All on the shelves: how to recognize obsessive-compulsive disorder
'06.05.2021'
Source: Life hacker
There is a line, after which the desire to put everything on the shelves turns into a neurosis, notes Life hacker. In the United States alone, this problem affects 2 million people.
Being a control freak is sometimes helpful. It’s better to make sure five times that you just put the tickets and passports in your bag, than later at the airport to find out the absence of the necessary documents.
But for someone, the desire to control and double-check becomes intrusive. And so much that seriously spoils life. A person is literally obsessed with certain things. For example, it cannot leave the house until it makes 20 times that the iron is turned off. Or 10 times will not wash his hands. Or, let’s say, the hallway will not shine.
This behavior is called compulsive neurosis, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). With this disorder a person is regularly visited by obsessive disturbing thoughts (obsessions), which he tries to get rid of with the help of equally obsessive ritual actions (compulsions).
According to the US National Institute of Mental Health, OCD affects 1–2 out of every 100 people. In the US alone, this problem affects over two million citizens.
Recognizing the point where a healthy forethought or love of cleanliness begins to turn into a mental disorder is quite difficult. But still it is possible - if you do not miss some characteristic symptoms.
How to recognize obsessive-compulsive disorder
All people are, of course, different. But obsessions most often develop in several scenarios of the same type. More about this.
1. Fear of germs or dirt
An uncontrolled passion for hygiene is one of the most common symptoms of OCD.
People with this disorder are desperately afraid that pathogenic microbes will settle on their hands or body. Therefore, they wash their hands five times in a row. And repeat the procedure every time you have to touch the doorknob or handset of an office phone. Well, the need to shake hands with a colleague, hug with a friend at a meeting or, let’s say, take up the handrail in public transport, and at all becomes their personal nightmare.
2. Unhealthy passion for cleaning
There are people who literally shine at home. This is neat. But if everything is clean and the guests walk around the apartment, like in a museum, but you are still unhappy and have an irresistible desire to rub the mirrors and tear the floor in the hallway again and again, we can talk about it - obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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3. The need for everything to be put on the shelves (literally)
A cup that remains on the table, but does not take its place on the kitchen shelf, can cause a person with OCD to be naturally hysterical. He is furious with any things that, in his opinion, are not where they should. Slippers are absolutely obliged to stand on a shoe rack, the program - to lie under the TV, and even the cat - to sit in his basket. A person can be nervous even if the thing is located at the wrong angle.
Some might call this behavior perfectionist passion for order. But no - this is also a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
4. Excessive self-doubt
Many people worry about how they look, whether they are doing the right thing and what others will think about them. This is not a problem (more precisely, not the worst of them).
Such experiences become a problem when a person cannot keep them inside.
He wonders endlessly: are these jeans exactly right for him? Is the mascara smeared? Doesn't he look too fat in this dress? Does he perform the task correctly? And now? And now? And here he was also not mistaken?
The neurotic physically needs constant encouragement or reassurance from others that everything is in order with him. This produces an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
5. The need to constantly double-check everything
Standard examples are an allegedly un-turned off iron or an unlit light, for which a person can return home two to three times. Here too is the need to pull the doorknob ten times, even if you just locked the door with a bolt and a bolt. Or, for example, regularly check to see if the email went to the addressee.
6. Intrusive account
Trying to focus on something, many think to themselves. For example, they whisper: “One, two, three - let's go.” This is normal.
But if a person counts the most unexpected things - let’s say, the number of trees a tram passes by, or the number of green peas in a brought salad, this is already a reason to beware. Even worse, if the calculation results are disturbing (“There are 13 peas in the salad, the waiter clearly wants to spoil me!”) And they are forced to perform some kind of action (for example, to get out of the salad and throw one pea out). This behavior is already a little beyond normal, yes.
7. Building life according to clear rituals
Maybe you put the socks in the drawer strictly in the order of the colors of the rainbow. Or at lunch, eat foods alphabetically: first you drink broth from the soup (letter “B”), then eat noodles (L), meat (M), and only then boil the egg (I am the last letter of the alphabet). Or go to work the only, strictly defined route. A step to the left, a step to the right - and you already have a panic in half with confidence that the day will pass “not so.”
If in your life there is any, even the most harmless ritual, the deviation from which is alarming, this may be a sign of OCD.
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8. The accumulation of things
Healthy behavior - get rid of clothing, furniture or appliances that have become unusable.
It’s unhealthy to think: “Yes, let it lie down (stand still), and suddenly one day it will come in handy.” And to do so once 100, or even 200, until the house turns into a warehouse of old things. Inconvenient, but calm. And it fits perfectly with the symptoms of OCD.
9. An obsession with relationships
Parting with a loved one, a quarrel with a friend, a conflict with superiors. These are unpleasant, but quite ordinary situations. To survive, try to understand what exactly led to the gap or scandal, everyone has to draw conclusions. But if feelings and self-indulgence last for years, it is worth asking for help.
What to do if you suspect obsessive-compulsive disorder
The best option is to see a therapist. The specialist will help you figure out whether it is really about OCD. Perhaps he will offer you to take a blood test: sometimes excessive anxiety is a symptom of disorders in the thyroid gland, and then an endocrinologist will need to be consulted.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, if confirmed, is corrected using psychotherapy. Your doctor may also prescribe antidepressants. All this will help reduce anxiety and get rid of obsessive thoughts and actions.
But it is impossible to hope for "it will pass by itself." The fact is that mental disorders tend to grow, worsen with age. And this can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Experts from the American research organization Mayo Clinic name among them the following:
- contact dermatitis due to too frequent hand washing (outside of epidemics and other cases of real need);
- inability to go to work or other public places due to anxiety;
- difficulties in personal relationships, inability to create or maintain a family;
- general decline in quality of life;
- craving for suicide.
In general, obsessive-compulsive disorder is not a condition that can only be considered a personality trait. It is important to defeat him before this mental disorder ruins life.
