OCD Action

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My dad has been with his fiance for 9 years....the majority of my life.
I see them every weekend and she's always been neat. She never tipped the line to OCD but was always verging on it and I wonder could her neatness have been part of the cause of my OCD. I know it would have been caused by other things too but is it possible?

I'm not looking to blame her I was just curious as to whether it was possible...

any thoughts? x

Tue May 11 2010 10:04:51 #
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Most things are possible, but I don’t know anyone who has ‘copied’ the behaviour of another. I’m sure it happens occasionally, but even people who have inherited OCD from their parents seem to develop their own personal obsessions.

Tue May 11 2010 12:40:38 #
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P.S. I and several friends have very severe contamination obsessions and our children were raised in the most restricted and unnatural environments (we are all deeply ashamed of this fact). Two of my friends’ children have inherited OCD, but neither has contamination issues. If a person isn’t genetically predisposed to OCD, I don’t even think trauma can cause it, let alone being around a person who is very neat and tidy.

Dr Judith Rapoport, in her book ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing’, discussed the genetic nature of the condition. She also pointed out how children who develop OCD usually have very different symptoms from a parent who has it. I am relieved that this is the case, because if children did copy their parents’ obsessions, experts would probably believe our symptoms are learned. They might even believe that OCD is purely psychological and not biological.

Tue May 11 2010 13:39:19 #
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Thanks, Her thing was always cleaning and mine is more 'everything has it's place' if i'm honest so......i'm not sure

but thanks x

Fri May 14 2010 13:21:06 #