OT: Weird Urges

[JohnL]

Incomplete sets of anything bug me. If I have a set of anything, but I'm missing one, it really bothers me. I don't always succeed in collecting an entire set (books, figures, games, whatever), but it always bugs me that I don't have them all.

[Johnny Z]

I had  a co-worker that every time she passed behind me, had to tap me on the head. She said she couldn't explain it, except it was a strange urge.

[Vermin Boy]

I also have a habit of picking up random objects off the street and out of the trash, and storing them until I can think of a use for them (or, if it's food and doesn't seem terribly dirty, I'll eat it). My constant hording drives my roommates nuts (and, it seems, would drive many people on this board nuts, too! ;)

[Dunners]

when I crack one knuckle on one finger, I gotta crack the same knuckle on the other hand.

[Neville]

ASHTHECAT wrote: "I think I might buy a whole case of light bulbs, a good pair of gloves that glass cannot penetrate, protective eye glasses and just go nuts!
I could squeeze to my heart's content."

This reminds me of a japanese shop, thing or whatever you call it. After paying you are taken to an insonorised room with a pile of dishes to break. They say it helps with stress.

[Ash]

That's truly bizarre JMC!

The first thought that ran through my head when I read your post was of Russell Crowe in 'A Beautiful Mind" reciting numbers and equations and s**t to himself!



Post Edited (01-28-04 04:06)

[Eirik]

The weirdest OCD-type thing I have ever seen is this guy at work who cannot make left turns.  By that, I mean that he cannot walk or drive and turn to his left (much like Zoolander, but this is true).  If he is walking down the hall and the bathroom is on his left, he will walk past it, turn right to a water fountain or bulletin board, get a drink or pretend to read something on the board, then turn right again, come back down the hall and make a right into the bathroom.  If he doesn't have time for the charade, he'll just spin to his right until the bathroom is in front of him - which has earned him the nickname by some as "the spinner."  I've never seen him drive, but people say he can't turn his car left either.  

Actually, other than the nickname that few people use, nobody ever really jokes about or makes fun of the guy because the story I heard is that something happened to him in Vietnam (POW?) that caused this tick.  Otherwise, he's a great guy, althought he never mentions his problem himself.

[AndyC]

Now I'm beginning to wonder if most people are obsessive-compulsive to some degree, or is it just a common trait among b-movie fans?

I have a few such quirks that used to bug me more than they do now.

I used to be a little wary of unlucky numbers, but not for a long time. This always struck me as strange, because I'm not a superstitous person. It wasn't really a fear, so much as an awareness of numbers like 13 and such.

A more interesting example involves heights. Sometimes, when I'm in a high place with no barrier, or at least nothing more than a low railing, I think about jumping off. It's not a desire to jump, but more a fear of just how easy it would be if I did take a notion to do it. It's not bad enough to prevent me from visiting such places, but it is kind of freaky. I've heard that this is a fairly common thing.

As for order, I can tolerate a lot of mess before I will actually clean it up (which drives my wife nuts because she actually finds even a little disorder stressful). However, when I do clean, it has to be perfect (probably why I avoid it). For example, when I shovel the driveway, the pavement has to be clean, the edges straight and the piles fairly even. If, in the course of shovelling, a little snow tumbles off the pile onto an area I've already done, I will stop, walk over, clean up the tiny bits of snow, and return to shovelling.

Still, I'm not as bad as my Dad, who is obsessed with neatness to the point of trying to prevent activities that might make a mess. His garage is like an enclosed porch. In the 20+ years he's had it, there has only been a car in it once, and I got into trouble for that. You can imagine what he's like indoors. Of course, dads are supposed to be like that.

I suppose as long as nobody's washing their hands a hundred times or driving home from work to make sure the oven is off, there really isn't much to worry about. Nobody here has described anything close to full-blown OCD (except maybe the Spinner).

Reminds me of a funny King of the Hill episode, where everybody is faking disabilities to take advantage of labour laws. "Sorry Hank, I'm obsessive-compulsive. If I get out of this chair, the Oak Ridge Boys are gonna die."



Post Edited (01-28-04 11:48)

[ulthar]

I think counting is common in OCD, but who knows why?

I count too, but only in times of extreme stress/pain (such as when getting a root canal), and it is always counting to four over and over...1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, and in my head, not aloud (but very loud in my head).

