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Unread 02-25-2018, 05:33 PM
Jayne Osborn's Avatar
Jayne Osborn Jayne Osborn is offline
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Default Confession time: Odd habits/slightly OCD traits

Let's admit that we're all a bit ''odd" in various ways!

I count stairs (in my head, that is, not aloud). I do this, unconsciously, even in my own home: 16 upstairs, 11 from the cellar. I count the treads as I go up them, not down, and I've only ever known one other person who does this...

I have lots of different clothes pegs, but when I put washing on the line outside, the pegs I use on each item have to be of the same colour...

OK, I'll stop at just two things that show I'm nuts; I have plenty of other daft little quirks. I don't believe I'm alone in this, so I look forward to seeing confirmation from those who are brave enough to relate their own foibles!

Jayne
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Unread 02-25-2018, 10:18 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Hi Jayne, interesting topic. I had a blind student who certainly counted steps. When we were kids in Italy, we counted steps in every cathedral tower we climbed.
Today I need items at right angles, on my desk, in the kitchen. If a tea towel or glass is not at right angles, I adjust it. A friend just told me that right angles are fair angles - each half gets an equal shake. I perform ablutions counting the number of times I, say, brush teeth or roll on deodorant. I microwave things for exact numbers of seconds. Oh - and I use one specific type of hanger for long-sleeved shirts, another for T-shirts. It bugs me to do otherwise. And a whole other hanger for jackets.
Einstein on the other hand had seven identical suits, to avoid wasting time choosing.

Cheers,
John

Update: I just versified this in Drills and Amusements.

Last edited by John Isbell; 02-25-2018 at 10:40 PM.
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Unread 02-25-2018, 11:00 PM
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Richard Meyer Richard Meyer is offline
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Hey, Jayne:

Evolutionary theorists have posited that OCD is the hyper-activation of warning systems that evolved to flag us against a wide range of environmental threats (physical, pathogenic, social, etc.). It’s thought that the condition originated as an evolutionary warning system that kept the species alive by making certain early humans constantly worried about everyday stuff that might prove dangerous or fatal. The kind of obsessive attention to organization or cleaning rituals or mundane details that make somebody a neurotic mess today may have been the difference between life and death for our ancient ancestors.

Although the necessity for this trait or characteristic as a survival mechanism has diminished in the modern era, it remains a part of our genetic inheritance and continues to be passed on in a greater or lesser degree in a portion of the human population.

I had a paternal aunt who was textbook obsessive compulsive: constantly dusting a spotless countertop, checking and rechecking the same list of numbers on bills by repeating them aloud over and over and over (she did office work and accounting), minutely and endlessly adjusting the position of some knickknack on a shelf, and many other such compulsive idiosyncrasies.

I’m glad I didn’t inherit that severe condition, but I do have a strong sense of order. For example, I like my home to be neat, uncluttered, and orderly. I kept my classroom the same way during my teaching career. And, of course, I write mostly formal poetry!

Richard

Last edited by Richard Meyer; 02-26-2018 at 12:51 AM.
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Unread 02-26-2018, 05:48 AM
E. Shaun Russell E. Shaun Russell is offline
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My main OCD tendencies have to do with categorization / organization.

Each shelf of my bookshelves has to have the books going from tallest to shortest, left to right. The general topic matters by shelf (i.e. Shakespeare stuff, poetry hardcovers, poetry softcovers, trade paperback fiction etc.), but I don't care about color, alphabetization, chronology or anything else -- they just have to have that left-to-right slant. I'll seriously go over the shelves with my fingertips, a la Helen Keller, just to make sure a certain copy doesn't stick out where it shouldn't...

I'm particular about other collections as well, but not quite so OCD as about my books.
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Unread 02-26-2018, 06:07 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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My main literature collection is shelved by century, by language, and within that alphabetically. My memory of the Cambridge University Library is that books are housed more or less by size. It's certainly not alphabetical.

Cheers,
John
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Unread 02-26-2018, 06:09 AM
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Michael F Michael F is offline
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LOL, Jayne!

I sorta envy you people with OCD: I could use some. I'm walking chaos, the personification of entropy. Thank heavens I live with someone or I'd never find my wallet or my keys.
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Unread 02-26-2018, 06:51 AM
Kevin Greene Kevin Greene is offline
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At least once a year I urinate outdoors. I don't know if I'm marking my property or that I just miss camping.

