I thought about this topic tonight while I was doing dishes.  I realized just how OCD I was.  When placing plates in the sink drainer I lay them so that the brand name is facing upright.

I organize my hanging clothes in my closet by length and colors in order of the rainbow (ROY G BIV).

I do the same with my undergarments--they are stacked in colors and separated by solids, stripes and prints.

My sock drawers are separated by whites, solids, and prints.

My pajama drawers (I have a p.j dresser in walk-in closet) are arranged by short sets with tanks, shorts with shirts, capri outfits and finally fleece pants with tops.

T-shirts are organized in drawers by color.

Shirst are organized in drawers by solids and stripes and prints.

I'll share more as people share.  This just gives you an idea of my world.  This entire topic was the result of me washing a plate and glass and folding two loads of laundry.

I'm really glad someone (else) brought this up.  Perhaps this is my problem.  I tend to be an anxious person (much more so than I appear) and I often feel a compulsion to do something OVER and then over again.  If I repeat something once, I have to repeat it again, as I am compelled to redo in an even number -- two times or four times, etc. 

If I am REALLY stressed out, sometimes I will find myself walking back and forth, retracing my steps over and over!  I have made some headway by sheer discipline -- there was a time when I would have to get up half a dozen times after going to bed just to make sure all the water was turned off and my front door locked.  I have gotten a bit better about this.

I'm interested that you mentioned laundry, Gigi.  When I hang my tee shirts up to dry, I try to hang them on plastic hangers which color coordinate with the garments. 

Aside from that, I am far less organized than you are.  I must say I admire that quality about your personality.

Well, maybe other people will jump in and share now.  Some people suffer terribly from this.  I used to work with a gal who was fine until she would wash her hands after using the bathroom.  She would just stand there for a half an hour, desperately washing and washing her hands.  They finally would have to almost pull her away, just to get her back to her desk!

My family noticed my OCD and tried to intervene when I was in middle school.  I was color-coordinating everything!  Panties with jammies and then another pair in the a.m. to match school clothes.  Another pair in p.m. to match play clothes.

I knew the size of glasses in the kitchen cabinet and how many ice cubes went in each size. 2 for juice glass, 3 for regular glass and 5 for larger dinner glasses.

I would sit on the floor and straighten every tassel on a throw rug.  This was done several times a day.  When I got my new home almost 6 yrs ago my doctors encouraged me not to have any throw rugs with tassels and I don't.

I fold everything in threes, t-shirts, panties, and linens.  When putting linens and towels away I must have them all facing the same direction with the fold facing the wall and the design line on the left.

My can goods are lined up by colors of the rainbow too in the pantry and boxed items are large to small.    

Well, one thing you have to admit -- unlike some of us, you have a really nice, neat house! 

Thanks for starting this interesting thread!

This one no one has seen but I do it all the time.  I am known to double triple and quadruple check.  I will stuff the invites for example (but not seal them).  Then before sending, I'll open each one and verify all the stuff is included and the name on the inside matches the name on the outside.  Even if I do this 2 times each invite, I'm still not sure I've got all the pieces together!

If time passes on something like that, I check even more! B/c if, let's say, 2 weeks pass between the time I stuffed them originally until the time I plan to mail them, I'll recheck everything again.  I'm a rechecker - with all types of things!  Even postings here (although I don't often correct spelling mistakes too much here on the board, I do recheck!)

I just rechecked this post to make sure it made sense :-D haha

Here's one about my nephew.  He's almost 2 and we sometimes joke he is like Monk.  Being the first baby in the family, we really were cautious.  We'd make sure he didn't go near an uncovered plug and my parents keep all their plugs covered.

Now, at almost 2, he will freak out if he sees an uncovered plug.  He'll point to it over and over saying "plug! plug! plug!" until my mom gets a cover for it.  I think he is afraid it HAS to be covered so he freaks out.  Oddly enough, he doesn't even notice the plugs at my house, but that's probably b/c we never covered them and he's used to it that way. 

Another thing he did to me the other day.  I fed him at my sister's and we moved the TV trays from in front of the cabinet so we could eat too.  After feeding him, he went straight to the TV trays and kept pointing at one tray then pointing at the cabinet.  I didn't know what he wanted at first.  Then I realized, he wanted that TV tray IN FRONT of the cabinet where it BELONGS.  Then he went on to make sure i moved the second one back.  My sister uses the tv trays to keep him from being able to open the cabinet, but it's funny that he's not happy until they are in their place.  Hopefully this means he'll be really neat and organized :-D  But then again, he does still like to throw his toys on the floor like any 2-year old, so maybe not.

And when you go to other people's houses, do you ever have the urge to fix stuff that they did wrong? 

