Comments on: Eight Famous OCD Sufferers

By: Leeah

Leeah — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:46:29 +0000

This is for Scotty. Have you tried Paxil? I must add that Paxil caused me anxiety so I had to take Xanax with it. I only took half the regular dose for an 8 month period. My ocd consisted of not being able to walk around my house or anywhere barefoot, if I did I had to wash my feet because I could feel the dirt. Also, I washed my hands about 50 times a day. Additionally, if anyone came over who wasn’t “clean” I had to scrub the couch and floor where they walked or anything they touched, even the doorknobs and walls. I never thought I would get rid of it but it just took time for the neural connections to weaken-I think the Xanax really helped too because it got rid of the anxiety response. I’m not cured, I have to wash my hands or use a wipe if I touch a garbage can to throw something away. I also have straight obsessions or thoughts that repeat in my head but I am 95% better than I used to be.

By: Scotty

Scotty — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:23:53 +0000

Reading all your comments makes me realise how many different varieties of OCD there is. I would give anything to worry about odd numbers, or symmetry, or cracked pavements… But instead I’ve been graded a 10 out of 10 on the OCD intensity scale but 4 different psychiatrists. I need things to be clean, i know that doesnt sound much but when you consider I mean EVERYTHING needs to be clean, it’s ruined my life. I cant make physical contact with people, friends or family. I am secluded to one chair in my house, and my bed. I have to have a full body wash, i.e. a shower EVERY time I step outside, even my own garden. I cant have anyone over to my house. I cant eat without washing afterwards. I’m just so lonely and scared that I’ll be like this forever. And I appreciate people saying you’ll get through this, or just adjust your thought-train, but the truth is I wont get over this and regardless what I tell brain I’ll still do these things. I’ve accepted I’ll live a lonely and secluded life. I just wish I had someone to talk to…

By: Nestor

Nestor — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:12:09 +0000

Yeah I have a touch of symmetry ocd, I need to balance any touch on my body with the other side. But I can ignore it most of the time.

By: Derek J. Soto

Derek J. Soto — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:46:58 +0000

The cure for OCD, the most vital part!

I had OCD my whole life, then four years ago I started to do a lot of research on it. I started looking up other people who had ‘really’ cured it and here are some of the things we did, and they really work! Let’s talk about them now…

I remember, when I was afraid to put my finger prints on anything because I was afraid that if a crime was committed around where I left my finger print, that I may be wrongfully accused.

I remember someone had let me borrow some dvd’s. I grabbed them without thinking and then I thought of my finger prints.

I got a lot of anxiety and then said to myself, “What a minute! I’m afraid that if I leave my finger prints on these dvd’s that if a crime ever happens at my friends house, they’re going to dust for prints on the dvd’s and I’m going to go to jail for something I didn’t do! Ha!

When I said it to myself, out loud is better, you hear how ridiculous it is and you can’t help but laugh. Also telling someone else really helps your brain to look at it in a different way. So one secret to curing OCD is to cause your brain to see it in a different way by making it look ridiculous to you, which will make your brain naturally question your actions.

At this point you are then able to retrain your brain a different way, because you have opened your brain up to the possibility that what you are doing may be the wrong thing.

So when I looked back down at the dvd’s I not only refused to do my ritual of using the end of my sleeves to handle the dvd’s, I defied my ritual and put an excessive amount of prints on them.

This huge wave of anxiety came over me like, ya, this is fun, but I have to wipe those off later. Then I said, no, and I touched the inside of the case and the cd and everywhere so that I couldn’t possibly remember where are the finger prints were, now I was past the point of no return. I could not control it and I had to “let it go.”

So I just said to myself, “What’s done is done!” and “I don’t care, I know this is not productive and I’m tired of doing things I don’t want to do and I refuse to give into rituals anymore, lol I don’t care, do your worst fear!”

I then realized that I just feared fear itself and I got this feeling like, man this is going to bother me, but I find that whenever I said that to myself, It never bothered me as long as I thought it would and I would eventually forget and that’s the key.

