Obsessive-Compulsive?

Question

Hello everyone,

I'm dealing with an issue right now that's going to sound kind of crazy to you, but it's serious for me. I'm having some obsessive-organization issues. I find myself re-organizing my room, and everytime I do I still feel like there's something that isn't right and that I'll eventually have to organize that. But no matter how much I organize, I can never feel completely satisfied. This has gone so far that I have to have my computer and closet completely organized as well (it's even so weird that I freak out about certain clothing not being similar to other pieces of clothing.) I'm very insecure about this issue because I feel like being so organized makes other people feel that I'm too feminine or finicky. Does anyone else suffer with this issue or have any advice they can offer?

(Also, please don't just tell me to "get help" because I already have a therapist, but it's not quite helping.)

Answer 1

You sound very insecure. When people are insecure, they do things to make themselves feel more 'secure', like walking through their house, checking all the doors and windows, making sure no one is around, etc etc etc.

Well, if you have a subconscious thought that there is an intruder in the house, going through and checking all the doors and windows and whatnot is not going to help because what you are doing is reassuring yet meaningless (what good does checking on a door being locked if the person is already inside)?

So, you have this insecurity, so you do things to gain 'control' of your life, but because you feel that you are not in control fo your life, you 'see' the organization you are doing as having no meaning. And since you don't know what else to do, you keep repeating the action over and over again until the repetition makes you feel 'in control'.

Its kind of like an addiction because the first times you do it, you only need to organize your stuff a couple of times, but because you still have the insecurity, it takes more and more repetition to achieve the same feeling of 'control' later on.

Your insecurity is even attempting to thwart your attempts at control by making you worry about what other people 'think' about you. Trying to worry about being organized AND doing so in a way to conform to other people is simply a doubling and tripling of lack of control/insecurity you are feeling, which is why it is getting stronger instead of going away.

To take 'control' of your life means admitting to yourself what kind of person you are. If you are an OC, that is who you are, which means that you need to 'organize' your life around what a person with OCD needs. Would you expect a person who walked on crutches to try and live their life in the same way as people who don't walk around on crutches?

You can't get better by trying to be what you aren't (which is what someone else is). Working with your difficulties is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of individual strength (since it means respecting the individual who has to go through it: yourself).

Answer 2

Most of the time when symptoms of OCD flair up this badly its because of some other stressor in your life. You feel out of control with one thing, so you try to overly control another. Try to identify whats going on in your life thats making you crave control, and realize that organizing things will not make this problem any better.

If there is nothing you can identify, make sure you mention this to your therapist...they may be able to see a pattern that you can't. In the mean time, take a couple of deep breaths, and think about all of the time you could be using for other things, and are instead using to redo something thats already been done.

Good luck

Answer 3

yes you might want to try a new therapist, but either way therapy isnt always the answer. i have ocd and therapy would never be the answer for me. what i might recommend, is a barrier system. try to say that, once you leave a room, whehter its organized or not, it doesnt matter. you just leave the room, and yourve passed the barrier. thats what i do with my ocd, i call it partitions, ocd cannot pass a partition and follow me. try to think of ocd differnetly. send me an email message if you like me to think about this more, cause to be honest im interested in your case.

Answer 4

Do u find yourself, putting all the brown colors in shades of darker to the lighter browns, long sleeves and shorter sleeves to no sleeves. All colors must go together. No rugs can have any ripples or winkles. Not wanting to leave my place with anyone there while I'm gone because they'll mess something up. Never stepping on any cracks. My bed has to have no wrinkles in it. I sleep in my bed like it's in a magazine. The only thing that could change you is some type of drug, or time.

Answer 5

well i think u seem to be a guy who is very stressed all the time and i think that you should try to just relax for a bit...u know go to the beach and just chill, put on some jack johnson and lay down and listen. I have a friend who is extremly ocd and if he relaxes hes alot better.

Answer 6

If you have been doing this for many years it will take many years to minimize it. Good luck.