2.3% of the population has obsessive-compulsive disorder, known colloquially as OCD. I had pretty severe OCD for a while from about 2003-2013. I was a door locker. When I left the house in the morning, I would lock the door, walk about 20 steps, turn around to make sure the door was locked, go back and get in the car, drive about 500 yards, turn around and make sure the door was locked, confirm that it was indeed locked, get back in the car, drive about a mile or two, have feelings of crippling anxiety that the door wasn’t locked, go back and check the door, and so forth. On an average day, it would take me a full 45 minutes to go through this process before I could go to work. I got smart and started locking the door in a specific pattern:
Autism spectrum is a great subject. Women have historically gone undiagnosed because we cover better than men do. When I read Temple Grandin's book, "Thinking in Pictures" the light bulb went off for me. Not only do I think in pictures, but when I am tired or overloaded, I find it difficult to speak. Missing social cues has been a life long struggle as well as reading faces and facial expressions. When I was young this caused me extreme social problems, but now I mask well enough that people have no idea, just those who have known me long enough or well enough. After I read "Neurotribes" there was just no question. Understanding how our own minds work can be very helpful in enabling us to adapt and to understand other ways of thinking. When I was young I thought there was something wrong with people who could not visualize the way I could, now I see their differences as innate and having value.
Thank you for sharing, especially in writing. Many of us who read your essays share some of your history. I would add meditation and specifically on line Meditopia.com as a resource.
Thank you so much for this. It helps me a lot just by reading it.
I also have OCD. I keep checking my notes, calendar, email for the fear of forgetting something to do. But it's absolutely true that the real problem is something else and those are distractions. I know what the real problem is and I'm working on it and making good progress.
I would slightly disagree about the meds. It's true that is not a long term solution. I took them for 1.5 years. I felt much better inmediately but the effect was slowing disappearing. But the true help came for showing me that It was OK not to think about those things I feared forgetting, and even I forgot something life would still go on exactly the same way. It showed me a different path was possible.
It might not apply to some other OCD behaviours but I thought it was worth sharing.
Big kudos for sharing this. Glad you’re better.
Autism spectrum is a great subject. Women have historically gone undiagnosed because we cover better than men do. When I read Temple Grandin's book, "Thinking in Pictures" the light bulb went off for me. Not only do I think in pictures, but when I am tired or overloaded, I find it difficult to speak. Missing social cues has been a life long struggle as well as reading faces and facial expressions. When I was young this caused me extreme social problems, but now I mask well enough that people have no idea, just those who have known me long enough or well enough. After I read "Neurotribes" there was just no question. Understanding how our own minds work can be very helpful in enabling us to adapt and to understand other ways of thinking. When I was young I thought there was something wrong with people who could not visualize the way I could, now I see their differences as innate and having value.
Thank you for sharing this. It's a reminder that many people are carrying private burdens unseen to the judging public.
The meds work better than you say. Not always fully, not for everyone, but they help a lot of people a great deal.
Your honest and sincere sharing of your OCD is helpful to many....I hope this essay gets read by many who could benefit.
Wow.
Thank you for sharing, especially in writing. Many of us who read your essays share some of your history. I would add meditation and specifically on line Meditopia.com as a resource.
Another powerful post, Jared. My niece has been struggling with OCD and your post was really illuminating. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. It helps me a lot just by reading it.
I also have OCD. I keep checking my notes, calendar, email for the fear of forgetting something to do. But it's absolutely true that the real problem is something else and those are distractions. I know what the real problem is and I'm working on it and making good progress.
I would slightly disagree about the meds. It's true that is not a long term solution. I took them for 1.5 years. I felt much better inmediately but the effect was slowing disappearing. But the true help came for showing me that It was OK not to think about those things I feared forgetting, and even I forgot something life would still go on exactly the same way. It showed me a different path was possible.
It might not apply to some other OCD behaviours but I thought it was worth sharing.
Thank you for sharing JD. V. helpful to spread awareness and help understanding.
Excellent.
Thank you for sharing this, Jared. It is amazingly helpful.