny difference between "obsessional" and "obsessive" and the key word in the definition would be disorder.

It's quite right that people setting the volume to a certain number on their TV is not labelled as a "disorder" or "mental illness". It's no wonder half the western world is thinking themselves mentally ill when this kind of crap gets medicalized.

thatdberight wrote:No, it's not. From ocd.org.uk (and very similar definitions elsewhere in credible medical sites);
"Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition where a person experiences frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses or urges."

Not serious. Not frequent. Not intrusive. Not obsessional. Not causing repetitive compulsions.

To save time, and just so you know - I disagree. I've read the link and I still disagree. This is to save time so you know that trying to change my mind isn't working. Right, now we have that out of the way, we can carry on.

It actually has a name. it's called "Volume OCD". It's minor but it's still definitely, 100% a form of OCD.