Is what I have OCD? If so what can I do?
Sorry about the length I have many "symptoms" I believe are related to OCD, but I'm not sure if I truly have it. I'm starting at a university in a couple of months and I want the stress that is weighing down on me gone. I'm moving into a dorm so that'll be a form of a "fresh start" for me.
I'll describe everything I go through, as they go through my mind throughout the day. I have trouble explaining many things so if I'm not thorough, I apologize. And as with many of these, if I feel that I haven't done something right, I feel a sort of guilty feeling in my stomach.
Order As I stated, I'm moving into a dorm in a couple of months. Every time I move to a new place, get a new electronic or item for my room, I have to take everything out and clean top to bottom and move everything back into that room in a certain order. With my current room, I would set everything up in a clockwise direction, starting from my door, going along the walls and ending back up at the door. If I touched anything with my bare hands, I would clean it while wearing gloves, making sure no grease or fingerprints were left on it. If someone comes into my room and moves something or touches something, it kills me and I basically start the process all over again.
Fresh Starts When it comes to my electronics, I always factory reset each of them to get a "fresh start". Whenever I feel that I've made a mistake, I go through the electronic (like if you were setting up a new computer or phone for the first time). I delete my emails, accounts, etc... and create new ones, getting the sense of a clean start.
Lists I have a huge obsession with lists. I don't do or buy anything until I've made a list. I'm moving into a dorm soon and I haven't purchased anything because I haven't made a list yet. As I stated above how I do everything in a clockwise direction. I have a picture of the floor plan and go through ever side of the room and make a list of what I need in that area. Even with a gaming console I make a list. I look up all the released games and write them all down and come to a final list of the games I will buy. WTF.
Organization My closet is arranged by the type of clothes first, and then by the color. The same goes for shoes as well. And as for the items in my room, they all have an assigned place they go to. They all have to be perfectly aligned or my thoughts kick in and I have to go back into the room and recheck everything is where they should be.
Homosexual Thoughts Lately, I've been worried that I might be attracted sexually to men. I'm sure a lot of people go through this but I drives me crazy. I love women, I love to be around them, with them and be with them. But whenever I see a handsome man, thoughts fly around my head. Whenever I get these thoughts, I get disgusted. I don't have any problem with LBGT's but I definitely don't want to be one. These thoughts come to me out of the blue as well. I was driving home the other day alone and I started to get worried that I might be gay. I've seen gay porn just because of these thoughts and I do not get aroused the single bit.
3's I do everything in numbers. I either do stuff in 3's or in 5's. I'll scratch my left knee and I'll do it to the other knee and repeat it 3 times or 5 times. I could go on about everything else I do in numbers but you get the point.
Appearance This is probably the most common one but I always overthink things. I hear someone tell me i look handsome and I overthink it in my head. "They only said it out of sympathy. They didn't mean it. They're only being nice" etc... And after most conversations end, I go through them in my head unwillingly and think about everything I said, could have said, shouldn't have said.
Sorry for the rambling, I've never talked about this to anyone. I don't share my feelings with anyone because I feel they won't understand or that they would mock me.
I've slowly gotten past some of these things by just accepting that nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes but It hasn't got any better since.
I don't want to see a therapist, I want to deal with this on my own. All of this stresses me out a lot and I'm tired of it. What can I do to advance past this? Any help appreciated.
Posted Jul 31, 2015, 11:59 PM UTC · edited