Just like any other group, obsessive-compulsives have their own stereotype, which is quite often perpetuated by media. When most people hear “OCD,” they think of a neat-freak. The truth of the matter is that, for some, washing and ordering are just symptoms of the problem. Oh, and about 2/3rds of OCs are hoarders, so … yeah, that neat-freak stereotype falls a little flat.
Personally, I identify as a pure obsessional (in our community we call it “pure-o”), which is actually a misnomer, because we pure-o’s still have compulsions. My most common obsessions were about sin and hell, and then my primary compulsions were seeking reassurance* and internal repetitive prayer.**
* This usually centered around whether or not I was hellbound or whether or not something was “okay” and not sinful. With some people, it would be an overt, “Do you think this was wrong?” or “Do you think I’m going to hell?” but with others, I would be more passive about it. For example, at work, I would say something like, “I am terrible at this,” and then wait for someone to say, “No, Jackie, you’re not! You’re great at your job!” Both are forms of seeking reassurance, and it is a real compulsion. I know because if I would try to keep myself from doing it, my heart would flood with terror.
** This was prompted by certain words and sounds– for me, usually curse words, words that sounded like curse words, and the sound of the letter f– and would include repeating the phrase “Father God, I love You; Father God, I love You” over and over in my head. This was my way to combat the direction I knew my mind would go when I heard those sounds, which would be to curse at the Holy Spirit, what I believed to be unforgivable.
If you weren’t a close friend of mine, chances are you probably wouldn’t even notice my compulsions (although a roommate did notice what appeared to be a facial tic– when the repetitive prayer was cycling through my mind and someone was having a conversation with me, it would be so hard to keep both going that I would shake my head– just a little bit, like an Etch-a-Sketch– to “clear away” that repetitive prayer, et al, and focus back on what my friend was saying). So there’s that.
And I am not a neat-freak. Not by a long-shot. Ask anyone who has ever lived with me, and they will tell you that I am a slob. My friend Tracy would say I’m a “piggy”!
I know obsessive-compulsives who are washers, checkers, orderers, hoarders, but actually, most of those I talk to are pure-o. You live with us, work with us, are friends with us– and you don’t even know it because we don’t fit the stereotype. There is this joke that goes “I have CDO. It’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the letters are in alphabetical order AS THEY SHOULD BE,” and I just find it so annoying because it seems to belittle OCD so much. Even for those who are orderers and who would be upset by something like that. People just don’t understand that there is a drive– a terror– so much fear and this feeling of disgust and wrongness if we don’t perform our compulsions.
It’s so much more than being organized or neat, even for those who are organized and neat.
What are some stereotypes you or others have of OCD? I’d love to share the truth!
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the non-obsessive-compulsive people (those who are just straight-up clean or quirky) who then label themselves as “OCD” … grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Yeah, maybe if it stood for “obnoxious chump disorder.” 😉
If you use Google Images and search “OCD,” what you end up with is a lot of photos of lame OCD jokes and of soapy hands. It reminds me just how little the world really knows and understands obsessive-compulsive disorder. Heck, before my own diagnosis, I myself pretty much thought of it as “that disease where you wash your hands a lot or have to tap the doorknob over and over.” Insightful, Jackie.
JACKIE LEA SOMMERS 