I've been trying to figure out someone who has OCD - Can anyone help?

Question

For over two years now I've been friends with and dated a gentleman who has OCD. I'm wondering if there is anyone out there with OCD or knowledge about OCD who can try to help me make sense of him and his actions.

Answer 1

An obsessive compulsive person is ususally very arrogant , shallow from inside and can rarely have long term relations with others . It is because he and his actions are not tolerable . He alway s is worrying and is always preoccupied with loss of control on his personal life . He is also preocupied by excessive cleanliness , order , details ,symmetry , sexuality etc . Remains depressed anxious and dissatified . The fear of losing control makes him boss his loved ones and colleagues. Can be very demanding and dictating . In a nut shell he is an " arrogant asshole " . Many OCDs lack emotion s and empathy also .

Some of the personalities that I can think of with similar character traits :


Henry Kessinger
Simon from American Idol


Modifying a personality can be very difficult though not impossible. First of all your boy friend should be willing to get help , that is only possible if he has insight into his problem. Cognitive behaviour therapy throug a shrink and symptomatic treatment of anxiety and depression with SSRI e.g Zoloft can help . The best advice change boy friends ...............

Answer 2

His actions don't make sense and he very likely knows it. He endages in the behaviors that he does because it relieves him of a very real anxiety. In OCD, a few different areas of the brain contribute to the different syptoms often associated with OCD but here's what is basically thought to happen.

In a non-afflicted brain, when someone has dirty hands, a part of the brain receives the message that the hands are dirty and need washing. Another part of the brain is responsible for completing the task of washing the hands and when this is complete, a signal is sent verifying the hands have been washed.....if you're familar with programming this would be the closing bracket or the /end wash hands.

In brains afflicted by OCD, the message that the action has been completed is not sent...or not recieved. The message does not get through to a particular part of the brain that the hands have been washed. The person consciously knows the hands have been washed but the conscious part of the brain doesn't have the ability to pass this information to the part of the brain that needs to know it. This part of the brain thinks nothing has been done and again sends in a request to wash the hands. Because of this, anxiety is produced....and in the case of compulsive hand washers, they may get a "ghost" feeling that their hands are dirty.

This is just one of many ways in which OCD can manifest though. Your boyfriend may have had some deal going on where he would get an intense feeling that harm would come to someone he loved if he, let's say, drank all the soda in a soda can instead of leaving it a quarter full. He knows it's rediculous but some part of his brain isn't working as it should and the feeling of anxiety it's producing as a result becomes so intense that he must devise a way to deal with it.....in this example, leaving the soda in the can.

By the way, while you shouldn't force him into a situation he isn't comfortable with as far as his OCD goes, you can and should refrain from helping him engage in anything if he tries to envolve you. For example, some people may want everyone to shower ever time they come in the house. This particular one is unusual though. Most people with OCD are discreet about it and really want to be left alone when it comes to their rituals.

Answer 3

Try the OCD Foundation Website

http://www.ocfoundation.org/

Answer 4

Hi, I have OCD. Simply put, you have a thought running and running thru your mind such as clean the kitchen floor. Then, you must go clean it immediately and harshly to get the thought to stop. So, maybe you scrub the shine off the linoleum-like me. Or perhaps you are a checker and you must check the heater being off -3xs- each time you leave the house. Or you click your teeth together everytime you see a mailbox on the side of the road while driving. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Here's a very interesting and informative book to read:
The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing
by Judith L. Rapoport, M.D.
(national bestseller)

Answer 6

OK, there is no logical explanation to the behavior of an OCD person. They are compelled to do what they do. They really have no choice. I have had to deal with it myself. Lucky for me, mine was induced by antidepressant drugs. When I stopped taking them, my symptoms went away.

Answer 7

Does he hoard? People with OCD are worriers, filled with anxiety, prone to depression. Trying to "make sense" of these symptoms is impossible. It is a DISORDER; not rational thought.
I assume he is being treated. I sympathize with your attempt to make sense of him and his actions, the best you can do is continue to tolerate such. You must be an exceptionally patient person. Your kindness is appreciated.

Answer 8

ok well......
It's good that you are trying to understand him.
It's great......... Try these sites!
http://health.yahoo.com/ency/healthwise/hw169097
http://www.ocfoundation.org/
http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/ocd.html
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/HealthInformation/ocdmenu.cfm
http://www.webmd.com/hw/anxiety_panic_disorders/ty3382.asp

Hope that this helps.
I also have OCD.... I clean alot!..... lol
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But these other symptoms don't apply to me... They have different types.... I'm a cleaner.

Answer 9

I wish I could help. My ex g/f has that. I miss her so much.