does this mean i have ocd?

Question

ive heard that it is a characteristic of ocd to get a thought in your head and obsess about it. for example, if i want to buy something, i will obsess over it until i buy it to the point where i may not even want the object by the time i am able to buy it, but i will still buy it just to satisfy the earlier desire. this may sound strange, but i dont know if it qualifies me as having the disease.

Answer 1

It might depend on what other symptoms you might have. I don't have OCD, but I have very strong OCD tendancies. So, I know that if my tendancies get worse or start to disrupt my life, I should seek help.

if this is your only symptom, you might want to just work on overcoming it.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I would not be overly worried about it if that is the only symptom you are having right now. Part of OCD is not only the obsessions and the ritualistic behaviors you do to quell the anxiety but also how much the anxiety interferes with your daily life and normal functioning.

Generally OCD revolves around an unpleasant thought that will not stop intruding on your thoughts. It keeps playing in your head over and over again and you end up doing some sort of behavior to deal with the anxiety and temporarily relieve it. One example is when a person has a fear of disease/contamination and they in turn will continually wash their hands and avoid things like opening doors or touching things that other people would touch.

Other types of OCD are: checking, collecting/hoarding. counting, pure O (when there are only obsessive thoughts and no compulsive behaviors) and perhaps some I forgotten...

I believe that you probably have a shopping addiction which is not classified the same way as OCD. It can be distressing but unless you are collecting the same sort of things and have an incredible amount of them piling up all over your house, you do not have OCD....

I have had it since age 5. It has manifested itself in many ways. I have tried the medications for it and they have some nasty side effects. If you feel you need counseling for your addiction I would recommend you seek a psychologist for an evaluation. Do not go on antidepressants or antianxiety medications though...Doctors have a tendency to use otherwise healthy people as guinea pigs.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Ppsycologists say that when peopel ask if they are ocd, they are not. Obsessing over buying an object is not ocd. Ocd is like you have to flip the light switch 15 times on and off before you can leave a room, or you must wash your hand 37 times in a clockwise direction, then 31 times in a counter clockwise direction before you can leave the bathroom. You are just a shopaholic.

Answer 4

OCD is a chronic or long-term illness, and the symptoms typically increase and decrease over time. Treatment can lessen the severity, but some symptoms may linger after you begin treatment. Anxiety is the most common symptom of OCD. For example, you may have an overall sense that something terrible will happen if you don't follow through with a particular ritual, such as repeatedly checking to see whether the stove is on. If you fail to perform the ritual, you may have immediate anxiety or a nagging sense of incompleteness.

Symptoms of OCD include:2

* Obsessions, which are recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas, and impulses that interrupt normal thinking and cause anxiety or fear. The thoughts may be sexual or violent or create a concern of illness. Examples include:
o Persistent fear of harm to yourself or a loved one.
o An excessive need to do things perfectly or correctly.
o A fear of contamination.
* Compulsions, which are behaviors or rituals that are repeated intentionally to try to control the obsessions. Some people have rituals that are rigid and structured, while others have very complex rituals that change. Examples include:
o Washing or checking.
o Counting, often while doing another compulsive action, such as hand-washing.
o Repeating things or endlessly rearranging items to keep them in perfect alignment.
o Hoarding.
o Praying.
__________________________

Generally the symptoms have to exist over a period of time and have to seriously interfere with your life.

Answer 5

A lot of disorders are assessed by checklists, which are hardly accurate or conclusive.

The most important thing to consider with any illness, ailment, disease, disorder, is whether you can function normally in your life. I don't see in this case that it is relevant to seek a label.

You should, however, consider seeing a doctor to see if medication or other treatment may assist if your symptoms or thoughts negatively affect your life or if you cannot function normally in society.

Hope you don't have too much of an OCD problem, because they can really mess with your relationships, employment, and long term health and well being.

One treatment that is often used is cognitive behavioural therapy which is essentially a way of trying to modify your behaviour and thought patterns to avoid continuing in behaviour or thinking that is detrimental to your health. It may be in your interests to talk to a doctor just to let them know if you have a serious concern, but in any case, don't just think about it or keep saying it, because that can reinforce it, and kind of make a problem out of nothing!

Always take doctors advice if you have a problem that is really worrying you or affecting your wellbeing. If not, just try to control your spending and find other ways of entertaining yourself!

Catch ya, and good luck if you need it.

Answer 6

Generally people with OCD have more than one characteristic of the disorder including a physical manifestation such as washing hands or touching tiles or doorways a certain way. I think your safe unless it gets worse and you become packrat like. So, no worries!

Answer 7

It might, but I'm not sure that OCD can be diagnosed here. You might want to talk to a pro about it. They might also be able to give you some guidance as to how to deal with this, OCD or not.

Answer 8

This is a very good blog, a beginner’s guide to abnormal psychology.
Short, clear and simple; and you can even post your question and contact the author regarding particular subject you are interested in, for FREE

http://sensitive-psychoworld.blogspot.com/

Answer 9

i dont think so, ocd is something like arranging your items in order from tallest to smallest or not touching door knobs because their dirty or washing your hands three times in order to feet clean, i have ocd but not to an extreme to where i do rituals like some ocd people

Answer 10

www.avh.it

it sounds crazy, but to anyone who has OCD and likes to count, or keep track of things, I play on there as alias...and its *extremely* satisfying *giggles* I could do it all night and day. Its all about numbers and repeated actions.