Is it dangerous to have OCD as a teenager?

Question

My only symtoms are obsesive counting and organizing things...so its not bad is it?

I noticed my addiction to counting when i was a kid. But i just recently learned that there was a disease referring to that. I also noticed that i cant stand things being un-organized. Everything i have is a mess but if there is something that ive counted before it has to be straight and neat. (ex. i count my dvd's like...4-5 times a week. I organize my movies so that the VHS's are in one place and DVD's in another)

Answer 1

It's only bad if you let it be, just don't let it upset your social life or your school work and it's nothing to worry about.

Answer 2

I was diagnosed with OCD, depression and social anxiety about 6 months ago, keep in mind I'm 22 and not a teenager but still it is not dangerous unless you are obsessively organizing time bombs. The only huge downfall is if you become so obsessed that it effects your day to day living. For example, before I was receiving treatment I would check every window and door in my house to make sure that they were locked before going to bed and then re check them, it would sometimes take me over an hour after I had decided to go to bed that I would actually climb into bed because I had to check everything. Its really annoying to live with and for anyone who lives with you, but there are perks, my room is so neat and organized, I know where everything is and it makes me work so incredibly hard. Now that I'm on medication, it isn't that bad, I still check the doors and windows but I don't recehck them that often. It's something that you have to learn to live with, but its not completely horrible.

Answer 3

no! it's not a bad thing. there are many teenager's with OCD. including myself. actually, i have OCD, ADD and Tourettes. So i've got it all. lol. but im on meds so it's all under control. it can only be a bad thing for you to have it if you have it really badly and aren't medicated. but it doesn't sound like you have it that bad, so you're fine.

yeah, i have the counting thing, too. especially steps. i count them as i go up and down, and noone can talk to me while im doing it cuz then i lose count. lol. i know exactly how many steps are in the places i usually go, like in my house and school and stuff.

it's dangerous at all! only if it would get totally out of control. other than that, you're fine.

good luck!

Answer 4

It depends if it leads to other OCD's or if this obsession gets worse. Everyone has an obsession about something whether they know it or not. For instance, I know a person who has to write in cursive One, Two, Three, as long as she is talking to someone on the phone. She also has to write the months down in meetings, like Jan, Feb,, then she goes to "seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks--she writes that all down in cursive over and over. I think she has an obsession with time.

There's nothing wrong with being organized unless you worry about it when it isn't and then that gets worse.

Answer 5

Yes and no.

Yes because OCD has the possibility of taking over your life, and no because being diagnosed so early gives the person a chance to seek treatment and modify their life before it effects things like marriages and careers. This is a good thing, as long as the followup is done.

Answer 6

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, more specifically, an anxiety disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive (repetitive, distressing, intrusive) thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or rituals) which attempt to neutralize the obsessions.

The phrase "obsessive-compulsive" has worked its way into the wider English lexicon, and is often used in an offhand manner to describe someone who is meticulous or absorbed in a cause. Such casual references should not be confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder; see clinomorphism. It is also important to distinguish OCD from other types of anxiety, including the routine tension and stress that appear throughout life. A person who shows signs of infatuation or fixation with a subject/object, or displays traits such as perfectionism, does not necessarily have OCD, a specific and well-defined condition.

To be diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, one must have either obsessions or compulsions alone, or obsessions and compulsions, according to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria. The Quick Reference to the diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR (2000) describes these obsessions and compulsions:

Obsessions are defined by:

1. Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress.
2. The thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems.
3. The person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action.
4. The person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind.

Compulsions are defined by:

1. Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.
2. The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive.

Unless you have been clinically diagnosed, you cant be sure. You may just be anal. And that can be dangerous.

Answer 7

No more "dangerous' than any one else. it's good that you recognize you have a problem and there is help for OCD if you need it. Ask your pediatrician AND parents about different treatment plans. People with ocd do not always have to take medication but it is a possibility.

Answer 8

i'm so chuffed, it substitute into in basic terms a 35 minutechronic ( 70 minutes entire) yet surely no sign of tension or panic i shopped till I dropped - dazzling! i'll now choose for the subsequent point twin CARRIAGE way, in all probability on the weekend, with my husband accompanying me first then the solochronic, if useful the merely precise point of employing on toll highway Beat tension And Panic assaults of course?

Answer 9

I am NO doctor...But if, a big if, you can afford to see an MD...then i would just ask him if your symptoms are "that bad"....such as how long you count and organize things??? i mean i do not know!!!! You may want to ask him....But going to a specialist is very expensive!

Answer 10

It's not dangerous, no, but there is the chance of the habits kind of taking over your life (hence "obsessive compulsive"). OCD belongs to anxiety disorders, and there is treatment for it.

Answer 11

It's good to you to realize it so soon. As the treatment will reduce it easily since you realize your OCD symptom anoying your mind at least until now.