After I defied my ritual with the dvd’s and did what was most uncomfortable to me, which was exposing myself to my fear and going through it, once I went through it, I came out on the other side a free man! I felt like I was free, that I could do anything!

It’s the most exhilarating experience and now, if OCD ever tries to come up during high anxiety situations, I get excited because I get to use this at will and I have used it to overcome numerous fears with lasting success.

This is not some therapy you need to pay someone for, this is a technique that you can have in your toolbox that you can use anytime you may feel OCD come up.

At first it will be hard, but after a while it gets so easy, and then you may spend several months forgetting you even had OCD, it’s crazy. I know this works, it’s not theory, it worked for me, it’s worked for my colleagues. This is the real deal.

Stop looking for the answer, this is it. If you skip this over, you have just skipped over the most vital part of the cure…

Derek J. Soto

you can find me at

http://www.ocd-gone-in-seven-days.com

By: ERIC POSON

ERIC POSON — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:17:57 +0000

I HAVE BEEN AN OCD SUFFERER ALL MY LIFE.LONG BEFORE IT WAS A FAD!IM 36.OCD CAN BE HELPFUL.IT CAN PUSH YOU FARTHER THAN OTHER PEOPLE.IN ATHLETICS,WORK REALATIONSHIPS.EXAMPLE BODYBUILDING,BECAUSE YOUR OBSECED WITH BEING PERFECT YOULL WORKOUT LONGER.OR BEING A TRIATHELETE. YOU’L RUN THAT EXTRA MILE ,SWIM THAT EXTRA LAP.TRY TO CHANEL YOUR OBSESSIONS IN A POSOTIVE DIRECTION.I LIKE TO WORKOUT ,BECAUSE IT REALXES ME,AND I DONT HAVE AS MUCH ANXIETY.GETS RIDE OF ALL THE NERVOUS ENERGY.THE WORST THING TO DO IS DWELL ON YOUR OBSESSIONS.STAY BUSY,KEEP YOUR MIND MOVING!AND MEDICINE DOES WORK FOR ALOT OF PEOPLE!UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME AFTER A YR OR SO THEY WEAR OFF!

By: Me

Me — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:38:42 +0000

Well, I am not a FREAK then.
I have to do things four times.
1 on the left 2-3 on the right and 4 back on the left to even it out…………….

By: JackMisfit

JackMisfit — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:33:07 +0000

And yet David Beckham’s kit number is 23…. curious….

By: lee1954

lee1954 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:20:33 +0000

As an individual who has struggled with OCD for 45 years, I felt compelled to validate some of the comments that made a distinction between behavior attributed to OCD (such as idiosyncrasies, quirks or phobias) and the repetitive rituals of the OCD sufferor. OCD rituals, such as checking locks or washing hands are a response to an unreasonable fear. The best way I can describe the disorder is that when engaging in a particular ritual, one’s brain is akin to a skipping record. And, although the person with OCD is quite aware that their concerns are irrational, it takes an extraordinary effort to stop their current episode of ‘brain skipping.’ Which takes me to the subject of medication. Ten years ago I was introduced to Zoloft, an SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor). For those of you who can remember, Zoloft was the proverbial coin placed on the record player needle. No more skips.

By: Jose M

Jose M — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:26:32 +0000

OCD is simply the way the person’s brain is wired. The problem comes when people feel less about themselves, or feel stained because of the OCD. It is not just the handwashing, or need for symmetry like Beckham, the REAL suffering is in one’s thoughts. Atleast that is true for me. So many people misunderstand and misrepresent those of us who have OCD. Well that is my two cents. I found great help and understanding, for the first time in my life at http://www.obsessive-compulsive-disorder-help.com
I wish everyone could learn more about OCD and I’m glad to see an article about people we all know who have OCD, so we know we’re not alone. It is actually quite controllable when you know what works and doesn’t.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:15:38 +0000

I like things to be level. If a building or a doorway or a picture isn’t level, it bugs the hell out of me.