Do you watch Monk.  You should, it's a hilarious show and I would love to know if you thought it was accurate or not :)

Say, Viva -- do you have anyone in your family who has an irresistible impulse to "straighten" pictures hanging on a wall? 

I know what  you mean about checking things before mailing them -- I'm always so anxious that I might have got a fingerprint on something, etc. 

I think OCD can be managed and improved (and thank God, I've been able to help myself to some extent) but it can be a problem because it really doubles and triples the effort we have to put into things to get them done!

Thanks to both you and Gigi for sharing, maybe some other people will open up now.

Have a great day!

Have a great day!

Have a great day!

Okay, just kidding -- I couldn't resist!

I compulsively reverse the toilet paper roll in friend's homes so that it dispenses in the direction I want it to.

I look in the toilet before I sit on it (at home too!) to make sure there isn't a bug or spider in it.

I am constantly straightening the dishtowel that hangs on the oven door.  It must be centered in the glass window and the edges must meet and be pulled tight.

I position things just right on my desk at the office and can tell in a NY minute if anyone has been at my desk.

CDs are arranged not only alphabetically but also by genre.  All DVDs and VHS movies are in alphabetical order!

I do that looking in the toilet thing too. 

When I was little I HAD to read everything at the end of a TV show. I had some OCD when I was young for sure. I couldn't color on pages that rubbed against each other because they would smear so I put wax paper between the pages. Now my life i.e. my environment is cluttered but not in a horribly messy way and I have lots of collections. Jo

Gigi,... you need to come to my house and get it all organized for me.  I'm with you on knowing if someone has touched or moved something of mine.  Bugs the life out of me.  Our previous nanny used to move stuff trying to organize or clean and it drove me crazy.

One of my compulsions though, which drives my husband nuts is straigtening the bed covers.  I do not make the bed in the morning... never have.  But at night I need to make sure the covers are just right before going to bed or else I really can't sleep right.  I have actually gotten better about this, but still find my self doing it.

Well as far as the CDs, DVDs and even the toliet paper, I wouldn't call that OCD.  I'd call that common sense and good organization :)  Every year or so, my DVDs get out of order from people borrowing them and not putting them back correctly, or my husband watching 3 in one day and never putting them back.  When it gets that way, I live with it like that for like a month before I just get so annoyed b/c I can't find anything and I have to reorganize it.

As for the TP, I never get people who don't seem to be able to put that on the right way :-D

My brother used to use my OCD for moments of laughter with him and his friends when we lived together while in college.  We had a dinnerware set that had coordinating place mats.  The place mats were square with a different colored heart pattern in each corner.  For some unexplained reason I put it in my head that the blue heart HAD to be in the upper right corner.  So when the place mats were displayed that's what I HAD to see.  An agreement in our house was that my brother and his friends had to do all the kitchen chores (cooking, cleaning, etc.) on Sundays.  Well, they would delibarately just random lay the placemats down.  I would walk in and they would watch me rearrange each placemat putting the blue heart in the upper right corner.  I would think look at the glasses and check to see if each one had 5 ice-cubes.

Now my dinnerware is solid colors and I don't use placemats anymore!

As to my organization skills.  It used to cause problems as a child because my mother would get so mad at me when she would do laundry and then I would refold everything my way.  My way is the way clothes are folded on shelves in stores.  My dad told her to leave me alone that it was a phase and at least I was a neat kid.  Well, it wasn't a phase and once I got in 6th grade my dad encouraged my mother to just dump my freshly washed clothes on my bed so that I could fold them and put them away MY way.  That worked and for awhile everyone was happy until new compulsions began developing.

Something I and my friends and family have noticed through the years.  None of my compulsions pertain to safety issues.  I don't double check locks, appliances, etc.  Most of my compulsions are mannerisms and issues relating to how I organize my life and surroundings.

Haha I was going to suggest you should get symmetrically or solid colored kitchenware, but you already did :)

Well I don't see why she'd get mad at you, she should have just started giving you the clothes unfolded and let you do it from day one :)  Most parents would be happy their kid was into folding clothes sonce most kids would rather throw them on the floor, haha.

Perhaps you are just one of those people that needs things organized in order to think straight.  While I am not like that all the time, there are days where I can't even write a review without taking a break to put some dirty dishes away or to pick up some socks my husband left on the floor.  I think it just distracts my mind!  But I don't go as far as needing things to be perfect.  Often I just need them out of site.... Out of site out of mind!

My mother was always bothered about the laundry issue because she felt as if I didn't appreciate her hard work that she put into doing it in the first place.  But as I got older I realized that a big problem was that I became a much neater person than she or anyone else in my family and it just totally floored them that I turned out that way.

