Prompted by a recent post from the charity Rethink which highlighted some misconceptions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I have compiled my own list of things that meet the criteria of #thisisnotocd (for me). As those of us diagnosed with it know, it is pretty hard to be ‘a little bit OCD’ and it has almost nothing to do with taking pride in perfection. It causes harm to remain uneducated about the impact of obsessions and compulsions and reduce them to simple preferences. Read on if you are still with me, send me your thoughts about helpful and unhelpful ways to talk about mental health and let’s help smash this little bit of stigma once and for all. For more on the OCD there are links at the bottom of this post including where to get help should you or someone you know be in need of support.
So…#thisisnotocd (as I know it anyway) A list by Lena Britnell 1. Enjoying things arranged in a rainbow of matching colours! 2. Finding neatly lined up stuff: pencils/cutlery/tables/chairs/whatever aesthetically pleasing! 3. Wanting to straighten a picture hanging wonky! 4. Liking a clear and clean desk at work! 5. Not wanting to wear dirty clothes, generally always wearing clean ones! 6. Considering a clean kitchen a non-negotiable! 7. Always striving to create beautiful and perfectly formatted spreadsheets and documents! 8. Getting annoyed with others' spelling or punctuation mistakes! 9. Wanting to wear matching socks! 10. Obsessive Christmas Disorder! (thanks TK Maxx) 11. Keeping your car clean and getting annoyed with spillages or crumbs! 12. Creating a tidy home with everything in its place! 13. Being the one who like their coffee or lunch, just so! 14. Ensuring you use a clean plate/fork/spoon/table/chair/anything else for that matter! 15. Taking pride in your neat decorating/laundry-folding/present wrapping/etc. 16. Not liking crumbs in bed/pet hairs on your carpet/marks on your walls/dirty floors/toilets! 17. Being generally quite organised in many areas of your life! 18. Starting a task and wanting to complete it until its done to your satisfaction! 19. Making lists! (#lovealist) 20. Generally being a perfectionist and showing off about it! Rethink’s post https://www.facebook.com/14676447483/posts/10155829243132484?sfns=mo Information on OCD https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/ https://www.ocduk.org/ocd/introduction-to-ocd/ Seeking help https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/