[Daliman]

There have been a few posts about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in OOT over the past year or so, and I figured it was time for a roll call/update.

I'll start with my OCD hangups, and whether they are past or current, and how much they bother today.

Vocal flips- sometimes, I say something, and feel the need to repeat it over and over, usually things like "am and are and am and are and.." This rarely occurs any more.

Repeating(mouthing) lines when watching TV- So far as I know, I no longer do this, but I know it used to drive a few girlfriends nuts. About the loudest I ever got was a VERY quiet whisper.

Correcting things- Still bothers me to this day. Usually, it is when I make a typo or something similar. If I notice it, I HAVE to correct it, or it will drive me bonkers. It happens with people sometimes too, ( when they mispronounce words, usually) and I try to quell it then because it is obviously pretty annoying, ( Doing pretty good about this). Yet another offshoot of this is having a hard time using abbreviations. In the sentence above, I typed in obv, but then HAD to go back and change it to obviously. I can only use terms like obv when in a specific internet slang usage.

Smelling pencil leads- When I was about 8-11, I would habitually sniff my pencils lead, to the point where I would get a headache. It wasn't about getting high off the lead or whatever, as much as it was about, "OK, you're not going to sniff the lead today. Ok, just once, but that's IT. Ok, what difference does it make, one more time......" been forever since I have done this.

Having to touch odd-textured things with both hands- I still do this, and my wife always looks at me and says, " you're such a psycho,"when I do it, but I'm not as bad as I used to be.

Spitting- Ugh, this one is probably my worst and I wish I could get rid of it more than all the others combined. Starting when I live din California ~1977, when I was 7, this kid I knew would always take a bite out of the abundant ice plant leaves, because he like the fuzzy taste in his mouth,( he wouldn't eat it, just bite it and spit it out.) I tried it once, got the fuzzy taste, and spit like 867473232 imes trying to get the taste out of my mouth. I never tried another one, but every time I'd go outside, I'd see an ice plant and start to spit. It bothers me to this day, and the trigger is going outside. The second I open a door or pull out of my garage, I have to spit, ( unless otherwise engaged in conversationor something; sometimes that overrides the OCD). Until I get my mind off of it, ( usually takes a few minutes or so) I have to spit probably every 15-30 seconds. It sucks really bad. I feel like a repulsive turd when I am doing it, and I can't help it. As an offshoot to this, around my sophomore year of High School, I started salivating still since I couldn't open the windows on the school bus to spit, ( skinny fingers, tiny guy, etc) so I made a coping tic (GREAT IDEA!) of doing the kind of spit you do when you have a hair on your tongue. No actual saliva comes out, but it is VERY annoying to me and anyone around. I am doing it now that I am thinking about it.

Coughing/clearing my throat- Any time I know I am supposed to be quiet, ( or just think about it) I clear my throat and/or cough. This drives my wife bonkers, as every time I come to bed at whatever ungodly hour I come to bed at, I have to clear my throat and cough 3 or 4 times. If for some reason I don't think about doing it, I don't do it, but that is rare. Sometimes this manifests as me having to make a small peep also. This also has caused me problems when I have been in musicals or am about to sing. I will clear my throat constantly, which is TERRIBLE for for vocal cords. The more pressure on the singing, ( trying out for RENT, HU for ROLLZ), the worse I am about it.

Turning my head away from TV/movie screen- This one isn't one I've heard of from others. When a integral scene is about to happen in a TV show/movie, sometimes I feel the urge to glance away from the screen. I have no idea why this happens, but it's not all that common anyways.

Smelling my fingers- This one is a bit odd, if only for the fact that, so far as I know, I ONLY ever do it in one specific situation, and I do it completely subconsciously. My wife has very nice breasts, and being the breast man that I am, at times, if she is wearing a top that will permit it, I will reach over and put my hand down her shirt, inside her bra, and cop a fell, ( invariably while driving. EVERY SINGLE TIME I do this, I smell my fingers. I have NO idea why; they always seem so smell vaguely of flowers. My wife always asks me how they smell when I do this, and the answer is always the same. I have no idea the trigger of this. I am familiar with the fact that this paragraph is useless without pics.

I am alot better about many of these tics than I have been in the past, and they seem to get worse when I am stressed out, which I believe is pretty standard. I have taken Strattera before for a short period of time, but didn't care for the lightheaded feeling it gave me. My wife mentions every once in awhile I should start taking it again, but I hate taking drugs of any kind beyond Advil, really, unless I have a specific malady such as strep throat or something. Considering the fact that my wife works for a drug company, the irony is not lost on me. Funny thing is, as bad as I think I am about it, most people don't ever notice I have OCD, unless they spend a TON of consistent time around me. Makes me feel like that much less of a freak, I guess. I'm really not sure what the normal things that bring OCD on are, or what started it in me. I don't think the OCD really affects my chosen vocation, and my work may actually help it, for while I am playing, I can't help but not be distracted by my tics as I have about 10,000 decisions per hour to make. The mild ADD I have might actually help in being able to play 8 tables, too.

Anyone else?