My compulsions are all about me.  I don't push my need for perfection on others.  I just go behind them and do it my way.

GigiandAdonai said…

I compulsively reverse the toilet paper roll in friend's homes so that it dispenses in the direction I want it to.

I look in the toilet before I sit on it (at home too!) to make sure there isn't a bug or spider in it.

I am constantly straightening the dishtowel that hangs on the oven door.  It must be centered in the glass windwo and the edges must meet and be pulled tight.

I position things just right on my desk at the office and can tell in a NY minute if anyone has been at my desk.

CDs are arranged not only alphabetically but also by genre.  All DVDs and VHS movies are in alphabetical order!

---

There was an interesting show on last night called Obsessed - a documentary re: OCD but to me the two people featured had an anxiety disorder rather than what I see as OCD and even what you are explaining. Thoughts?

OCD can produce anxiety disorders and anxiety disorders can produce OCD.  Some people's OCD is so consuming that it produces an overly anxious type personality; especially when they are in environments that they cannot control the compulsions or "fix" the situation.

Ex. I would have become more anxious if when as a child I wanted to refold my clothes my mother wouldn't allow me to.  And when I lived with my brother I would get very anxious when it was time to do routine chores like laundry, setting the table, etc. because I feared someone else trying to help and not doing it my way.

The difference is: I don't push my compulsions off on someone else.  I just ask them to let me do something on my own so that I can do it my way.

My best friend that I stay with a lot has mentioned my OCD several times thru the years.  Like when I'm helping her fold clothes or making a bed.  I think most people have compulsions but the difference is how obssessed we are when doing them.

My best friendd will straighten a long runner down her hallway every time she walks on it.  She washes the kitchen counters repeatedly with Clorox to the point that she has erased the miniature pattern design.  And her throw pillows on the sectional have to be arranged in a certain order by color.  Then I come along and lay on the sofa and I rearrange them in the color order that I believe they should be in ;+)

Other people who are sloppy or unorganized will definitely notice the obsessive compulsions in another person.  The funny thing is: They like to blame the OCD on a person without realizing that their life is in utter disarray.  That's what my mother would do.  The house would be a total disaster except for my bedroom.  When my dad would complain about her not cleaning she would say, "Well, everyone isn't a neat freak like that kid (referring to me)."

The fact was and is, you can have an orderly life and home without being OCD and someone who is OCD may not necessarily be neat and organized.  Some OCD manifests itself thru various mannerisms pertaining to health, hygiene and safety and elude themselves to the areas of cleaning, organizing, and so forth.

You bring up an interesting thouht, gigi.  Imagine two ppl living together who both have extreme OCD and disagree on how things should be!

I'm totally with you on the "do it yourself" idea, rather than watching someone else mess it up!  I've had this cumpulsion before, but luckily the older I get the more I can "let go" and just let other people handle unimportant things however they want to.  So I would never say I have OCD just because I don't feel anxious when people do things different than me.  I used to be annoyed by some things, but more and more I just don't care :-D

Now a days I'm more likely to get angry about people who are dumbies and do stupid things with their lives then I am to get annoyed by my pictures being slanted (which they have been for a while now and I kind of gave up on figuring out how to fix them!)

When I am under a lot of stress, my anxiety disorder flares up and OCD is a part of it. When I am in stores and people take a piece of merchandise and then put it back in the wrong place I need to fix it. Lots of times people leave unwanted purchases in the candy rack near the register. I always need to put the stuff away. I used to *hate* when my husband dragged me to the book or video game store. Now I go to the bargain bins and alphabetize all the games and books.

I had a dog named Bailey and I insisted he be fed at the same time every night and that the bowls be in certain places. They had to be centered within four tiles on the floor. I fed him at 5:27. One time at 5:23 my husband asked me to watch something. He moved Bailey's food dish about a foot diagonally away from the "correct place." A couple of minutes later Bailey came in the kitchen and moved the dish back with his nose. My husband said I gave the dog "OCD by proxy." even though I felt I couldn't stop it, I found it disturbing that a dog noticed.

I can't drink anything red. I can't only get one hand wet. I need to wet the other one too. When my husband kisses me, I need to immediately wipe it off. I used to wait until he couldn't see so as not to offend, but now we've been married 13 yrs so he doesn't care. When I was waiting for him to look away so I could wipe it off, my anxiety level was off the charts. I could feel the kiss burning my face.

I wish that was the whole story.....     pd

Thanks for sharing!  Isn't it great to know that we are not alone?  Your story about the dog dishes remind me of something.

I have a kitchen island on wheels.  I always center it between certain tiles on the floor and I can notice if it has been moved the least bit.

