ocd of evenness

[mollykins]

Is it possible I have OCD about things being even and in patterns?

These are some of the things I do;

# If I rub my tongue round a tooth etc, I have to do it again the other way.

# I painted stencils onto my bedroom wall, in random ways, and now two that are clsoer together than others really annoys me.

# I have to have matching socks. I have a set of white trainer socks that have three pairs of slightly different purple stripes, but I have to wear the ones that match.

# I never wear pigtails (even when i was little because one side of my head has thicker hair and it annoys me if I see it uneven.)

# I have to make sure I brush each quarter of my set of teeth for the same amount of time.

. . . it goes on, please don't make me paranoid, but have I got OCD for things being even and in a pattern?

[ummmm]

He's a bit 'odd' though...

[mollykins]

I do the nose thing aswell, I told you the list was endless.

[Greedyfly]

I think my weirdest one is milk. I will not drink milk from an open bottle/carton. I will either go without or open another.

[mollykins]

Plus curtains have to open the same amount.

And my draws that don't close properly annoy me.

The ornaments in my fish tanks are symmetrical, well there are to similar plants symmetrically placed and an urn that's in the middle.

[ummmm]

It would appear to be completely normal.

I actually heave if I see someone put any sort of wood in their mouths....wooden spoons/ice cream sticks..

[Greedyfly]

me also Ummmm... I can barely even touch them

[yinyang]

I like to get up when the minutes on the alarm clock are showing an even number; even better if it's a multiple of the hour - so 7:28 and 8:24 would be good times to get up; but I would feel a bit wrong footed if i got up at 7:31 or 8:13.

[mollykins]

And if I tap a desk etc with my nails, I have to do it an even amount of times, then the same amount with the corresponding finger(s) on the other hand.

[ummmm]

I'm ok using wooden spoons when cooking but even drying them after washing makes me feel funny.

[Greedyfly]

See Molly - everyone is a bit weird

[mollykins]

Yeah but a phobia of touching wooden spoons is different to ocd of things being even. Often with the teeth rubbing I have to do it on the corresponding teeth in the other three quarters of my mouth aswell!

[Ankou]

in any human endeavor for which an impressive visual result is part of the desired objective, symmetries play a profound role. the innate appeal of symmetry can be found in our reactions to happening across highly symmetrical natural objects, such as precisely formed crystals or beautifully spiraled seashells.

our first reaction in finding such an object often is to wonder whether we have found an object created by a fellow human, followed quickly by surprise that the symmetries that caught our attention are derived from nature itself. in both reactions we give away our inclination to view symmetries both as beautiful and, in some fashion, informative of the world around us.

that’s just general symmetrical niceties that you are referring to. if you truly believed that you needed to spend 45 minutes each day making sure that your dvd cases were ""perfectly"" aligned on a shelf, otherwise your mum will die in an accident or that the house will burn down because of it, then you may have ocd.

i think you are just killing time.

[Greedyfly]

And also killing our time =)

[ummmm]

I do pretty much the same thing. It's probably your brain making you do that so all your teeth are equally clean.

You haven't got OCD.

Do you turn a light switch on and off 15 times because if you don't something bad might happen?

Do you keep going back and forth to the front door to make sure you've locked it?

Do you continuously wash your hands?

[Greedyfly]

Exactly my point.

[mollykins]

With this question or my urge for eveness.

I don't think the world will end if I don't, but I feel I have to, not just want to do these things but feel I have to else I feel really odd.

Last year at summer camp I chose to wear the same socks I'd worn the day before (only for a couple of hours in the evening) than wear a clean pair of unmatching socks.

[ummmm]

It's just what makes people different.

[squarebear]

You don't have OCD. Everyone I know wears matching socks. It's nothing unusual.

[Greedyfly]

Exactly - you choose. Ocd sufferers don't choose, they HAVE to do what they do for fear of something terrible happening.

[mollykins]

yeah but ocd doesn't have to be compulsive about everything, I know someone who has it about being clean and the only thing we do the same is brush each part of our mouth for the same amount of time as the others.