what does OCD means? does anyone of you have this problem?

Question

if you have this problem, could you tell me how much it is affecting your life?

Answer 1

OCD = OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER.
Yes i have it.! Yes i have it! Yes i have it! Yes i have it!

It takes me, an extra 20-30 minutes to get ready for work in the morning, cause i have to stop and do things twice or four times cause odd numbers are bad luck to me... and i have to turn a certain way before i can do something... its very time consuming and it gets annoying!!

Answer 2

OCD stands for obsessive compulsive disorder. You are obsessed over things that cause great anxiety and then feel a need to do compulsive things to relieve that anxiety. For example, you may be obsessed over germs and feel a need to compulsively wash your hands over and over again.

I have OCD but it's not affecting my life as much as it was cause I sought treatment and I now take Paxil for it. It has helped a lot. Before taking the Paxil the OCD was crippling almost to the point where I could not do anything at all.

I once washed my hands so much that they became dried out and cracked and bled one winter. It was very painful. For me I would say well you got to do something 4 times or 8 times and if you don't something bad will happen. I was always afraid that if I didn't do whatever it was hand washing, counting, or whatever something would happen to someone I loved. Then I got to the point where it took so long to do things like 2 hours to go to bed or whatever that I would just sit up all night or avoid it all together. That's when I decided something had to be done and sought treatment.

I told my family Dr and broke down crying when I told her. She was very nice and understanding and it's the best thing I ever did. Hope this helped you in some way.

Answer 3

My boyfriend has OCD. His number is 4 and he is a tapper. He will tap his glass on the table 4 times (or a multiple of 4), or he will touch something 4 times (or a multiple of 4). He also flips the light switch on and off and taps his car with his keys. As his girlfriend, I'm okay with it, but sometimes when I'm in a hurry I'm just like hurry up!! I don't mean it in a mean way.

My good friend from high school has number OCD. She has numbers that she likes. For instance, she can eat 2 cookies, but not one or three or four or five, because she doesn't like those numbers. Another example is she will add up the digits on her alarm clock to determine a good time to wake up. For instance, she can wake up at 5:50 am because the digits add up to 10 and she likes 10. She could not wake up at 5:53 am because those digits equal 13 and she does not like that number.

I have slightly compulsive behavior. I will lock my car 3 times, or check the front door to my house 3 times to see if it is locked. I also do not like to touch public places because there are SO many germs...

Answer 4

obsessive compulsion disorder no i have not got it but if i did it would give me the shits They have different obsessions like turning the light switches on and off repeatedly turning coffee cups to all face the same direction in the kitchen cupboard repeatedly washing there hands till there cracked and bleeding not walking on cracks on the pavement what a pain in the bum to live like this!

Answer 5

yes i do have it and the real name is OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER just so you no it takes me and extra 25-35 minutes in the morning to get ready in the morning i have obsessive hand washing i was my have 5 times before i can look in the mirror THEN 20 MORE TIMES !!and alot of stuff and if the border around The doors i have to touch the top to corners of th border its hell.

Answer 6

Obssevive Compulsive Disorder. I suffer from it but take medicine so I don't show many symtoms. I am just a fanatic about being perfectly clean now.

Answer 7

obsessive compulsive disorder.

Answer 8

The typical OCD sufferer performs tasks (or compulsions) to seek relief from obsession related anxiety. To others, these tasks may appear odd and unnecessary. But for the sufferer, such tasks can feel critically important, and must be performed in particular ways to ward off dire consequences and to stop the stress from building up. Examples of these tasks: repeatedly checking that one's parked car has been locked before leaving it; turning lights on and off a set number of times before exiting a room; repeatedly washing hands at regular intervals throughout the day.

Symptoms may include some, all or perhaps none of the following:

Repeated hand-washing
Specific counting systems - i.e. counting in groups of four, arranging objects in groups of three, having objects grouped in odd/even numbered groups, etc.
One serious symptom which stems from this is "counting" your steps, e.g. you must take twelve steps to the car in the morning, etc.
Perfectly aligning objects at complete, absolute right angles, etc. This symptom is shared with OCPD and can be confused with this condition unless it is realised that with OCPD it is not stress-related.
Having to "cancel-out" bad thoughts with a good thought. Examples are:
Imagining harming a child, and having to imagine (for example) a child playing happily to "cancel" it out.
Unwanted sexual thoughts. Two classic examples are fear of being gay or fear of being a pedophile. In both cases, the sufferer will obsess over whether or not they are genuinely aroused by the thoughts.
A fear of contamination; some sufferers may fear the presence of human body secretion such as saliva, sweat, tears or mucus, or excretions such as urine or feces. Some OCD sufferers even fear the soap they're using is contaminatedA need for both sides of the body to feel even. As in, a person with OCD might walk down a sidewalk and step on a crack with the ball of their left foot. They might then feel the need to step on another crack with the ball of their right foot. Also, if one hand gets wet, the sufferer may feel very uncomfortable if the other is not.
There are many other symptoms. It is important to remember that one must be diagnosed by a doctor to officially suffer from OCD in medical terms; furthermore possessing the symptoms above is not an absolute sign of OCD and vice-versa.
Obsessions are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. Common OCD obsessions include fears of acquiring disease, getting hurt, or causing harm to someone. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to by themselves. People with OCD who obsess about hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person.

