Not O.C.D., but.........

Thank you Anniebach, I think you get it. Actually a bit of ritual and habit, as long as it is recognised and not debilitating, can be something of a comfort in a chaotic world. I completely respect my children's right to have their rooms as they wish. You can't sit on my son's small sofa for Games Workshop boxes and Patisserie Valerie containers!

I have noticed, however, that my daughter, the chaos queen, has turned into a mini-me of tidiness now she has her own place. Still messy when she comes home though.

Luckily for me I married a man as tidy as I am.

Ha Ha! Somebody else ties empty packets in a knot.

I do this with all packets that go in the recycling bin. Even really small ones.

I get angry when people say "oh, I'm OCD" as a source of pride, when they're clearly not. I feel it belittles an horrendous mental health problem.

I have to have the volume on the tv on an even number. When I've finished my crisps I have to tie the bag in a knot before placing in the bin. I constantly tidy around my hubby as he likes to throw things on the coffee table. It drives me nuts. When hanging tea towels on the line I make sure the pictures are the right way up. This isn't OCD, it's just a little quirkiness.

I'm actually quite a relaxed house-keeper, but I too match my clothes pegs and of course they mustn't clash with the clothes they're on!!! Thought I was the only one!

That just sounds like good sense izabella

Belladonna, someone once accused me of having ocd as I still put matching socks in pairs in the clothes line, then underwear in order of whose it belongs to. Fact is I had to do this as a little girl before I went to school as it then meant mum (who was blind) could get the washing in and it was ready sorted. The habit is still there though ?

Surely quirks are what makes us human?

My Dad kept a huge well fed spider in a fish tank at the door of his shed to stop my cleaning mad Mum from going in in to tidy his domain.

My sweet sister in law who won't allow anyone near her dishwasher in case they upset her special arrangement is famous for tidying round people. She would constantly shift her husband's ash tray to the centre of the coffee table as he tried to enjoy his after dinner pipe.

My husband once asked my best friend where she did the cooking because it obviously wasn't in the kitchen, it being just like an unused showroom.

Personally I don't have any quirks - as I watch my washing on the line today I think it just looks better colour matched and size coded.

I do the same littlegran and for the same reason, that's not OCD it's common sense

Just have to always double check that the water taps are turned fully off after one disaster when I had left one on and all hot water was cold.
Lever taps so easy to use with dodgy hands.

Good grief, wiping your nose when you have a cold isn't either

Ha! Many lampshades have a seam. The seam must be AWAY from you as you enter the room, preferably so it is not visible from any point in the room. I have to restrain myself in friends' houses and public places where lampshade seams may be visible. Just looks DREADFUL. Otherwise I'm fairly normal. And if most people have it, then it can't be a disorder.

Oh Lord!

My adult stepkids think I have OCD because I nag them and the grandchildren about handwashing eg after toilet, after coughing into their hands or before preparing food. Their children often get tummy bugs but I never do and neither do my own children and grandchildren
I was brought up that way and was also a nurse and I brought my own kids up to wash their hands.
I'm made out - jokily- to be a fusspot (even though I know they love me!) but I think hygeine is important for myself and also in respect of other people I have contact with.
My house is comfortable and lived in but I do like it to be clean.
Surely this doesn't count as OCD?

I think the last few posts are great, the mental illness stigma is still so strong, not all with depression are suicidal, not all with mild OCD need help, I have no problem with saying I have OCD, I have no need to call it a quirk others do, but it's the same thing if you are compelled to do a task

My DD used to take ages to hang out washing. It was DS who realised she was attempting to match the peg colour to the garment and struggling with the combination of Dayglo peg colours and sober socks. DS has diagnosed Aspergers Syndrome (an autistic spectrum disorder) he still (aged 30) trots out the peg colour story the punch line being of course "and i'm the one who has a problem?)

I've never fussed about peg colours, but I've always had "special" pens. Chart completion in work has always had to be done with the same pen to match composition of ink, flow and thickness of line. DD does the same and
Surrupticiously rewrites the white board sales charts.

Now DGD aged 5, has been filing her collection of DVDs in alphabetical order. (My quirk) And it takes her ages to put milk away because she has to turn the labels to the front (DH's quirk)

So proud.?

Teacher11, just what I have been trying to explain, those things don't make your life hell , you accept them , work around them and get on with life, good for your. I wish my OCD was centred on clearing clutter, I am not a hoarder ready to be filmed for channel 5 though.

This thread is entitled 'Not OCD'. I took it to be a place to tell of our amusing little traits which have nothing to do with OCD in its extreme form.

Another of my habits is to arrange my food in a certain way on the plate. Protein at 8 o'clock, carbs at 12 and vegetables at 4. In a restaurant, I have been known to re-arrange things to vaguely fit this pattern, but it certainly doesn't stress me at all!
Even my Bengal cat, Saffron, and I have little rituals we go through! One is that at about 4am, when I usually start to wake, she moves from the foot of the bed to the pillow, where she scratches pats me on the face until I lift the covers for her to get inside. She rests for a while then surfaces to miaow and knock things off the bedside table until I get the message and give her breakfast. Dear patient Bugsie just sits at the top of the stairs and waits silently.

Years ago it was all called "bad nerves". Of course, people died of their "bad nerves". Maybe that's the difference. Obsessive traits will never make you despair.

I personally, thank God for Eli Lilley.

Dunno!

You choose to use the word obsessive Merlotgran , what is the difference between a mild form of obsessive compulsive disorder and an obsessive trait?

I have an anxious personality and have to be in control of my life for fear things will get on top of me. However, I am aware of my deficiencies and they are pretty harmless as I never let my 'bugs' affect others. Small niggles are:-

-loo rolls have to have the paper over the top, not under
-cushions, yes, have to have the zips at the bottom (though they'd look silly otherwise)
-petrol pump charges have to end in an even number
-the kitchen side has to be clear of crumbs
-things in the house have to be tidy
-I can't walk over a line in the middle of the road when I am crossing it, I have to walk between the lines
-lines have to be straight when I mow the grass
-the bed has to be made and pulled straight
-towels have to be neat on the rails
-I am a planner and a checker

It's all a little OCD, I know, but there are upsides. My house is lovely and I am on top of things. I don't do 'debt' and I remember people's birthdays and important dates. And I could let things go if I had to.

I have Obsessive Crafting Disorder. Sit still long enough in my home and you'll be upcycled! What is this 'spring cleaning' of which you speak?

I suspect this is going to turn into a 'My OCD is better worse than your OCD thread.

Since OCD was brought to our attention (I don't know what it was called years ago) it's become the norm for people to describe a slightly obsessive trait as being 'a bit OCD'

Don't they just mean fussy?

As someone who ended up in tears trying to explain to Hubby why he couldnt have his half of the chest of drawers in the bathroom organised the way he wants it (I 'balance' our products, and put his n hers things in similar places and in similar orientations, while he came in and just pushed all of his together, straight and blocky, in one corner), I think I might be showing up somewhere on the OCD spectrum!!! And I am very relieved to find that I am not the only one who obsesses about cushion orientation and peg matching!!!