Wild.

[raj]

ASHTHECAT wrote:

> I think I might buy a whole case of light bulbs, a good pair of
> gloves that glass cannot penetrate, protective eye glasses and
> just go nuts!
> I could squeeze to my heart's content.

Please don't squeeze the Charmin.

[Ellie]

Okay..now I can say I have alot more in common with you. I thought I was wierd..now I know we all are.
I will leave the apartment for work and everytime I will run back in and check to see if I unplugged my curling iron. Each time it is unplugged.
I work at Osco as a cashier/photo tech and when I am at the register and someone will walk up and say "Are you open?" . Well yesss! I don't know why that bugs me . Or I will be asked if we can fax something and when I say we don't have that service.."Are you sure?" I just want to go off. And you won't believe how many times I hear someone say.."The customer is always right." Bulls**t.
Maybe I need to find other employment..in a backroom off to myself.

[Grumpy Guy]

All right, as long as we're admitting our little compulsions...

First and foremost, as many of you know, I am a grammar nazi.  I get headaches reading documents where people couldn't be bothered to double-space after a period.  I get especially upset at the misuse of the words there, their, and they're.  I also can't stand when PEOPLE TYPE IN ALL CAPS, or when people don't capitalize the first word of a sentence or a proper noun.  Finally, whenever someone uses an apostrophy to make something plural (with a few exceptions) I want to scream.  It bugs the hell out of me, and I have no idea why.

Strangely, spelling doesn't bother me so much.  I only get upset when people transpose words ("are" instead of "our" really gets to me).

It's so bad that I don't even read my own posts anymore, because every time I spot an error, I immediately edit it out.  I do this before finishing reading - so I have, upon occasion, made three seperate edits of the same post.

This isn't so much a weird urge as it is a weird thing that happens to me all the time:  I will occasionally smell popcorn, or pot, for no apparent reason.  My brain seems to be wired all funny...



Post Edited (01-29-04 13:48)

[Ash]

I have that same urge about high places.

I'll approach the railing as close as I dare (I get terrible vertigo near edges of high places...so much so that it's like a force field pushing me back) and I think of grasping the rail and hurling myself over the edge.

Even at places like one of our malls which is two-story, I get the urge to jump over the railing and fall down onto the people or things below.
Weird.

Of course I would never do this!



Post Edited (01-29-04 05:17)

[AndyC]

I can relate to the constant editing of posts. I do that myself. In my case, it's more of a carry-over from my work. I'm supposed to look over what I've written, and rework it if I think it can be improved. Of course, my editor gets a little annoyed when I keep tweaking something (usually a humour column or movie review), even in the middle of pagination. Basically, until the file is ready to send to the press, I consider it fair game. Come to think of it, I'm extremely fussy in many aspects of my work, almost to the point of compulsion.



Post Edited (01-29-04 10:35)

[JohnL]

>I also have a habit of picking up random objects off the street and out of the
>trash, and storing them until I can think of a use for them (or, if it's food and
>doesn't seem terribly dirty, I'll eat it). My constant hording drives my roommates
>nuts (and, it seems, would drive many people on this board nuts, too! ;)

I don't pick stuff up off the street (unless it's out for pickup when everyone is putting stuff out), but I do keep small stuff that I think I might one day have a use for. Need an old toothbrush for cleaning stuff? A small bottle? A length of wire? I've got it.

>I suppose as long as nobody's washing their hands a hundred times or driving
>home from work to make sure the oven is off, there really isn't much to worry
>about.

I don't do those, but I do sometimes check things multiple times. Like my alarm; after I set it, check it and then lie down, a few minutes later, I'll start wondering if I set it for the right time and have to check it. Then I'll start wondering if I turned the alarm on and have to check it. Or when I mail a letter, I'll check the address at least a couple times, but as soon as I drop it in the mailbox, I start wondering if maybe I made a mistake.

>Or I will be asked if we can fax something and when I say we don't have that
>service.."Are you sure?" I just want to go off.

Depending on how far you wanted to carry it, you could always say "Just a minute, I'll check...", then call the manager out and say "This person wanted to know if we can fax something. I told them that we didn't, but they wanted to know if I was sure, so I thought I should ask you; Can we fax something?" When the manager says you can't, look at them and ask "Are you sure? Maybe we should call the head office and ask them?".