Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Unregistered
It was suggested to me this morning that it might be interesting to discuss whether or not we find having OCD a sort of a comfort. Is it so much part of what defines us that we would miss OCD if we no longer had it? What do you think folks? Would you be lost without it?
Unregistered
Anne knows already how I feel about this. I hate the OCD symptoms when they are constraining me, but if they were just completely gone one day I may have a loss of identity. OCD is part of who I am and though I hate it I would feel sort of "unarmed" in the world if it wasn't there anymore. I want to know what everyone else thinks. Even if you 100% disagree with me 
Unregistered
I haven't lived with OCD long enough to really appreciate it as part of myself, but I can see how people who have had for a long time would miss it in some ways if it was gone. As you've said to me Anne, OCD has some postitive effects for people, such as you with your meticulous uni work.
Hi everyone,
I would certainly not miss it. It has taken over every aspect of my life and made me suffer so much, so much so that somedays I find it so hard to cope I just breakdown in desperation.
There is absolutely no part of OCD that I find a comfort, the complete opposite, it' torture!
Bridget
Unregistered
I personally see OCD as part of what makes me what I am - and although I hate OCD I really like that person.
Yes when it is really severe it is truly hell on earth - and I spend most of the time praying to die. But when I have it under control I see the positive side. I see the analytical skills it has given me and the obsessional desire to help others. I have always had this desire since I was a small child. Another thing I have always felt is that I need to keep a smidgeon of OCD so that I will know how to find my way back if it gets really bad again. Not sure whether I am right or wrong, but what I do know is that I am not ashamed of having the illness, that many of the people I have met who share this illness are very special and that having OCD is a trial and not a punishment.
I honestly don't know if i would miss having OCD. It has taunted me for a good portion of my life, even though I'm only 22. But, I think that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Cheesy as it sounds. But, no ,i honestly don't know what a life without OCD would be like.
it's a pain in the ass, but there are a lot of things in lfie that are a pain in the ass. Like getting too much homework in university!
Unregistered
I'd miss it. I get the fear of 'where now?' I honestly think I'd be more suicidal than I occassionaly get at the moment from time to time.
It kind of makes me special, suffering from OCD.
Definately not, I just want it to go away :'(
Unregistered
Comfort?! My goodness, NO!
I am amazed that anyone can see anything positive in this hell at all.
I do not believe the illness has anything to do with personality. You can be obsessional and have the positive traits that tend to be a feature of such a personality, without developing OCD.
It's the OCD that makes people think that it's a comfort.
Yes, OCD at the moment is a part of my life but isn't who I am neither is it part of me. I want shot of it.
As Andrea says
As long as I could keep lessons learned...not a chance I'd miss it.
It's what we learn about our OCD and the ways to control it that we need to keep not the OCD.
OCD doesn't define us, we define us and we shouldn't forget that or the OCD has won and will creep back in.
OCD can be an all consuming living hell for some of us.
We're diagnosed with OCD because we find the obsessions and compulsions distressing so why would anyone want to keep them 
OCD RIP
Unregistered
Okay there seem to be some very different takes on this. I think it's also a big factor depending on how long you have suffered from it, how severe it is and if you have gone periods of time with relief. If you are a life-long sufferer it is more understandable to identify with it because you don't know any other way.
Fascinating -
OCD is part of my personality. It suffuses everything, also the things I like. I do have some kind of encyclopedic knowledge about the music, films, and literature I love. This is OCD too: wanting to know it all, be the best.
Also: OCD is a soothing ritual. A seemingly religious way of getting comfortable. Once I know that I know everything about an author I adore, I feel safe.
Sounds weird, nerdish. Yes. But it makes me feel good.
Ciao, Cuthbert.
Unregistered
So maybe some of us have obsessive compulsive peronality disorder as well?
I obsess over everything I do so that I can do it as well as possible. I see this as a habit of competing with myself rather than with others. According to Tallis, 'Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions,' the characteristics of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder are the setting of so high standards that they interfere with the task in hand, making completion difficult. You need 5 of the following symptons to have it: - preoccupation with detail; indecisiveness; an insistence on doing things a particular way; inability to discard things; overconscientiousness; excessive devotion to work; difficulty in expressing emotions and feelings; lack of generosity. It is not considered to be an illness and treatment is generally only needed when the patient becomes depressed. Conversely, OCD is diagnosed when the patient has obsessive and compulsive symptons.
