OCD or something else?

ItemEleven

Member
Hi

For the past three years all I think about is whether I should learn Russian or Greek. Whenever, I decide which one of the two languages I will learn I feel horrible (my head hurts, my heart beats faster). To make things worse telling myself that I can learn both languages at the same time just makes me panic.
Why can't I stop thinking about which language I should learn?
 
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Ashiene

Well-known member
Yes, you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

OCD is characterised by perfection and balance.

For example, if you scratch your left hand, you would also want to scratch your right hand the same number of times, to balance things out.

Likewise, you would also constantly categorise your actions into good and evil.
 

ItemEleven

Member
What do you think the best way to deal with the problem would be? Should I just tell myself that I will learn both languages and deal with the negative feelings or will this just make things worse? Also one of the things stopping me learning the languages now is that I am afraid I will never be able to speak them perfectly like a native speaker so I get the perfection part but how does the balance part fit in? Thanks for your help.
 

sde

Member
How about starting both languages just a little, with short beginner-level books, then continuing with the one where you seem to be making more progress towards learning it and putting it to good use? In other words, try putting some of your perfectionist energy into thinking about efficiency and time management. That reminds me of Steve Pavlina, a self-improvement writer who's big on the Internet. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/

Steve was a college dropout and kleptomaniac, then he started listening to motivational tapes about time management all the time and got a degree in computer science in three semesters and started a software company. Now he's known for promoting his experiments in intention manifestation, polyphasic sleep, raw veganism, and many other things that might help people become super-successful. However, from listening to an interview of him recently, I picked up that the only different things he started doing when he started being successful were: a) thinking of where he wanted to be in a few years b) listening to motivational tapes about time management c) choosing something to do that he wanted to prove he could do, rather than what others wanted for him and d) running 28 minutes a day. I think the running was most important for him to be able to handle a schedule of up to 13 hours of classes a day. Exercise lowers stress, so that when you have other things to do, you just do them and don't spend so much time stressed about decisions.

A person can only speak a language perfectly like a native speaker by living in the country and spending years studying. For instance, Hugh Laurie is a British comedian who plays an American doctor on television (House) who sounds like a native American English speaker. He can only do that by working in America and being coached on the American pronunciation of every new word his character has to say. So to learn both languages perfectly you'd have to spend a lot of time living in Greece and in Russia, talking with a lot of people there. That means your result will depend mainly on whether you find and pursue the opportunity to live and work closely with people in one or both of those countries.
 
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