QuestForAnswers
New member
I’m sure posts like this get annoying after awhile, but I hope that you provide me with some of your opinions. My concerns started when I began examining my behaviors to better understand some of my other issues. I have panic disorder with agoraphobia. There is no doubt that I have those conditions because I can’t go into large buildings, drive more than 10miles from my home and at one point I could barely walk to the end of my driveway without freaking out. So, I can definitely relate to how debilitating mental disorders can be. If I have OCD, then it clearly isn’t at the level of many OCD sufferers. However, some of my behaviors make me wonder if OCD is potentially another problem I need to deal with. I hope that you will read these and give me your opinions on whether I have legitimate concerns about having OCD. I'm certainly not expecting a diagnosis, but I hope I can get some guidance.
I have an abnormal fear of germs. A few years ago I would excessively use hand sanitizer. Even if my arm touched a surface that I felt was not clean, then I would use hand sanitizer to disinfect my arm. I got to the point that my hand was irritated from the use of it. I am overly careful to make sure that my food doesn’t touch any unclean surfaces. I constantly check the expiration date on foods. I will always wash dishes again even after they’ve been through the dishwasher. I’ve occasionally cleaned a glass 5 times or more before I felt comfortable using it.
When I send an email or make a post on a forum, I always read in numerous times before I send it. Then, I read it a few more times after I post or send it. I constantly check and recheck to make sure I didn’t send it to the wrong person or post a comment in the wrong section.
I’ve always done weird stuff with numbers. I usually set my alarm clock for an odd time. For example, most people would set it for 6:30 but I will set it for 6:31 for example. I do the same thing for any kind of timers or alarms. I don’t even realize I’m doing it, it just feels natural.
My mind tends to get stuck on certain things and can’t get my mind off of those. Right now, my “obsession” is looking up information on the internet regarding my conditions. Over the past few weeks, I have probably averaged at least 6-8 hours per day on the internet looking up various information regarding panic attacks, agoraphobia and now OCD. I will even get out of bed at night to look some more, because I can’t get my mind off of it. I got out of bed twice last night just to read some more because new thoughts popped into my mind that I wanted to check.
These are just a few of my unusual behaviors, but I will stop since this is getting so long. I also want to mention that I took one of those online OCD screening tests, and the results stated that I am “likely suffering from OCD”. I know those aren’t intended to diagnose, and I’m not even sure how accurate they are.
Some of these behaviors are just occasional, while others are more constant. None of these issues are overly stressful for me, but they can be annoying. With this in mind, do you think I have a legitimate reason to think that I MIGHT have OCD? Thanks in advance.
I have an abnormal fear of germs. A few years ago I would excessively use hand sanitizer. Even if my arm touched a surface that I felt was not clean, then I would use hand sanitizer to disinfect my arm. I got to the point that my hand was irritated from the use of it. I am overly careful to make sure that my food doesn’t touch any unclean surfaces. I constantly check the expiration date on foods. I will always wash dishes again even after they’ve been through the dishwasher. I’ve occasionally cleaned a glass 5 times or more before I felt comfortable using it.
When I send an email or make a post on a forum, I always read in numerous times before I send it. Then, I read it a few more times after I post or send it. I constantly check and recheck to make sure I didn’t send it to the wrong person or post a comment in the wrong section.
I’ve always done weird stuff with numbers. I usually set my alarm clock for an odd time. For example, most people would set it for 6:30 but I will set it for 6:31 for example. I do the same thing for any kind of timers or alarms. I don’t even realize I’m doing it, it just feels natural.
My mind tends to get stuck on certain things and can’t get my mind off of those. Right now, my “obsession” is looking up information on the internet regarding my conditions. Over the past few weeks, I have probably averaged at least 6-8 hours per day on the internet looking up various information regarding panic attacks, agoraphobia and now OCD. I will even get out of bed at night to look some more, because I can’t get my mind off of it. I got out of bed twice last night just to read some more because new thoughts popped into my mind that I wanted to check.
These are just a few of my unusual behaviors, but I will stop since this is getting so long. I also want to mention that I took one of those online OCD screening tests, and the results stated that I am “likely suffering from OCD”. I know those aren’t intended to diagnose, and I’m not even sure how accurate they are.
Some of these behaviors are just occasional, while others are more constant. None of these issues are overly stressful for me, but they can be annoying. With this in mind, do you think I have a legitimate reason to think that I MIGHT have OCD? Thanks in advance.
