OCD is like...

[Guest ScottOCDid]

It's like an itch that won't go away, and the more you scratch the worse it gets. You know that you must not scratch, and you know what will happen if you do and that scratching will only make you feel better for a very short time, if at all. But most of the time you give in to the urge nevertheless. And the harder you try to get your mind off the itch, the harder it gets.

I particularly like that analogy!

[Guest Muse_Man]

Everyone has a different perception and priority of risk and fear, what is dangerous and what is safe. A sufferer has a more elevated sense of danger to a given situation than the majority of people would have. I think it must be very difficult for a non OCD sufferer to completely see through the eye of the sufferer, as they will not be able to sense past what is normal for them in terms of what is safe. For instance the other day in a queue at a self service restaurant, I was confused by a lady who picked up every plate and said it was dirty, even though to me each plate looked spotless clean. Coming to think of it she made the plates dirty by picking them up, but it wouldnt stop me using them.

[Guest twoshoes]

OCD is fear, guilt and anxeity. I need to control the things I can't and the things I can...I don't have the courage.

Excessive importance imposed on the unimportant and ignoring the things that do matter.

OCD is no time to rest, yet lots of sitting and procrastinating. I take so long doing things that it becomes easier to avoid it.

OCD is relentless it is every part of my life, deeper in some places, glancing in other.

OCD is a life half lived (or about 10% in my case)

[Guest Kitty]

OCD is like living on the outskirts of a town called life.

You want to go into town, to do stuff, to see what's happening, to be with people, to experience things - but instead you find yourself stuck in the isolated village of your head - too scared to venture out in case all the bad things you imagine come true.

Sorry if that sounds cheesy...just how I 'see' it.

[Guest Sammyhostie]

OCD is like a purple elephant with a tiara on.

Ask someone to picture it, then tell them to forget about it. They cant! Thats what OCD is to me.

[Guest Dimphy]

I've read somewhere how OCD is a "stammer" of the brain. I've experienced that since childhood. My OCD-thoughts keep being the same. I count and I count and I count... Don't even think of resisting, you'll become more anxious. But because of the intensity of the counting, your concentration levels are low, which makes it very hard to interact. People don't see this because it's all Pure-O, so you're condemned as being unable to communicate, you've no social life and you might be classed as someone that's lazy, you don't want to work!

All the things that you'd want to be or want to do are out of reach!

Just because of the "stammer"!

[Guest RachelZ]

OCD is like a purple elephant with a tiara on.

Ask someone to picture it, then tell them to forget about it. They cant! Thats what OCD is to me.

I love this analogy! Prolly gonna keep thinking of purple elephants with tiaras on all day cos it's such a fab image...so if I get carted away for chuckling to myself in public, I'll blame you entirely! Sorry...don't mean to sound ilke I'm laughing at what you say...I think it's a fab way of putting it...I reackon we should turn the quotes in this thread into a book! At the very least we could all make our fortune! Pants...now I'm worried that I'll have upset you for smiling at purple elephants...but I'm gonna be brave and post this anyway!!!! :blushing:

[Guest ScottOCDid]

This isn't really an "OCD is like..." but it seems to me to be a pertinent thought:

In life, there's absolute certainty, there's serious doubt, and there's countless shades of grey in between. With OCD, we strive for 100% certainty, are presented with serious doubt, and are offered nothing in between.

[Guest Gem]

I'm sitting here trying to think of how to explain this crippling, sickening feeling inside. The constant unfinished, unclean feeling. The feeling of shame. The feeling of disgust and the hatred for yourself. Waking up every day and wishing you hadn't. The constant battle with everyday life, the feeling of weakness. The feeling of failure. The guilt. I can't think of a way to sum this up, all i can say is that hell is looking like a pretty pleasent place to be right now.

Gem xx

[Guest ocdmad]

To me OCD is a nightmare -OCD is a broken record that won't shut up. OCD is your worst fears come true - its a pain in the ass. To me OCD rips the enjoyment from you and it torments you - it wants you to be sad -it wants you to think you are evil. Ocd IS A STRONG force of pure evil. To me OCD is like watching a horror movie thats on play all the time -and you are forced to watch this movie - Ocd IS LIVING WITH CONSTCNAT DOUBT. OCD is a pure evil from a different planet - OCD is a monster.

from ocdmadnessinme

[Guest whirlwind]

OCD is like a gremlin in my mind that goads me into disbelieving my own rational and logical thoughts by coming up with all sorts of what ifs and horrible scenarios. The thoughts "just pop up" and then grow out of all proportion and I lose my ability to rationalise!

[Guest hellonwhls]

ocd to me

an old decrepit person with vile and rotting teeth, fetid breath on the back of my neck, whispering disgusting things in my ear

"did you clean it? did you count it? did you do it? are you guilty? are you sure? did you keep it? should you keep it? will they know it? did you do it? clean it! count it! do it! keep it! do it! count it! clean it!

OCD is my enemy

OCD is my never waking nightmare

OCD is my monster

OCD is my life

My life is OCD

OCD is me

[Guest PrincessJenna]

I love this analogy! Prolly gonna keep thinking of purple elephants with tiaras on all day cos it's such a fab image...so if I get carted away for chuckling to myself in public, I'll blame you entirely! Sorry...don't mean to sound ilke I'm laughing at what you say...I think it's a fab way of putting it...I reackon we should turn the quotes in this thread into a book! At the very least we could all make our fortune! Pants...now I'm worried that I'll have upset you for smiling at purple elephants...but I'm gonna be brave and post this anyway!!!! :blushing:

I am glad you did! I got quite a chuckle out of the thought of Purple elephants with tiaras on! I was actually thinking of having an artist friend of mine draw me up a picture to keep on my dest @ work to remind me of it when I am having troubled days!

~jenna

[Guest Dunmurry]

In Bad Lads' Army (ITV1) this year, the discipline was given by Provost Sergeant Tim Weston. Weston went right up into the face with his nose touching the soldiers' who had committed various misdemeanours and shouting in their ear and tormenting them by putting steel buckets on their heads while hitting it with his stick. A picture of two officers is below:

I feel as if there is no way to get out of this loop of thoughts and comapre it to an army disciplinarian saying things like (related to OCD) "Are you worried that if you shut the door and think about AIDS as you do it you might tempt fate and contaminate the door with it - I assure you that if you do it and don't do it again you won't get AIDS. Do you believe me - and various things like this.

It, like the army officers, leaves no option but to do what it says even though the army officer might say "Today is Friday" and you think "It is Thursday" and try to correct him he will say "Don't you talk back to me sunshine" and if he says it is Friday as far as you are concerned it is Friday because you have to trust your officers in the army.

Just wondering if any of you saw this programme this summer.

[Guest Lizbeth]

OCD is like a shadow. Some days you can hardly even see it but it's always there. And then other days it just hovers over you blocking out everything and everyone else. Chirpy tonight aren't I?!

[jez2005]

It's like picking away at a scab. If you ignore it, it'll heal up on

its own; if you feel the urge to pick then.....

[snowbear]

Wish i had a printer so i could print off this thread and post it to my parents.Then they might stop saying they can't imagine what it's like so i'm obviously wierd cos normal people just don't think this way...and can't imagine how anyone else could.

Thought i'd put on a quote i've always found to be very much to the point:-

'What is this self inside us,severe and speachless critic,who can terrorise us

And urge us on into futile activity,and in the end judge us yet more severely

For the errors into which his own reproaches drove us?'

(Gerrard Manley Hopkins)