Obsessed on A&E

[DrPhil]

A show about OCD.

I believe tonight was the premier. It aired after Intervention.

It was really sad.

Anyone watch it?

Sidebar:
Some of the things that these people do are things that I, and some people I know, do perhaps with a bit more moderation. Does this mean that most people have a bit of OCD (similar to how a large % of people have some form--even mild--of mental and emotional disorder?).

[DrPhil]

Forget you all, then.

[LucyKKG]

Forget you, too! Haha I saw ads for it. I'm sure I'll watch it in the not-too-distant future.

[AGDee]

OCD is one of those spectrum types of disorders, where people fall somewhere on the continuum of either so severe that it affects every aspect of their lives to so minor that nobody would notice. I have some tendencies. I have rules for eating m&ms. I dislike having two different colors of m&ms in my mouth at the same time yet, I prefer to eat two at a time, one on each side of my mouth. If I get stuck without pairs at the end of a bag, then I can eat colors that consist of each other. Like, I can eat a red and orange because red and yellow MAKE orange, so there is already red in the orange. I know, weird! I am capable of eating different colors at the same time, but it will bug me. I like things that are symmetrical. If things are asymmetrical or off kilter, it bugs me. I don't like my food to touch on my plate, like meat touching veggies. And, similarly, I usually don't care for things like casseroles, stews or soups because everything is tossed in there together. Somehow though, it's ok for Mexican food and Italian food (like lasagne) for all of it to be together. Why? I don't know. When I'm feeling stressed, I clean. It helps me feel like things are under control if everything is neatly in it's place. There IS a place for everything. My co-workers tease me about some of this stuff and that's cool. I think it's funny too. I'm not so OCD that it affects my life in any way and if I don't follow my own rules, I don't have panic attacks, just a nagging feeling that all is not right. You could compare this to the people who can never throw anything away and their houses end up condemned or who wash their hands until the skin is raw and they bleed. Or the ones who pull out all of their body hair.

My brother has some strange ones too. He has a serving spoon with a yellow handle and one with a green handle. If he's serving corn, he uses the yellow spoon. Green veggies get the green spoon. It's a small thing, but he always does it that way and he doesn't think it's "right" if you do it differently. Those are the kinds of things that are minor and don't really affect your life.

Haven't seen the show, probably won't. After so many years working in mental health, that show and Intervention sound like watching "work" to me and I don't feel a need to engage in that!

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Forget you, too! Haha I saw ads for it. I'm sure I'll watch it in the not-too-distant future.

Everyone I talked to said they saw the ads but forgot to watch. I think it came on after Intervention.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AGDee

OCD is one of those spectrum types of disorders, where people fall somewhere on the continuum of either so severe that it affects every aspect of their lives to so minor that nobody would notice. I have some tendencies. I have rules for eating m&ms. I dislike having two different colors of m&ms in my mouth at the same time yet, I prefer to eat two at a time, one on each side of my mouth. If I get stuck without pairs at the end of a bag, then I can eat colors that consist of each other. Like, I can eat a red and orange because red and yellow MAKE orange, so there is already red in the orange. I know, weird! I am capable of eating different colors at the same time, but it will bug me. I like things that are symmetrical. If things are asymmetrical or off kilter, it bugs me. I don't like my food to touch on my plate, like meat touching veggies. And, similarly, I usually don't care for things like casseroles, stews or soups because everything is tossed in there together. Somehow though, it's ok for Mexican food and Italian food (like lasagne) for all of it to be together. Why? I don't know. When I'm feeling stressed, I clean. It helps me feel like things are under control if everything is neatly in it's place. There IS a place for everything. My co-workers tease me about some of this stuff and that's cool. I think it's funny too. I'm not so OCD that it affects my life in any way and if I don't follow my own rules, I don't have panic attacks, just a nagging feeling that all is not right. You could compare this to the people who can never throw anything away and their houses end up condemned or who wash their hands until the skin is raw and they bleed. Or the ones who pull out all of their body hair.

My brother has some strange ones too. He has a serving spoon with a yellow handle and one with a green handle. If he's serving corn, he uses the yellow spoon. Green veggies get the green spoon. It's a small thing, but he always does it that way and he doesn't think it's "right" if you do it differently. Those are the kinds of things that are minor and don't really affect your life.

This is so interesting, thank you. I guess this reminds us of the complexities of the human mind.

Originally Posted by AGDee

Haven't seen the show, probably won't. After so many years working in mental health, that show and Intervention sound like watching "work" to me and I don't feel a need to engage in that!

I completely understand that. You have probably seen all of this firsthand.

[DoubleTDG]

Originally Posted by AGDee

OCD is one of those spectrum types of disorders, where people fall somewhere on the continuum of either so severe that it affects every aspect of their lives to so minor that nobody would notice. I have some tendencies. I have rules for eating m&ms. I dislike having two different colors of m&ms in my mouth at the same time yet, I prefer to eat two at a time, one on each side of my mouth. If I get stuck without pairs at the end of a bag, then I can eat colors that consist of each other. Like, I can eat a red and orange because red and yellow MAKE orange, so there is already red in the orange. I know, weird! I am capable of eating different colors at the same time, but it will bug me. I like things that are symmetrical. If things are asymmetrical or off kilter, it bugs me.

So glad I am not the only one who eats m&ms that way. I won't eat the last ones in the bag if they don't have a match. My parents and friends mock me for this constantly.

[Senusret I]

I watched it!

The man made a lot of progress, I was happy for him....and I was also happy for his partner for being such a good sport about it. THAT'S LOVE.

The woman's story was extremely disturbing. I identified with the anxiety aspects of it, though.