Know & Tell Friday ~ Kayren's OCD Edition

This is what kind of trouble a wild hair can get me into. I'm blaming this on the two-inch gray one in front that likes to stand up at attention and requires either pulling or some serious smoothing to hide...smoothing as in wet and push in, obviously not as in straighten. I think it has short-people syndrome. So far I've opted not to pull it. I think it's the one that keeps growing back anyway. Guess that's why it's causing me trouble now. Well, Heather and Reese are always so gracious and kind, and they were when I got this wild hair and sent them my funny offering of OCD questions for this week. They've both had difficult weeks so the timing was appropriate.

From the NIMH:

"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsession) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety."

Also from NIMH:

"People with OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. They may be obsessed with germs or dirt, and wash their hands over and over. They may be filled with doubt and feel the need to check things repeatedly."

That was just for all of you who don't get me. On to the Q & A!

1. Do you put the toilet paper on coming over the top or underneath, or does it matter? If someone puts it on wrong do you have to fix it?

I put the toilet paper on coming over the top, and yes it matters. Based on the definitions above, did you really think it didn't? And yes, I will fix it. You know what is even more sick than that, I realized when we lived in New Jersey, which we left eight years ago, that I have to put the toilet paper on the roll with the same hand. Because, you know, I was putting it on with the left one and if felt wrong, so I had to stop and start over and put it on with the right hand, which apparently I've done my whole life. Funny how you never realize things until you do them wrong. Everyone's that way, right? Right? Let me hear you now.

2. Do you wear shoes in the house?

Gross! Do you know what's on those public bathroom floors where your shoes have been? I think the germ fear is part of the OCD issue. Now, that said, we do have some "inside shoes" that we can wear in the house, but my kids like to go barefoot, except for Sparky, who has a knee sock fetish.

3. If something falls out of the dryer when you're folding clothes or putting it in the laundry basket, do you have to rewash it or do you just continue on like nothing happened?

I'm thinking that based on everything people have read so far, they're going to guess my answer before I type it. And I'm not going to disappoint...rewash it!

4. Which side of the bed do you sleep on? What about in a hotel?

It depends on where it faces in the room. I have slept on both sides of the bed, and it can change in every place we live depending on the location of the bed to the bedroom door and the bathroom door, if we have one in the room. I always get to pick my side of the bed first. Isn't Hubby nice? I picked a keeper.

Now in a hotel, when there are two beds, which with kids there always are, I never sleep against the wall and I never sleep by the window. I always sleep on one of the inside positions, but I don't care which bed. I haven't been in a hotel with one bed in so long I don't know where I'd sleep, but I guess it would just depend on how it "looked and felt."

5. Do you do everything in the shower in the same order every time?

This was another freebie. Duh, yes. Wash face, if make-up on wash face again, shampoo hair to finger comb hair, shampoo hair again to scrub scalp well, wash body, wash face again, just in case any dirt from my hair contaminated my perfectly clean face...don't even go there because I know it's sick, but it's the ritual people. The compulsion has to be done to satisfy the obsession. My growing-up family always knew I was out there...now maybe they'll know why.

6. How many times a day do you think you wash your hands?

It depends on if I'm at home or not. When I'm at home it's a lot more, just because of sink availability. I've never tried to put a number on it, but it's probably more than 50 times a day easily. And these are all soap-washing hand-washings. No wonder my hands are so chapped in the winter. And if they were chapped in the humid, not so cold Virginia winters, imagine the dry, colder Michigan winters. Note to self: take stock in Neutrogena.

I wash my hands after the obvious things (bathroom, trash, etc.), after I blow my nose, after I touch the dirty laundry, all the time repeatedly while I'm cooking, after I put mousse in my hair, before I put on my make-up or anything else on my face to make sure my face, mouth, nose, eyes aren't contaminated, after I put make-up on my face, before I clean my glasses, after I clean my glasses, after I check the mail, after I touch store packaging or plastic bags (from refilling something in the house), every time I get home from being out in public or at someone else's house, after I put my shoes on to go out of the house, after I've folded clean laundry (although I don't really know why), repeatedly while cleaning...I could obviously go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I will after I get up from the computer because my hands will "feel" like they need it. Maybe I should have said at least 100 times a day. Maybe even one of these days I will count.

7. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning? Does it ever vary?

I go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and brush my teeth. With rare exception for children rudely waking me up to an urgency, no it doesn't vary.

I also have counting/number issues and the "rechecking things" issue. But since Heather and Reese only do seven questions each week, which may mean they have OCD and number issues too, I couldn't put a question about those in there. So maybe I'll blog about those someday if people actually leave comments and seem interested. Otherwise, I guess I'll keep my personal information, which is shrinking amanzingly fast, to my little ol' self.

Go to Kickin' It In Crazyville and see if others are as OCD as me, which I find very unlikely, but I'm slightly hopeful that I'll find some kindred OCD souls. At least we'll find some fun answers! And participate people, you know you want to...