Oh-See-Dee

Crooked picture frames, untied shoelaces, clothes all over the floor. Do any of the following things drive you insane? When you see a countertop full of dirty dishes in your friends house, do you feel compelled to go clean everything and then rearrange their closet while you're at it?

If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are that you, my friend, have OCD.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

Is defined by merriam-Webster.com as "a psychoneurotic disorder in which the patient is beset with obsessions or compulsions or both and suffers extreme anxiety or depression through failure to think the obsessive thoughts or perform the compelling acts."

What does that mean? Basically, those that suffer from OCD encounter extreme anxiety when faced with situations where their compulsions cannot be performed. In most cases it is simply an individual who isn't in control of whatever is going on, and will start to feel anxious and sometimes depressed when they can't change the situation. This is why we most often portray people with OCD to obsess over things such as crooked picture frames or dirty dishes, because those are everyday situations where someone would feel compelled to fix them. So when that picture frame will not stay straight after numerous readjustments, that is where the sufferer begins to feel the anxiety and the frustration. 

Don't be alarmed, obsessive-compulsive disorder is not an addiction. It is something far more uncontrollable. 

However, in the same ways as an addiction a severe OCD can ruin someone's life. Work, family and even eating can all be overlooked by someone who is in constant stress to satisfy their thousands of daily obsessions, often leading to substance abuse as their only relaxant. Which can then lead to suffering from both OCD and a substance addiction. 

When I was a child, my parents tell me that I always had to be the one who unlocked the car, walked through doors first, stood at the front of the line, etc. If i didn't get to do any of those things, I would throw a fit and everyone had to retrace their steps and start all over so that I was happy. Thank the sun I grew out of that, or I too could have been suffering severely. 

A man my father works with has OCD. He tells me that the man must take the same amount of steps to his bed at the fire dept. each and every time and if he doesn't he will walk backwards and start over. If he can't do up his zipper on the first try, he removes the jacket entirely and starts all over again. My father fears that these obsessions could grow and impede the man from working. That could be very dangerous in a career such as firefighting where others lives depend on your work. What if he encounters severe anxiety during a rescue? It wouldn't turn out well...

All in all, I guess the basis of this entry was to show that there are many things in which an addiction can derive from. Cases where forming and addiction can be a side effect to a disorder you already suffer from, increasing the severity of the situation. Addictions come from anywhere, and from personal experience, and any experience you may have, it is always best to get help before you are no longer only harming your own life, but the lives of those around you.