Do I have OCD?

Question

I have always noticed that i am a little quirky. but lately little things i do are getting more severe. i have a corn snake, he's a fairly new pet. ever since i bought him i have noticed odd behavior that i cant help but do.
for example: i will be sitting down stairs watching TV and i will have an urge to go up stairs and make sure the lid to omar's(name of snake is omar) tank is closed. if i stay down stairs and try to ignore it my heart will race and and i get very nervous. if i go up stairs to check it i will peak into my room see thats its closed and then go back down stairs. BUT lately i will get half way back down the stairs and become unsure that the the lid was really closed. so i will go check it again. and sometimes i will exit my room one more time and go BACK and touch the lid.
at this point im thinking there is something wring with me.

Also if someones sleeve is folded over it drives me crazy. but i used to be able to let it go. but now i will actually ask someone that i dont know to fix their sleeve. if i dont ask them to fix it (or if they are rude and just wont) i get anxious.

What has really made me wonder if i have OCD was today in gym. a kid had a Japanese comic book. Japanese books are backwards. and i had a panic attack because i couldn't fix it.

Do i have OCD?

Answer 1

Don't worry - you're still pretty normal; many people have these same behaviors! Most of them do not have OCD - they have anxiety, or a very conscious fears of certain things happening (such as your snake getting out!) and that makes them act oddly. You really don't need to fret just yet about becoming obsessive-compulsive. Depending on your age, you may want to monitor your anxious acts for a while.

If you want to get over your need to check up on Omar, maybe you should move him to a different area (like by the TV, if that is where you are when you feel the most anxiety). Something else you can do is just rationalize the whole situation, and refuse to let your anxiety control you - when you start to feel worrisome and your heart begins to race with dread that Omar is liberating himself, just calm down and focus on the tens of times that you've sauntered up the steps only to find the lid on. Remind yourself that it was on last time you saw it and there is no reasonable way that the lid could be off if you haven't done something to change that. Eventually, you will become used to the worry as well as used to rationalizing that all out, and you'll be fine. This is the same procedure I had to do with the lock on the front door of my house. I moved into a new home in a shady part of town; I was nervous all the time that I had forgotten to lock the door and that someone would get in. Because of this, I would go check to make sure I had locked the door almost every ten minutes that I was home. It became so annoying and anxiety-producing that I just forced myself to stop checking it, and eventually became comfortable in trusting that the door was locked out of habit.

Answer 2

No you are building something in yourself by allowing this to slowly take over. I have the same tendencies. I am that way with locking my doors at my house I have to check them twice or when I go to bed I have to get up and check it again.

You need to train yourself not to respond to those urges each time you do they become stronger. One way to help would be to place something heavey ontop of the cage so you know that it can not be moved then you will not worry about it being opened with out you opening it.

Good luck and I will pray for you. Remember you have the strength and ability to stop what you are doing and reverse the tide :)

Answer 3

Yes, that sounds like OCD. Obviously, I'm not a doctor. But I'm a psychology major--and I also have OCD myself. That intense anxiety you're talking about that you experience when you can't "fix" something sounds like what I experience. And since it's invading your life--like asking strangers to fix their sleeves--that's also a big symptom. Please, see your family doc or a psychiatrist (I see a psychiatrist) so they can help you. My psychiatrist was able to help me feel better really quickly. There are a lot of good meds out there that don't really have side effects that can treat those urges and that anxiety, so you'll feel better. Mine don't give me side effects, and I feel much better now. I don't have the urges much at all, or the panic attacks either.

So please see a doc! You'll feel a lot better once you do. :)

(Hug)
kacey

Answer 4

no, you're not obsessive compulsive. that's just being paranoid.

i've been both, and they are different.

try zanex...at least that's how i think it's spelled.
it's a perscription, so talk to a doctor or shrink or someone.
it's supposed to just call you down and help you be at peace a little more, it is a very mild drug and doesn't have any side affects.

anxiety and paranoia, somewhere down that alley.
not OCD.

Answer 5

well, some kind of anxiety disorder is beginning, I think. you might want to talk to someone before it gets worse.