By: hooper

hooper — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:16:05 +0000

Rolled

By: Ed Hanz

Ed Hanz — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:32:20 +0000

Here is a perfect example of a person with OCD. It may be hard to see, but count how many times the motions are repeated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

By: Neatoramawontsendmeapassword

Neatoramawontsendmeapassword — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:55:25 +0000

I think part of the problem here is the wording. Perhaps these people have obsessive compulsive tendencies. But that’s a far cry from obsessive compulsive disorder. The fact that they have been able to work in their chosen fields well enough and long enough to become famous suggests that they are not completely debilitated by the condition.

By: hooper

hooper — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:56:38 +0000

@Tre,

I think that you might be my ex-boyfriend. He used to tell me the same thing.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:44:43 +0000

I already knew every one of them are not right in the head. You forgot Sheryl Crow who has shrunk her brain with pot so much that nothing she says is real. (example, wanted to pass a law to make everyone just one one sheet of toilet paper not knowing that paper is harvested like corn)

By: hedwig

hedwig — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:43:04 +0000

I saw true OCD once- and it was so overwhelming and numbing that it totally consumed the life of the people involved. A lot of what’s mentioned here seems to me to be quirks instead (or publicity stunts, like someone else mentioned). Real OCD is debilitating.

By: Sofar

Sofar — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:56:04 +0000

I could not possibly care less about psychiatry.

I’ve got my fair share of such tendencies, though in an unusual fashion. I can’t stand things that are perfect, my pictures must be askew, I don’t like even numbers, I never buy new things, and if I do buy somthing new I’ll carefully break it so it’s not perfect anymore. I loosened the bolts on one half of my car’s bumper so it would hang at an odd angle and rattle as I went over bumps. I loosen my lightbulbs so they’ll flicker when I turn them on. I even cracked the crystal on my watch. And whereas I repair my own clothing I purposefully sew crooked, obvious stitches.

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:50:50 +0000

Oh, and don’t think that having “spoken publically about your views on psychiatry” automatically makes you more qualified to assert your view on the topic.
I have a degree in psychology. I know you think that must make me biased too, but we are trained to be objective and always consider the weaknesses for all theories and practices within the field.
(sorry everyone for dominating the forum)

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:47:14 +0000

You know a meta-analysis is just about the most powerful way to provide evidence for or against an argument.
Well I guess that depends on whether you want to objectively look at the evidence for both sides (and that includes actually having access to studies on the topic rather than just a few publically-available abstracts), or if, biased by your own subjective negative experience you go out there looking for (not particularly reliable) evidence to support your argument.

By: Trry

Trry — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:37:11 +0000

@your_mum_goes_to_college

I’m well read on the topic and you are wrong. It’s really not the place to have a debate about it. I’ve spoken publicly about my views on psychiatry a number of times. I’ll save my steam for those occasions as those times are the most effective. And No, I’m not a scientologist.
Bye

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:22:19 +0000

You’ll find that the few studies that suggest otherwise will have flaws that contribute to their conflicting results e.g. not enough participants, not a representative sample, poor ways of measuring symptoms etc…

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:15:23 +0000

@ Trry,

While you may have read that on some anti-drug/psychiatry website, it’s simply not true.
If you actually have access to a database of peer-reviewed journals, and you do a little research, you’ll find that the overwhelming majority of studies (double blind)on SSRIs suggest that OCD patients who take SSRIs have a significantly greater reduction in symptoms than placebo control groups.
E.g., A meta-analysis of 12 studies which included the data from 1,044 individuals by Geller et al (2003) revealed that all types of SSRIs are significantly more effective than placebo controls in treating paediatric OCD.
Any drug which is potentially going to be prescribed by psychiatrists have to undergo rigorous testing to determine that a) they are unlikely to cause any major harm; and b) that their prescription can be justified – that is, that they are more effective than placebos.
If the literature suggested otherwise, psychiatrists would never be allowed to prescribe them.

By: Trry

Trry — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:17:47 +0000

@your_mum_goes_to_college

“psychiatrists do indeed have every justification to pescribe drugs as there is a vast body of literature out there that indicates that on average, they do significantly improve OCD symptoms.”

