Personally, I find my money-arranging compulsion..
is useful. My coworkers' drawers are always complete out of order, ones in the twenties slots, twenties in the hundreds slots, bills folded in half underneath bills not folded in half, etc. Takes them a good five or ten minutes longer than myself to count their money when it comes time, and I never have to search for a bill to make change.
(Trial.TM, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 10:58, 2 replies)

Yes - being tidy I can understand - it's generally less hassle to be tidy than not - it's the OCD stuff that I don't get.
Maybe it's just that I'm incredibly lazy.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:04, closed)

Its almost like they have some kind of mental disorder...

(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:18, closed)

Well that's exactly it - I don't think they do.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:24, closed)

there's definitely a line
between fussy and obsessive.

Some people simply can't be around things that have absolutely no effect on their lives.

You've got £7.49 in loose change in your pocket. Does it make any difference to you whether it is sorted in size of coin? Course not. But an OCD person simply can't operate until they are where they 'need' to be.

And there's a lot of food ones. Can't have meat touching potatoes, have to throw it all away if egg yolk bursts before you've finished your peas?

It makes huge differences to their lives. They waste vast amounts of time, at the expense of other opportunities (go back 3 times to check your door? How far would you have got etc). They injure themselves (try washing your hands 80 times a day, using a scrubbing brush).

It is some kind of mental illness, in it's extreme forms.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:31, closed)

Oh I see...
Why don't you think that mental disorders don't exist?
(robbersdog, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:32, closed)

I don't.
I just don't think OCD necessarily does.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:34, closed)

Ok,
So why do you think OCD is different to other mental disorders then?
(robbersdog, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:16, closed)

Well, because it's clearly deliberate and generally unnecessary.
As opposed to spontaneous and uncontrolled.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:19, closed)

It really isn't deliberate.

(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:32, closed)

Then why does one do it if it's not deliberate?
As I say - I'm not an expert on the subject, but I can't help thinking that if it's annoying, frustrating or debilitating then, er ... don't do it.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:42, closed)

Again...
A fundamental failure to understand OCD (wikipedia is your friend). The *obsessions* themselves are debilitating. The *compulsions* are a reaction to the obsessions and are an attempt to eliminate or reduce the anxiety caused by them. The obsessions *are spontaneous and uncontrollable* which means that the compulsions are necessary.
(flimflam_machine, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:52, closed)

As I said below - it seems the thoughts/obsessions as the engine
Need to be come to terms with and accepted.

Locking the back door 17 times is not going to make it safer, or lucky, or help you pass your exam.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:00, closed)

It is deliberate.
It's done in response to nagging anxiety that the sufferer cannot ignore without suffering extreme mental distress.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:49, closed)

He's completely right you know.
It's the same with most 'nyoo-ro-logikull cun-di-shuns', so-called.
I personally know this to be true - I tell everyone I have epilepsy, but really I just throw fits so people look at me.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:44, closed)

I can't claim to be an expert on the subject, but I didn't realise OCD was neurological.
I thought it was psychological.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:47, closed)

Posttraumatic stress disorder is "only" psychological
would you say a soldier suffering from it was just over-reacting to loud noises? I've known a couple of guys who basically can't stop repeting the same phrases and performing the same little actions and it drove them spare. Do ypou understand the "cumpulsion" part of OCD? Its not something people do by choice.
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:31, closed)

I hardly think the two are comparable.
Locking the back door 17 times and then washing one's hands twice with water and twice to rinse for obsessive fear of catching a cold is significantly different from spending a whole year in an environment where being shelled and sniped at by anyone in the vicinity and seeing men, women and children be quite literally blown limb from limb.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:41, closed)

In a similar vein,
thinking you're 'fat' and 'revolting' and starving yourself because of it, just because you want to be skinny, is trivial in comparison to the actual suffering experienced by someone who was abused as a child. They're the ones with something real to worry about, while the anorexic should just shut up and eat more.

Don't belittle anyone's suffering. Not understanding it is one thing; making it out to be trivial because there's worse things is quite another.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 12:57, closed)

Fair enough
But I do kind of feel that way about anorexia too - likewise I believe fatness can be cured through cake eating-avoidance.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:09, closed)

It seems you're forgetting two things about the mind:
1. Our minds notice (or even make up) patterns very easily.
2. The mind is generally quite lazy.

When some people experience fear/anxiety for no real reason, they want to return to feeling comfortable as quickly as possible (so they won't think logically like you have, because it takes too much time).
So their mind will identify patterns of behaviour that it believes 'led' them to this fear/anxiety, no matter how arbitrary.
(tarbin tarbis, tarbit, tarbamus, tarbimus, tarbant, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:42, closed)

This
would appear to be the most acceptable answer I've been given so far.

Thank you.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:45, closed)

No probs fella
Glad I could shed some light!
(tarbin tarbis, tarbit, tarbamus, tarbimus, tarbant, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 19:24, closed)

Post traumaticv stress disorder isn't
spending a year being shelled.

It's the time after afterwards, where you still think you're being shelled when someone pops a crisp packet.

They're both reactions to what are really non existant stimuli.

You're comparing apples and oranges.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:55, closed)

Yes, OK - I accept that.
But I still think they're not really comparable - while I accept that OCD may be brought on by stressful situations, it's the irrationality of continuing with it when it becomes annoying or debilitating that I don't understand.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 13:58, closed)

We have a bit of an advantage in the UK
Assuming you're in the US . .?

Our notes are all different colours and sizes, so they're much easier to work with when they're mixed up.

US Dollars all look pretty much the same. Having those properly sorted would be a big time saver even if you're not OCD.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:25, closed)

But noone except perhaps David Beckham so much money they have to trawl through masses of notes to get to the one they want.
The most I ever carry is the Holy Trinity, and even then that's only if I'm going out.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 2 Jul 2010, 11:33, closed)

Yea, US..
Wish we had the damned common sense to do things like that. But, no - god forbid we take lessons from other countries. We're Americans, damnit, and we're patriotic, and we won't let any commies tell us how to live, so our money stays uniform.
(Trial.TM, Sun 4 Jul 2010, 4:45, closed)