Does this constitute OCD behaviour?

[56degree]

Hi

I have been dealing with health anxiety for the last 18 months or so,since the death of my father. Addressing this problem has helped me recognise that I have had problems with anxiety for at least five years.

But I wonder if a couple of behaviours fall within the OCD spectrum. Firstly, I keep conducting these little 'tests' like "if the next song on the radio mentions death or sickness then that is a sign from God/whoever that I have the disease I fear". I did this a few days ago and the announcer started talking about "killer tracks" straight away. You can probably imagine my reaction. Is this OCD behaviour and if so, any pointers on managing it?

Next, and I am a bit embarrassed about this but, when I am driving home most days, I feel an urge to wind down my window and shout words at oncoming cars who have their windows down. Not profanity, but what I would call nonsense words. Just shouting at people makes me feel better and less anxious. Can anyone tell me what is up with that?

Thanks!

[TomT]

56degree,

Welcome to the forum, yeah it fits into anxiety disorder. Your mind will remember those times the thing with the song happened but not all the times it didn't its just a coincidence if you are aware of them you will notice them a lot more. This fear is like Pure-O type, you know and recognize this thought is weird and that if you think logically about it this ¿Why would god send messages to you and why regarding such a silly topic? You might fear this thoughts because crazy people have them, the difference between you and them is that them do not question those thoughts. Believe me, you are OK.

Try practicing some deep breathing techniques rather than shouting to the cars, thou it might be fun hahah


All the best,

Tom

[MyNameIsTerry]

Both of what you describe are known in OCD. The former one is Magical Thinking and I've had my share of that. Try to turn your reaction into neutral/positive though as negative reactions, especially emotional ones (the stronger the better to the area of the brain looking for it - it only looks for a negative in this scenario) will reinforce it otherwise because you complete the cycle.

The latter, the shouting, is known in OCD. I've had some of this but mainly wanting to do it and not following through. Usually in a social occasion where it would be inappropriate.

OCD seems to be emerging as having connections to other disorder like Tourette's n terms of the area of the brain that could be being stimulated, which makes sense when you think about this one and the tics that can also occur in OCD (I've had these at my worst). Again, doing the shouting is a compulsion and this will only make it worse. With this form as well you may also have the added risk of offending someone so please be careful.

The thing about OCD though is, it is diagnosed not based on behaviour alone but when the behaviour is affecting your life. This is because otherwise a lot of people would have OCD. Children are known to have things like this and grow out of them for a start.

[56degree]

Thanks for the replies. I had not heard of the term magical thinking but it is appropriate. I just did some googling of that and found a reference to another behaviour of mine. I also think that if I do certain things then I will be punished by contracting a disease or illness. This I have put down to a Catholic upbringing which I have since distanced myself from, but it is interesting to see that it is a recognised psychological issue.

I would say that this does effect my life as I am less likely to do certain things for fear of being punished. I also find it frustrating and it probably adds to my anxiety.

I will try and cease the shouting. It's only a matter of time before someone reads my rego plate and calls the rozzers!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah, frustration is one I've had loads of. Compulsions are supposed to be aimed at reduction of anxiety but with many of mine they left me frustrated and I just stayed more anxious and moved onto the next compulsion seconds to minutes later.

There is a religious form of OCD.

There are some good descriptions on the charity websites like OCD UK. I would also recommended Steve Seay's website. He is a medical professional in the US who treats OCD and he has got a lot of detailed articles on his website that go into levels of detail the charities tend not to.

Learning about OCD is part of learning to beat it. You may not realise what you are doing is a compulsion at times as they can be mental versions so it's important to understand it so you can find your triggers & cycles.

I have beaten my Magical Thinking and the compulsions, imagery, intrusive thoughts, etc attached to it. In CBT they use things like Behavioural Experiments where you seek to prove you cannot impact on the physical world and more importantly see that whether you act or not, it achieves nothing. Acting only reinforces, not acting will eventually free you from it.