In double blind tests, drugs used to treat OCD are no more effective than placebo.

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:07:13 +0000

That’s not weird – most girls have an even number of earrings.
That’s like saying – I can’t leave home without putting an even number of legs inside my pants.

By: molly

molly — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:03:11 +0000

Welcome to my world. Can’t leave the house without an even number of earrings in, cant touch glass right out of the dishwasher- the feeling is wrong. Just like checking to make sure I have everything three times, and that everything is in it’s place.
You never know when they’re watching.

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Wed, 28 May 2008 04:32:26 +0000

lol priscilla, a wake-up call/snooze button.

Oh, and I must raise my movie-nerd dragon head as well and say that Slingblade does indeed have Dwight Yoakam’s character, Doyle, profess a fear of “retards and antique furniture.” That movie rocks.

By: priscilla

priscilla — Wed, 28 May 2008 04:22:47 +0000

I don’t know why but this reminds me of a man who stayed at the hotel I work at. He called the front desk for 2 wakeup calls. One at 6:41 AM and one at 7:08 AM. I told him that was weird and he said he likes to throw people off. I will do that from now on at any hotel I stay at…

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 04:02:28 +0000

Trry, a seretonin imbalance does indeed contribute to OCD, and SSRIs and other drugs that increase seretonin levels (the same drugs used to treat depression) can be used to treat this imbalance.
However a GOOD psychologist/psychiatrist should begin treatment using cognitive behavioural therapy (like what you describe you achieved yourself – by changing your thoughts to change your behaviours). Only if this is unsuccessful, should they resport to pescribing drugs (in combination with the therapy).
Not everyone is capable of changing their own thoughts to eliminate the deep seeded-problem behaviours that are involved with OCD, and often people will need an experienced professional to guide them through this process.
Should the cognitive-behavioural therapy not help, psychiatrists do indeed have every justification to pescribe drugs as there is a vast body of literature out there that indicates that on average, they do significantly improve OCD symptoms.
Don’t completely discount psychology/psychiatry based on your one experience.

By: Trry

Trry — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:45:47 +0000

I was diagnosed by psychiatrists as having OCD. I was told it was caused by a chemical imbalance (serotonin). No form of lab test was used in the diagnosis because none exist and no cause is known. I was prescribed medication to correct the imbalance. The Psych’s had no lab test to check if the imbalance was corrected.

I gave up on psychiatry as quackery. Through a long process I just challenged the way I thought and my obsessive behavior and over 18 months, I cured myself. It seems fairly straight forward to me, just work on your thought process and change it. The only one who can control your mind is yourself.

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:24:47 +0000

Also remember, you can’t be officially diagnosed with OCD unless the symptoms are having a significant impact on your life.
So many of you who are describing OCD symptoms wouldn’t necessarily actually have OCD.
E.g. having a “fear” of open doors at night, resulting in closing them behind you isn’t OCD.
Lying awake at night obsessing and thinking about whether or not you remembered to close all the doors and the complulsion to repeatedly get up to check that they are closed to the point where you lose so much sleep that your are unable to live your life properly – that’s OCD.

By: Tre

Tre — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:19:18 +0000

I HAVE to jerk off 3 times every day or I can’t sleep.

By: your_mum_goes_to_college

your_mum_goes_to_college — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:18:14 +0000

Apparently a mild (and usually temporary) form of OCD where there is a compulsion to try to make everything symmetrical on the body is very common in children. I used to be like that when I was a child. It would reach the point where if I accidentally hit one shoulder, I would intentionally hit the other because I didn’t like having that sensation on one side but not the other.
This is interesting because in adulthood, OCD is the most debilitating of all the anxiety disorders and it is very difficult to reduce symptoms.

By: megmeg

megmeg — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:57:29 +0000

I hate odd numbers unless they’re divisible by 5. It absolutely drives me insane to see them and I have to either look away or somehow change it. I think it’s probably more of a quirk than OCD, though my mother is a compulsive hand washer. Her hands are permanently dry and scaly from all the washing she does.

