Do I have OCD?

Yes, a little OCD, and a little paranoid. Thinking about thesenthings a little tokeep yourself safe and healthy is ok, but your thought process (obsession) amd habits (compulsion) are a little extreme.

It might help you to have a system so you don’t have to check things over and over. For instance when you lock a door, pause, make a conscious note in your mind, I locked the door. Many times we do things very automatically, and then we don’t remember if we did it. If you pause and think about it when you do it, you will know it is done.

Also, learn about germs and cleanliness. I am a little germaphobic when it comes tp beng around sick people, I do not want to get sick. When my husband is sick I sleep in a different room. I am not very extreme about regular every day germs though. The truth is, washing your hands once gets rid of the majority of bad germs on your hands, there is no need to wash twice. There have been studies done comparing using regular soap with antibacterial, and both have similar results, the action of washing your hands and how soap breaks apart germs takes care of it.

Not touching your face is the big trick to not catching colds besides washing hands. Colds are caught when you bring the germs to your eyes, nose, or mouth via your own hands.

It is very unlikely you are dying when you get sick or feel an ache. Sure it is good to be prudent, and you know your body best, when something is wrong, but your first thought should not be you are dying it should be, huh, I don’t feel well, let’s see if it goes away. Unless it truly is an accute emergency and you have symtpoms to suggest you could die in the next hour.

I think you should seek help, find out why you are like this. If it is how your brain is wired (although I completely believe brains can be rewired) or because of your upbringing you are like this.

I think you may be seeking to have control over your environment, among other things. Meaning you feel out of control.

Also, do not watch the local news, or scary or violent movies.

Thank you, at least now I know it’s not just that I’m weird.
I always hated it and never talked to my mom about it, because she’d say that I was just obsessing that I have OCD, But that’s exactly it. She doesn’t understand the fact that just by me worrying and obsessing I have it, could actually mean I HAVE OCD! Even though she says she doesn’t, I know she thinks I’m some sort of an obsessive freak. And Now I just feel so alone, because nobody believes me, and they think I’m making it all up in my head.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. :)

The only warning I have is don’t exaggerate anything on purpose just to be believed. You could make things worse for yourself. When I say exagerrate I do not mean lying about your symptoms, I mean acting out more and more extreme things, because you think it fits your syndrome. Doing things eventually becomes a part of you, kind of the fake it until you make it idea. We usually use the idea to make people better. Like act lovingly towarrds your husband and eventually you will feel more positive towards him and get some of the old feelings back (an oversimplification for purpose of example). But, it works in the reverse also, act out negative symptoms and they can become a part of you. Meanwhile, it does sound like some of this is simply how your brain works, therapy might help you get to the bottom of why you are like this, medication might help you a lot.

I recommend telling your doctor everything if your parents won’t listen.

You are not alone, not at all. Many people have OCD like symptoms to one degree or another. I bet many people will come to this question and tell you their experiences and what helped them.

It does sound like you may have OCD. But you will need a diagnosis from a trained professional to know for sure.

You need to see someone (start with your family doctor) and get a recommendation. Try for someone who specializes in the treatment of OCD.

The lady next door to me use to wash her hand 20 or 30 times a day. She would wash paper money in her washing machine. If you came to visit her, she had rubber gloves for you to wear in her house. Seven days was the limit on frozen meat in her fridge. She would throw it in the trash can. Our garbage collectors knew this and kept their freezers stocked with her throw aways.

My neighbor had a serious OCD problem. We all knew this and just accepted her “as is”.

She is now deceased.

I don’t have OCD
I don’t have OCD
I don’t have OCD
I don’t have OCD

Reading the details in your question it looks like you could be OCD, the only thing that sounds a bit strange, to me, a non professional, is the fact that you seem to have multiple obsessions, where I thought that people with OCD usually have one or two of those.
But maybe that is just my lack of knowledge about the subject…
I would at least contact a professional and ask for an appointment for an intake interview.
He/she is equipped to make a quick judgement, i believe.
Good luck and be well!

As has been said, you would need to be diagnosed by a professional to be sure, but it does sound like OCD to me. You might want to start out by reading some books about OCD to get a better sense of what it is, if you might have it, and how it is treated. The gold-standard treatment these days is usually a combo of medicine and ERP (exposure response prevention therapy). There is also a website called Stuck in a Doorway that has an OCD forum where you can ask questions and get some answers. Good luck! @rebbel People with OCD can have multiple obsessions—at the same time or in succession.

@answerjill Ah, they can? Thank you for clarifying!

@answerjill is correct. There can be multiple obsessions, and it isn’t uncommon for that to happen.

It sure does sound like OCD, but of course we can’t be sure. I would definitely see someone about it, because it’s impacting your life (and sometimes gets worse as time goes on). As @marinelife suggests, your family doctor is a good place to start. Best of luck to you!

Start with seeing your primary physician . He/she will recommend someone to treat the problems you’re having. You need to know that they are treatable.

And welcome to Fluther. You’re among friends to be.