It would be interesting to ascertain how many of us fall into this first category as well and whether or not the one impacts on our OCD. Both my GPs think I have a personality disorder as well and this was what prevented me from getting the right treatment.
Certainly until I had treatment for my OCD I was seldom able to see hobbies and projects through. I now can reach a high standard and am able to cut off at some point knowing that it is impossible to achieve perfection. This is probably why I no longer see this as a curse.
Over to you.
Hi Anne -
many thanks for shedding some new light here. I thought that I might have OCPD as well. I realize I must work on it somehow. For me, completing things is exceedingly difficult. Self-imposed standards are just too high. At the same time, I never complain about others' small errors in their work. Then I am really forgiving.
Ciao, Cuthbert.
Unregistered
A percentage of people with OCD have an obsessive compulsive personality disorder, but there are many who don’t. There are also many with an obsessional personality who have no symptoms of OCD. An obsessional personality is not necessarily a disorder, it depends on the extent of one’s rigidness etc.
I was once told how to determine whether a person has an obsessional personality disorder or merely an obsessional personality. Generally the former lives alone and struggles with relationships. Of course, this is rather a simplistic diagnosis!
I do not feel that OCD itself has any advantages at all. For those who suffer severely, it interferes with every aspect of their lives and is an intolerable condition. I do feel the personality and the illness are becoming confused.
Unregistered
Hi Beth
Thanks for your take on this. Where did you get the percentage figures about obsessive compulsive personality disorder and the fact that those with OCPD tend to live alone? Both my doctors thought I had OCPD, and I do meet the criteria. But I have never lived alone and am a very sociable person who loves company. I have been married for 32 years. A husband of one of my correspondents also has been diagnosed with it and put on antidepressants.
The point of this exercise is too find out why people feel differently on this subject. I was wondering if people with OCPD may have a different slant on it. I may be going down a blind alley but it is interesting to find out why people see this issue differently. There already has been a blog on this (see to the right) in which opinions were divided.
I possibly had OPCD at school which turned to depression at age 13 as I was depressed on and off for years before I had OCD. In those days depressed children were seen as 'difficult,' lacking in team spirit' or just 'quiet and withdrawn' - recurrent remarks on my scchol reports. I used to give up when I could not achieve the (my) required standard and daydreamed through many lessons.
I don't think it has anything to do with how severe our OCD is or was. Between the ages of 40 and 49 My OCD was extremely severe taking up to 18 hours a day of my time with severe clinical depression on top. I think maybe the ways I used to understand and cope with my OCD are what gave me my analytical skills. I certainly did not have good analytical skills at school. Maybe that is why I do not see it as a completely negative experience. On top of this, I have always been an optimist - a thing which greatly surprised the long line of professionals who were unable to help me before I got into The Bethlem.
Unregistered
Hi folks
I don't think anyone would miss having OCD if it suddenly disappeared overnight. It's a bit like a chap we chat to in Morrisons who lost his right arm in an accident. He has a battery operated pain relief unit under his skin in his chest and wires, also under the skin, linking this to his brain because the amount of physical pain he experiences is intolerable - but the pain is in the arm that isn't there. If his missing arm grew again overnight would he miss not having it? You bet he wouldn't but he might have difficulty remembering that he no longer has to do everything with his left hand so he would need a period of adjustment.
I see no difference between this and losing your OCD. Would we miss the constant anxiety and the constant reasoning with ourselves and challenging the unwanted thoughts? Would we miss having to check the door locks and switches 10+ times before going out or exhausting ourselves with constant cleaning or those painful splits on our hands - not a chance. But it might take a period of adjustment - and of course those who have been through the care system unsuccessfully have been influenced by opinion that "you don't really want to get better", "your OCD is too comfortable" which has seeded even more self doubt.
Today I saw a little feathered backside disappering into a previously unused and suspiciously regarded nest box in a tree outside our bedroom window -
Spring is sprung
the grass is ris
I see where dem birdies is
And if I lost my OCD
would I miss it constantly?
Not a chance 'cos I would be
With dem birdies
flying free.
Unregistered
I think you mean awfull but thanks, Joyce
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