Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

[saved]

I work with someone who has severe OCD. Great guy, but he washes his hands every 10 minutes (sometimes more) and he has this ritual (our offices are next to each other) in which he enters and leaves continuously throughout the day and many times he will walk out, stop for a second and walk back in. What gives? He also has many other quirks.

[ceceliahearts]

I used to have really mild OCD and when I was a little kid I would do the hand washing thing. For some reason you get feelings of guilt and the thoughts pester you so much that you do whatever ritual it is even though you know its pointless.

[Light]

I have severe OCD. The above poster nicely summarized what it is like to have OCD, but I would like to just contribute a few more things. You may have to grin and bear his rituals, hand washing, and quirks. (Perhaps you are just asking out of curiosity, it's fine either way.) As long as he is not seriously harming the work environment or anyone else there is not much you can do about it. He may already be working on lessening his OCD, or may not be. But suggesting for him to get help for it (if you are thinking about that at all) will likely lead to disaster in one way or another. OCD is one of those things that pretty much has to be worked on by the individual themself as far as I know. Sure, there are medications to help but that takes many months to find the right balance, and if they aren't serious about "recovering" they will not take the medicine.

Sorry if that sounded like a lecture, I do think it is a noble thing of you to ask about it though because it shows a definite interest in people.

To add on to what the above poster mentioned, personally when I get many of the obsessive thoughts, it's not always guilt, but I will think that if I do not do this or that little repetition or ritual I will end up harming something or someone somehow. Also, sometimes I will just have to simply repeat an action to feel comfortable finishing up a thought that I had. It's difficult for me to explain. Thank you for listening.

[saved]

I have severe OCD. The above poster nicely summarized what it is like to have OCD, but I would like to just contribute a few more things. You may have to grin and bear his rituals, hand washing, and quirks. (Perhaps you are just asking out of curiosity, it's fine either way.) As long as he is not seriously harming the work environment or anyone else there is not much you can do about it. He may already be working on lessening his OCD, or may not be. But suggesting for him to get help for it (if you are thinking about that at all) will likely lead to disaster in one way or another. OCD is one of those things that pretty much has to be worked on by the individual themself as far as I know. Sure, there are medications to help but that takes many months to find the right balance, and if they aren't serious about "recovering" they will not take the medicine.

Sorry if that sounded like a lecture, I do think it is a noble thing of you to ask about it though because it shows a definite interest in people.

To add on to what the above poster mentioned, personally when I get many of the obsessive thoughts, it's not always guilt, but I will think that if I do not do this or that little repetition or ritual I will end up harming something or someone somehow. Also, sometimes I will just have to simply repeat an action to feel comfortable finishing up a thought that I had. It's difficult for me to explain. Thank you for listening.

I understand completely and we all have it to some extent. Every morning (without fail), I will always walk back in the apartment after closing the door to check the ashtray to make sure the morning's butt is out.

[anaklio]

Mental health and mental illness are a spectrum not an on-off. So Saved is correct: we all experience OCD to an extent. The problem often comes when my OCD issues conflict with those of others. People get often annoyed when I want to wash down everything, but they don't seem to mind having to square everything up in the closet.