OCD - if so many people have it, is it not just normal??

Question

I have it, but no end of people tell me they have 'the same thing'.
Is it my OCD trying to tell me I dont have OCD, or does everyone have it a little bit??

Answer 1

80-90% of the population have some sort of obsessive-compulsive symptoms - ie. compulsions such as superstitious behaviours..

The difference is that it doesn't get to the extent where it interferes with their lives. Some theorists have attributed this to the way people INTERPRET these symptoms, and it is thought that the difference between people with OCD and people who experience obsessions and compulsions but not the disorder, is that people with OCD perceive the symptoms to mean they are RESPONSIBLE for the symptoms or for harm in some way..

Anyway for more info on this see Salkovskis' work.

Answer 2

Everyone has quirky behaviors that are similar to that of someone with OCD. But for diagnosis, a person must be spending at least an hour per day performing compulsions. So therefore I'm sure most people who tell you they have it, probably don't. OCD is these quirky behaviors in a person gone awry. When they get in the way with normal healthy functioning, it is a disorder.

I personally have been diagnosed and treated for OCD. I don't find too many people telling me they have it. I have had some people ask me if I think they have it and as for the majority of them, they don't.

Answer 3

nice joke in your question and of course you are accurately suggesting that people are over conscious of it as they have become paranoid about diabetes
i get the impression that a certain amount of brain chemical gives just the right amount of concern about something-as defined by who?- and otherwise you are drifting into ocd and what ignatius loyola called 'scrupilosity' from scrupulum,one in twenty fourth part of an ounce,the smallest unit of measurement available in the middle ages
you can easily accept the argument that you drift from normal worry to concerns about scrupula-
my worries are starting to become unbalanced and today i am feeling very uncomfortable about wearing a perfectly good tee shirt because there is some printing on the side where i cnat even see it so the condition is getting to the point that it might soon be seriously inconvenient;there was an article in hte local paper about the local brain injury clinic who were holding a clinic for people with recurrent thoughts-the interesting thing about my shirt problem is that i know its silly but i cnat help it-i cant sleep at night unless therre is no noise in the condition known as hyperacusis where the noise perception is exaggerated due to the resentment of the noise
i think the slightly diffuse nature of my letteer reflects the current understanding of this condition and their ability to treat it although i did hear of some medication under development two years ago

Answer 4

I think the thing about OCD is that the term is used too loosely. People always say, "oh, I'm OCD about that", but most people don't actually mean that a doctor diagnosed them as OCD. The unfortunate thing is that when there are people that seriously have it, people don't realize what it means and take it seriously.

PS- Nice avatar! :)

Answer 5

Lots of people have odd quirks but it doesn't make it OCD, although it is quite trendy to have it so people join up. It becomes OCD when you start having a few too many "routines" and they start to affect other areas of your life.

It doesn't help when programmes like Hollyoaks show someone with OCD develop it overnight and be cured within a matter of days.

Answer 6

OCD = obsessive complusive disorder is not normal. It is a behavior that you repeat on doing things over and over again. Some are worst. it all comes from the mind.

If you have it, that shows some problem with "trust", you don't trust this or that, that is why you repeat so many times. If you have trust, you probably would not have OCD

Answer 7

I think everyone is ocd to an extent, but those normal behaviors are called quirks. It is the extreme Obsessive Compulsions that creat an abnormal problem that requires special attention

Answer 8

It is normal for you, I have epilepsy and it's normal for me. Obsessive compulsive disorder is a common thing and I believe that there are such similar symptoms that there is a lot of overlapping of disorders. (I don't like calling them 'disorders'--I have a friend who has OCD and she gets along just fine.)
I have a touch of OCD--sometimes things just have to be perfect and I feel that a lot of people have a bit of it.

Answer 9

there are different degrees of it, and many people can have tendencies that make them "a bit OCD". i have it, and thought i got rid of it but it creeps into different areas of my life and i see i never "outgrew" it. people who say they have it but don't are just using the term irresponsibly. wanting your work projects perfect isn't OCD, but it could be ONE tendency of it. i don't think having OCD is 'normal' but i also don't think it's anything to be ashamed of.

Answer 10

just for the record there are many of us who have like no OCD, we are the ones you get frustrated cleaning up after, we are slobs and like it likit like that. We are the ones you arbitrarily assigned the label of OPD and we don't care about that either