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Compulsively counting
August 1, 2005 | self / vanity

Posted on 08/01/2005 7:39:59 PM PDT by The Other Harry

While I am on the subject of health, I'll try this.

I compulsively count everything I do. I count the stairs, even though I already how many there are. I count the dishes when I put them into or take them out of the dishwasher.

Everything.

Any of you amateur or professional psychologists care to comment on this?


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: abbienormal; compulsivelyposting; drunkenpostingagain; ihavenofriends; pleasethreeohtwome; soberenoughtocount
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To: Petronski

Order me off this thread please before I involve someone.


21 posted on 08/01/2005 9:05:45 PM PDT by onyx (North is a direction. South is a way of life.)
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To: The Other Harry

hey MONK..is that you ?


22 posted on 08/01/2005 9:06:35 PM PDT by stylin19a (In golf, some are long, I'm "Lama Long")
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To: onyx

I won't order you anywhere. You must do what you think is best. The man needs help.


23 posted on 08/01/2005 9:09:09 PM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: Petronski; The Other Harry

I tracked him... I see he either seriously needs serious help, or he has a wicked sense of humor. I'll ask questions in the morning.


24 posted on 08/01/2005 9:13:39 PM PDT by onyx (North is a direction. South is a way of life.)
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To: Petronski
Yes...very blessed!!


25 posted on 08/01/2005 9:51:50 PM PDT by trussell (Prayers for the children!)
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To: The Other Harry

Take two aspirins & call me in the morning.


26 posted on 08/01/2005 9:57:13 PM PDT by elli1
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To: The Other Harry
OCD is part of a constellation of behaviors that is often found in varying degrees in families, indicating a genetic predisposition is at work.

Usually when I'm bored, if I see a series of numbers I feel compelled to add them quickly in my head and find the average, over and over again. I epsecially like to do this with three digit numbers. And I can't stand seeing chaotic piles of crap lying about (which makes me think of Ted Kennedy and Michael Moore). Everything should be in its own tidy stack. I've been known to tidy up a host's coffee tabIe during a visit and not really be conscious of it. It mildly annoys me that my wife always puts my shirts on hangers buttons-right; I want them buttons-left. Truly inconsequential and silly stuff.

My youngest brother is a cleanliness freak and his pet obsession involves eating. His face starts twitching and grimacing like Chief Inspector Dreyfuss's (Pink Panther) when he hears people eating noisily, so my other brother and I have been known to nonchalantly but quite intentionally to chew, spit, and smack saltine crackers and peanut butter, and slurp water in his presence until he catches on. It's great fun.

But then we believe our mother suffered from an undiagnosed mild case of Tourette's syndrome (throat clearing) . She kept a spotless, squared away house and we knew if we shifted the kitchen clock 1/32nd of an inch off perfect center, she'd make a beeline for it and tap it back perfect, usually without breaking the stream of conversation she was engaged in at the time. Life in our family was rarely dull.

But I'm not truly obsessed, and I can turn it off and easily ignore it once I'm aware of it.

There has been a lot of recent work into cognitive therapy as a means of overcoming OCD. As I understand it, the "secret" is to develop a habit of resisting the urge and to find something to distract your attention over and over again until the pathways in the brain rewire themselves.

27 posted on 08/01/2005 10:45:51 PM PDT by JCEccles
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To: The Other Harry

OMG so do I. I hate it when things end up odd. If I'm counting words, and it's only a few of them...I count the numbers of the letters instead of the words.


28 posted on 08/01/2005 10:58:36 PM PDT by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: The Other Harry; jdm
If I screw up the count, I'll start all over again.

I know about this.

I think I saw this on a "Cheers" episode once, when they got Kevin McHale counting the bolts in the floorboards at Boston Garden.

29 posted on 08/02/2005 12:46:05 AM PDT by kstewskis ("I don't know what I know, but I know that it's big..." Jerry Fletcher)
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To: The Other Harry

Yeah, you're nuts. It's called obsessive compulsive disorder. Get professional help.


30 posted on 08/02/2005 4:35:20 AM PDT by Rudder
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To: motzman
I'm also afraid of mustard; I won't even get into it.

Thats funny. Ketchup is my problem. I will throw-up if I smell it. I've been like this since I was a kid.

31 posted on 08/02/2005 4:43:53 AM PDT by chapin2500
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To: trussell; Petronski

Ain't it sad trussell? ;o)


32 posted on 08/02/2005 4:47:37 AM PDT by cyborg (to love,honor and obey...)
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To: cyborg

Nope...I don't agree it's sad, I think it's cute!! such a wonderful couple...obviously in love! I neglected to ping you to my last comment, please check out post #25.

Keep up the cute! I thoroughly enjoy the thought that maybe, somewhere out there, there may be another for me! You two give me hope that someday I may find him!


33 posted on 08/02/2005 5:03:07 AM PDT by trussell (Prayers for the children!)
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To: The Other Harry

Simple. You are nuts. ;-)


34 posted on 08/02/2005 5:06:49 AM PDT by verity (Big Dick Durbin is still a POS)
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To: trussell

How sweet! You made my day trussell :-)


35 posted on 08/02/2005 5:07:35 AM PDT by cyborg (to love,honor and obey...)
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To: chapin2500
I love Ketchup, but hate tomatoes (though not the same level as the mustard fear).
36 posted on 08/02/2005 5:12:51 AM PDT by motzman (Verizon, the Hitler of phone companies)
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To: jdm

My father in law has undiagnosed OCD, and most likely, he also has Tourettes (no spontaneous cursing, he just has a tic where his shoulder twitches when he gets nervous). He frequently takes his wallet out and counts his money, and one of his more prominent obsessions is that he dates EVERYTHING. He will even write the date of purchase on the inside band of his underwear! And it's guaranteed that somewhere on his shoes, he'll have a date on them. I've actually adopted some of this, in that I will place the date of purchase on major appliances, but don't date any of my clothes or other inconsequential items.


37 posted on 08/02/2005 5:44:50 AM PDT by Born Conservative ("If not us, who? And if not now, when? - Ronald Reagan)
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To: pbrown

"I hate it when things end up odd"

I do that as well. I tend to count letters in sentences to see if they add up to an amount divisible by four. I don't do this often, only when I'm bored and a sentence someone says sticks in my head. This seemed to start when I started taking typing in high school. But it never got disruptive or in the way of my life. That's where men came in! lol

These kinds of small tics are completely normal as long as they don't run your life.

Is getting onto FR and seeing what bizarre vanity TOH has posted considered a weird tic? Should I seek help? Freepers, you make the call.


38 posted on 08/02/2005 6:00:57 AM PDT by Woman on Caroline Street (I'm not a canned good. Please don't label me.)
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To: Born Conservative
My father in law has undiagnosed OCD, and most likely, he also has Tourettes (no spontaneous cursing...

Tourettes is one of the more interesting conditions. I'm pretty sure I have at least a mild version of it myself.

It's very difficult to get a handle on.

I make me with OCD, depression, and Tourettes. The latter is the most difficult to figure out.

The booze is there also, but that isn't all that interesting.

39 posted on 08/02/2005 6:33:52 AM PDT by The Other Harry
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To: Born Conservative

J'ever notice you never see any nuns with Tourette's?
Why is that?


40 posted on 08/02/2005 6:41:34 AM PDT by Woman on Caroline Street (I'm not a canned good. Please don't label me.)
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