My friend is much much worse than me. She can’t step on cracks or go in circles. We were walking in a circular cul-de-sac the other day and she started hunching over and swaying from side to side to “undo” the circle.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:38:09 +0000

I check Neatorama like a thousand times a day. Blogging is OCD!

By: NeuroGirl

NeuroGirl — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:33:45 +0000

Becoming a biologist cured me of my OCD. I reached the point where I knew I would be touching disgusting things every day and just had to deal with it. Nothing cures germophobia like a hospital internship

By: owl

owl — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:20:53 +0000

I have a bit of symmetry/evenness OCD. For example, if my right elbow touches something cold, I have to touch my left elbow to the cold thing too. I’m also quite fidgety, and if I raise one eyebrow, I must raise the other one too; and if they still feel different I have to keep raising them to make them both feel the same.

By: L

Wed, 28 May 2008 01:42:21 +0000

And before it was 23, it was 7.

By: L

Wed, 28 May 2008 01:42:06 +0000

BECKHAM’s jersey number is 23.

He is NOT OCD about odd numbers. He says he is get MORE attention. What a load of rubbish.

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:08:29 +0000

If Beckham hates things that aren’t symmetrical, how come he trimmed only one eyebrow?

By: dd

dd — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:40:32 +0000

Beckham wears number 23, so I can’t imagine he hates odd numbers too much.

By: Lea

Lea — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:13:06 +0000

I’m not sure these things are actual Obsessive Copulsive Disorder, as would be diagnosed by a psychiatrist, but they are definately compulsions.
And I relate to quite a few! Especially the Open Doors thing. And I HATE jewelry and buttons. I find them disgusting and nauseating. My dad absolutely hates odd numbers unless they are divisible by five.

By: L

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:35:41 +0000

I don’t like other people’s hair, either. If it’s on their head, fine. But when you find a hair just sitting on something (or in your food)… well, that’s just icky!

By: Denita TwoDragons

Denita TwoDragons — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:15:41 +0000

I dislike odd numbers, prefer symmetry, and I have to will myself not to count things. And I get squeamish around leftovers if they’re more than a day old, because food poisoning scares the everloving heck out of me. And if an activity involves even the remotest chance of parasitic infection, I will avoid whatever it is like death itself.

Oh, and–I HATE stepping on cracks!

–TwoDragons

By: SearcH- EngineS WEB

SearcH- EngineS WEB — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:05:18 +0000

Most people do have one OCD. It is SEX and BEAUTY.

Think about how much they are pushed into our faces every day.

Think About how frequently we think about one or the other during the day.

By: Evilbeagle

Evilbeagle — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:19:09 +0000

StacyBee, I don’t know if that qualifies, but it might! If anything, it would be a mild form of it, which is what I think I have.

By: Peeves

Peeves — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:17:31 +0000

Seems like there’s a lot of things being associated with OCD. I know there’s a spectrum but I too hate unlevel things enough to adjust them regularly but I don’t count it as OCD, more like a preference..also, avoiding touching surfaces to avoid germs is pretty standard. Someone who washes their hands a hundred times a day in scalding water? OCD.

By: CheeseDuck

CheeseDuck — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:13:45 +0000

I like powers of 2..

By: thedistractor

thedistractor — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:04:52 +0000

Billy Bob Thornton’s fear of antique furniture was written into Bandits, not Sling Blade. It’s the scene where he and Cate Blanchett lists their phobias to each other.

(my movie nerd just reared its ugly head, sorry)

By: StacyBee

StacyBee — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:03:57 +0000

Evilbeagle – not sure if it’s OCD, but I have a strange habit of adding things up. Specifically license plates and the numbers on the board at church that show what hymns are on the day’s lineup.

By: Evilbeagle

Evilbeagle — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:01:33 +0000

I’m just glad I am not the only one. Though I am not as extreme as most cases, I definitely have a germophobe streak and it’s always creepy for me to take the Tube anywhere in summer because I am not wearing gloves to touch the handles in the train or the railings on the stairs. And that’s not all…