[Redway]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

Yep, people tend to think OCD is mainly just cleaning.

It can be over ANYTHING. An obsession and then a compulsion to try and reduce that obsession/make feel better....but to a very high degree of rumination which makes it 'obsessive'.

I don't even think doctors understand OCD very well, not A typical types anyway.

That’s why (and I say this as a borderline-compulsive cleaner myself but the real o.c.d.-like baggage I’ve dealt with over the years, which at one point was almost unbearable, has been of a completely different kind) I’d recommend seeing a specialist/psychiatrist about it unless you’re that sure of yourself and the fact that medication alone is the way to go that you’re okay dealing with your stuff and prescriptions via a GP. When it comes to stuff like we’re talking about they don’t know much as a rule. A GP can give you a provisional diagnosis but the help that they offer you might not be enough (drugs like clomipramine, which I feel like GPs can only barely prescribe, and paroxetine might end up completely deleting it but many people need all sorts of therapy alongside). Even with doctors more qualified in that area there’s still a lot a lot of them don’t know and a misleading tendency to see o.c.d. in terms of someone who just over-cleans/over-washes their hands. I happen to over-clean but like I said it’s for a different reason (and one which isn’t necessarily even pathological).