I won't eat anything that feels weird.  Thus, I hate certain pastas; especially Lasagna.

When I'm getting ready for a bath I line up all the products I am going to use that evening in the order that I will use them and then as I use them I put them away immediately.  For instance, shampooing my hair.  I would put facial soap, then shampoo, bar soap, and finally body wash.  If I am going to shave I will put the razor and shave gel in the lineup and if I am going to take a bubble bath I will put that in the lineup.

And as for the rest of my story...well, it wll continue.  As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now the rest of the story."  My brother used to say that when I died I would probably come back to organize my own funeral.  

While I don't go as far as putting things away when they are left in completely different isles, I will put something away if it's only a few steps away.  I used to work at a party supplies shop, I HATED cleaning up the cards and thought ppl were so rude when I would see them look at a greeting card, not like it, and just throw it in any random slot.  Like it's so hard to put it back in the slot they pulled if from 2 seconds ago.  It took us HOURS to clean those up.  RUDE!  So now if I see my husband or anyone doing that, I fix it.  Or in general if I see a product on the top shelf that belongs on the bottom, I fix that too. 

I have a friend who reties bows on garments when they are displayed on mannequins.  She will also straighten up boxes and cans that are stocked on shelves.  I laugh at her and say, "If mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy."   

Thanks for sharing. My days as a Social Worker are long over so much of what I'm learning is new info. When I was a kid the woman across the street had OCD but we didn't know what was "wrong." She'd check the mailbox several time; lock the door, go to her car, go to the door, etc.

What I do know is that we have a friend undiagnosed. His OCD doesn't get in the way of life but for ex. his things have to be just right. So my husband and I tease him and when he isn't looking we'll rearrange the forks, etc. I will never do that again. I have panic disorder and now I am realizing that what we are doing is producing anxiety in him and isn't funny! Jo

It took years for my family to realize the same thing.  That when they taunt me or try to "rearrange" my life that just magnified the problem.  While being treated for Anorexia my therapist let my parents know that OCD was a common trait because the anoretic is trying to be in control of something and to make sense of it all.

Oh, that is another one of my compulsions.  How I arrange food on my plate.  I cut everything into quarters or eighths and then reassemble the pieces to make a whole.  I then predetermine how many pieces I am going to eat.  I won't let any food touch on the plate and the meat has to be positioned at the top at 12 o'clock.  Then I eat a bite of each item from the meat clockwise.  Usually four times around the clock and I'm done.

I think everybody has a touch of disorders, whether or not it actually impairs their functioning...I tend to be more obsessive-compuslive personality disordered than the anxiety type, which basically makes me more of a control freak, but I definitely have "touches" of OCD, although I wouldn't by any stretch call it a disorder:

I hate asymmetry...if my husband rearranges the furniture and puts anything on an angle, I absolutely cannot relax in that room until it's straight again.

I have a thing with even numbers...I have to step an even number on sidewalk squares or it feels funny in my legs.  Sometimes I have to switch my stride, so I step first on each square with the opposite foot, so they're both "even."  I have tripped over my own feet before doing this just so it feels right.

I twitch my toes constantly or it feels funny again...has to be even...2 on the left, 2 on the right.

Like I said, none of these impair my functioning, but it really does make me aware that if I have these little quirks, how distressing it must be for folks who have more significant checking behaviors or compulsions toward whatever.  I think this particular disorder gets missed a lot if it's not in the textbook appearance with handwashing or checking the stove.  Hard to get treatment if professionals don't recognize it!

I have this annoying habit when I am leaving the house I will stop at the front door, and look out at my sliding glass door in the back to make sure it is shut.  I will stop and peek like 4 times.

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of my compulsions were recognized at an earlier age and were also symptoms of my anorexia.  However, the behavior could not be a direct manifest of another disorder.  Thus, my obsessions with food and arranging it on a plate was related to the anorexia so it was not part of the OCD.  Someone with a subtance abuse or alcohol abuse problem would not be considered OCD if their obsession was liquor, drugs or alcohol.  There has to be another obsession or compulsion for OCD to be diagnosed.  But many will acknowledge their obsessive-compulsive behaviors without being diagnosed or treated.  

My earliest memories of being obsessive-compulsive involved my centering a short rectangular pillow on a longer rectangular bench every night after I finished watching TV.  I recognize a lot of what I used to do, and I catch a fair amount of today's compulsions.  If I train myself out of one, however (talk about anxiety) another one pops up to take its place.

It's nice to have tolerant friends (some of whom are also obsessive-compulsive).  Mine all know that I have to sit facing the door when we're in a restaurant.  Bless'em.  They never even have asked "Why?"

I'm not the only one who does this whewwwwwwwww...I feel better now.  We are just unique.