Aren't you glad you asked?
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Unread 02-26-2018, 10:05 AM
Rob Wright Rob Wright is offline
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A few years ago I did an interview with a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania named Rachel Gur who studied the differences in men and women as observers. They tricked volunteers into sitting in an office filled with pictures, clothes, binders, phones — al the things one might find in such a place. They left them alone for ten minutes, brought them out and asked them what they could remember seeing. As I do this all the time, I thought it was an interesting experiment. For instance, the other day I saw a new doctor. When I came home my wife asked me what he was like. I said, "He was wearing a brown, Harris tweed jacket. His tie was blue with a diamond pattern on it was folded five times and shoved into his right jacket pocket. In a bag beside his desk was an overly-ripe banana and two folded shopping bags. He was not wearing a wedding ring, but there was two pictures of young women on his desk. His pants were black as were his shoes, one of which had a scuff of white paint on the side" – I could go on, but I think you get the picture. My wife's reaction to this was calm, as she is even more observant than me. By the way, in Ms Gur's research, most men don't do this. Furthermore he research showed that nearly all women are better observers than men. Well, call me odd. You'll not be the first, nor will you be the last.
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Unread 02-26-2018, 11:31 AM
John Riley John Riley is offline
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I'm proof that obsessive-compulsive does not necessarily mean neat or orderly. I'm fairly certain that my weird traits started when the world around me as a young child was chaotic. I have one fork, one cup, one bowl, and one plate I eat every meal on. Of course, sometimes something is broken. I lost a coffee cup three years ago or so but I'm smart enough to keep it all plain and white so broken items are easy to replace. I have going to bed rituals that require me to be the last one to retire for the night. This was a great cause of tension when I was young and single and wasn't always certain where I would sleep or with whom I would be in bed with. When I was much younger the before sleep rituals were even more demanding. I was convinced I would be the only one alive in the morning without them. They're all about control, of course.
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Unread 02-26-2018, 11:43 AM
Bill Dyes Bill Dyes is offline
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Default Confession Time

OK. I’m going to take on faith that the adage “confession is good for the soul” is true and that a calm will come and envelope my soul soon after I write this.

Are maintaining collections in and of themselves a sign of OCD? I hope I don’t fall into the “hoarder” category. I do have a number of long-standing collections that are still growing but I have tried to make certain that I do not infringe upon my wife’s space or my daughter’s space when she lived here.

I have a huge recorded music collection. It consists of vinyl (78’s, 45’s, and LPs) as well as CDs but now grows exclusive by music download. There are 1,300 45s (arranged alphabetically in boxes with lids, about 50 78’s inherited from my father, 2200 LPs arranged alphabetically by artist and chronologically (within 2 categories: classical music and all other genres) housed in 72-inch bookcases, and nearly 5500 CDs arranged in the same way and placed in wood cases with sliding glass doors and I have lost count of the downloaded music which is on an 8TB portable drive arranged in folders by artist-name and within those folders chronologically by release year.

My book/magazine collection is also extensive arranged into 5 categories, a leather collection of classics from the Easton Press: Poetry (45 years of Poetry Magazine, every issue of The American Poetry Review, every edition of The Best American Poetry, then quite a number anthologies, then comes poetry volumes arranged by author’s names numbering perhaps 700 books. Fiction and non-fiction books arranged alphabetically by author, and I have a weakness for Science Fiction and Fantasy (especially series). For every e-book I purchase, I probably buy 5 or 6 paper-books. I have maybe 60 books on my e-reader. It is obvious that I will never get to read them all though I continue to buy. That cannot be a healthy sign. I read as many books at once as I can possibly manage and have a specific way of reading. Let’s just say that by the time I finish a book I have actually gone through it at least three times and I keep notes on a lot of them saved and organized by subject on my computer.

Further OCD symptoms: I kept records every year of my work-outs (weights, elliptical, running etc.) since I was 19. I now keep only the current year and at year’s end get rid of it. My wife has a substantial doll and curio collection but the only time we actually get in each other’s way is when we arrange the dishwasher. We both are kind of insistent on our separate ways of arranging dishes, glasses, eating utensils etc. We have lived in the same house for over 25 years and it is clean and neat and organized. Our daughter has inherited the love of books but her room
both when here and in her apartment is always a mess.

Uh…I think I'm going to stop now.

Bill
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