I was watching tv last night about women who were obsessive compulsive. There were many kinds of obsessive complusive. Out of the 5 different women with obessive compulsive orders, I had at least 2 of them.
I am a germaphobe and I cannot remember what the other one was that I know I do. I am more germaphobe than anything else. I call myself a recovering germaphobe, because if it was not for my JRA acting up and making me unable to do what I want to do then I would be still disinfecting everything and taking 2-3 showers a day and wiping down everything including cans of food, boxes of food and even the plastic of TP.
If only I could convert my hubby to become a germaphobe. I would not get grossed out by things like he puts the canned food in the cabinet and not wash them with hot water and soap before putting them in the cabinet. He will not wash the dish drainer with hot water and soap before putting the clean dishes in it. All dishes must be spotless inside and out before they are considered clean. Dishes should not be washed in a sink of dish water EWW!! HOW GROSS!!!
I have a lot of things I use to do to make me feel my house was clean and I have yet to get anyone else to get it done the "right way", so I just assume to not be around when they do the house work, as I will just get grossed out and after they leave or while they are doing it I will either re-do or "help" which means take over and do it the "right way". Then I make them feel bad and then I usually end up hurting myself.
It sucks. Like the other night... I thought about how I sat on a public toilet, had to pee bad and not suppose to hold my pee, so I used the public bathroom. I then came home took a shower because I used the public restroom. And then I had to pee again after I got out the shower and for some reason I did not want to sit on the "nasty" toilet and get my clean booty dirty again. So I hunted down the rubbing alcohol and put some on TP and wiped the toilet seat down. I felt soooo much better about sitting on the toilet after wiping it down. But then hubby sat on the toilet before taking a shower and "germed" it all up again. SO... there I was 2am wiping the toilet seat down with rubbing alcohol. I am pathetic!
I always have to surpress my thoughts of germs being everywhere, otherwise I would run myself down trying to get rid of all the germs and it would just stress me out.
I have only been OCD since having my daughter. I was not like this much before, I think. I just know hubby and in-laws point it out to me more that I am a wee bit germaphobic. I use to drive everyone insane. But not too much now... got no energy or hurt to much to clean the germs out of my life...
Oh I would if I could, believe me!
I remember when my daughter had a ball pit she got for her b-day one year. I spent more time in that darn thing than her. I was mostly cleaning the balls and wiping down the inside. She would get in it and then that night I would be in there cleaning it down, because she would lick the balls, so they had to be cleaned from where her dirty feet were touched the balls.
I was so bad... that at one time MIL would ask what I wanted for christmas... and I told her a rug shampooer. And I did get a rug shampooer. I would shampoo the carpets, the beds, the couch, the recliner, I even went as far as using it to clean my lanolium because it was way cleaner than a mop and bucket. I would shampoo everything at least 2-3 times a week.
Ummm... yeah shannon... I do not use sponges... way too many germs in those things. And if I do use one it is used 1 time then thrown away.
I will not use a dish wash cloth more than once if it has sat there for a couple of hours. I drive hubby crazy with that one. I tell him... it has been sitting there for a few hours it is dirty, get a new one. Just like hand towels... once they are used once they are thrown in the dirty clothes.
My hubby does almost all the cleaning and cooking, and I too have to turn a blind eye. I'm not so much a germaphobe, but his standards (ewww gross!) are just not the same as mine, and since he's doing the work, I can't be too choosy.
But as someone who has OCD, the actual disorder, I just want to say that almost everyone has some OC behaviors in one area or another, but it is not "OCD", obsessive-compulsive disorder, until it meets certain diagnostic criteria. Here's a link to an article showing the criteria: http://www.aafp.org/afp/980401ap/eddy.html.
Thankfully I am in "remission", but I was treated for OCD for a number of years, ended up in the hospital over it, graduated high school late because of it (and I was an honors student), and never went to college because of it. It can be a very serious, debilitating condition but a lot of people confuse it with OC behaviors. Just like people confuse RA with osteoarthritis!
Anyway, I'm not in any position to say whether anybody has OC behaviors or OCD, but I just wanted to clarify.
Another alternative is a behavioral approach (you could still see a psychiatrist, or a psychologist) but I never found that helpful to me. The more I resisted the behavior, the worse it got.
PS - I loved American Gothic!! When I started watching Studio 60, I couldn't figure out for the longest time where I had seen Sarah Paulson before...Merlyn!
thanks for the info. I will see if can find me someone to see. I have really been having a hard time surpressing my germaphobic ways. The more I surpress them, the more I want to just do it. I also notice that I have to have things in pairs or even #'s of things. I do it unknowingly most times, but I do catch myself doing it. Not sure, but it really has been bothering me lately -- germs that is.
Oh... I am hooked on that darn show!! I am going to send the voice of Merlyn saying "someone's at the door" to my cellphone and use it as my ring tone. I have it downloaded, I just need to find a free SMS to send the file from.
They are on the last 4 epsiodes of it, tonight is "Strangler". I even got hubby to watch it with me. I cannot believe this show got the boot after the first season and X-Files took its place. I did not care of X-Files.
Oh and Gail Emory, Calabs cousin, she is April O'Neal off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 & 3.