Compulsions refer to actions that the person performs, usually repeatedly, in an attempt to make the obsession go away. For an OCD sufferer who obsesses about germs or contamination, for example, these compulsions often involve repeated cleansing or meticulous avoidance of trash and mess. Most of the time the actions become so regular that it is not a noticeable problem. Common compulsions include excessive washing and cleaning; checking; hoarding; repetitive actions such as touching, counting, arranging and ordering; and other ritualistic behaviors that the person feels will lessen the chances of provoking an obsession. Compulsions can be observable — washing, for instance — but they can also be mental rituals such as repeating words or phrases, or counting.

Most OCD sufferers are aware that such thoughts and behavior are not rational, but feel bound to comply with them to fend off fears of panic or dread. Because sufferers are consciously aware of this irrationality but feel helpless to push it away, untreated OCD is often regarded as one of the most vexing and frustrating of the major anxiety disorders.

In an attempt to further relate the immense distress that those afflicted with this condition must bear, Barlow and Durand (2006) utilize an odd example. Strangely enough, they implore readers not to think of pink elephants. Their point lies in the assumption that many people will immediately create an image of a pink elephant in their mind even if told not to do so. The more one attempts to stop thinking of these colorful animals, the more they will succeed in generating these mental images. This phenomenon is termed: the “Thought Avoidance Paradox”, and it plagues those with OCD on a daily basis, for no matter how hard one tries to get these disturbing images and thoughts out of his/her mind, feelings of distress and anxiety inevitably prevail. Although everyone may experience unpleasant thoughts at one time or another, these are usually warranted concerns that are short-lived and fade after an adequate time period has lapsed. However, this is not the case for OCD sufferers. (K. Carter, PSYC 210 lecture, February 14, 2006).

People who suffer from the separate and unrelated condition obsessive compulsive personality disorder are not aware of anything abnormal with them; they will readily explain why their actions are rational, and it is usually impossible to convince them otherwise. People who suffer with OCPD tend to derive pleasure from their obsessions or compulsions. Those with OCD do not derive pleasure but are ridden with anxiety. OCD is ego dystonic, meaning that the disorder is incompatible with the sufferer's self-concept. Because disorders that are ego dystonic go against an individual's perception of his/herself, they tend to cause much distress. OCPD, on the other hand, is ego syntonic--marked by the individual's acceptance that the characteristics displayed as a result of this disorder are compatible with his/her self-image. Ego syntonic disorders understandably cause no distress (K. Carter, PSYC 210 lecture, April 11, 2006). This is a significant difference between these disorders.

Equally frequent, these rationalizations do not apply to the overall behavior, but to each instance individually; for example, a person compulsively checking their front door may argue that the time taken and stress caused by one more check of the front door is considerably less than the time and stress associated with being robbed, and thus the check is the better option. In practice, after that check, the individual is still not sure, and it is still better in terms of time and stress to do one more check, and this reasoning can continue as long as necessary.

Not all OCD sufferers engage in compulsive behavior. Recent years have seen increased diagnoses of Pure Obsessional OCD, or "Pure O." This form of OCD is manifested entirely within the mind, and involves obsessive ruminations triggered by certain thoughts. These mental "snags" can be debilitating, often tying up a sufferer for hours at a time. As of 2004, headway continues to be made by specialists. It is believed by many that Pure O OCD is in fact more prevalent than other types of OCD, although it is likely the most underreported as it is not visibly apparent, and sufferers tend to suffer in silence. In this disorder, the sufferer tries to "disprove" the anxious thoughts through logic and reasoning, yet in doing so becomes further entrapped by the obsessions. "Pure O" OCD is thought to be the most difficult form of OCD to treat.

Some OCD sufferers exhibit what is known as overvalued ideas. In such cases, the person with OCD will truly be uncertain whether the fears that cause them to do their compulsions are irrational or not. After some (possibly long) discussion, it is possible to convince the individual that their fears may be unfounded. It may be extra difficult to do ERP therapy on such a patient, because they may be, at least initially, unwilling to do it.

OCD is different from behaviors such as gambling addiction and overeating. People with these disorders typically experience at least some pleasure from their activity; OCD sufferers do not actively want to perform their compulsive tasks, and experience no tangible pleasure in doing so.

OCD is placed in the anxiety class of mental illness, but like many chronic stress disorders it can lead to clinical depression over time. The constant stress of the condition can cause sufferers to develop a deadening of spirit, a numbing frustration, or sense of hopelessness. OCD's effects on day-to-day life — particularly its substantial consumption of time — can produce difficulties with work, finances and relationships.

The illness ranges widely in severity. The illness affects many people and it is not cureable but can be treated with anti-depressants. This illness affects millions of people worldwide, and the number keeps growing.