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Help, what is wrong with me?

Im male, 18 and just about to do my last college exams.
Anyway, I think theres something wrong with me. Its hard to explain but i'll try..

Basicly, i cant stand anyone touching my food. If i see someone cooking and put there fingers in their mouths, say to lick their fingers, i feel sick and dont wanna eat the food they are making. My mind makes me think that the food will be dirty etc.

Ive had this problem for a long time and hate people around me when im eating. personaly, i wash my hands a lot and try to keep clean, but nobody does what i do.

its gettign worse and i want to stop it, my family call em wierd and do not understand me, and think im calling them dirty! Its all i my mind and i cant stop it controling my life!

I know i sound really wierd but i know theres something wrong with me, Is it ocd? Please be kind because i need help and thought that somebody might know whats up with me!

Thankyou in advance

Reply 1

*Fliss*

That sounds like some form of ocd. Tell your GP about it. If it affects you living a normal life, you can get some form of medication.

What's OCD?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Google it.

Reply 4

Lofty

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Reply 5

Just some guy

Just remember that there are more bacteria on the surface on your skin than the number of cells in your body (iirc), so somebody touching your food isn't going to make it 'dirty' relative to the gunk already on and in your body.

Reply 6

Vetinari

Mr Anonymous 1, do you by any chance experience any obsessive thoughts? From my vague understanding of OCD I gather that it often appears as two separate components - Obsessions and Compulsions. Your cleanliness and strong dislike of the idea of tainted food would probably fit into the 'compulsions' side of OCD (And that isn't to say that you do have OCD, or anything like that).

So do you perhaps experience some obsessions from time to time? I'm not sure whether to have OCD you must have both obsessions and compulsions, but it might help to explain things further.

Reply 7

DrNick2006

Vetinari

...Your cleanliness and strong dislike of the idea of tainted food would probably fit into the 'compulsions' side of OCD...

The strong dislike of the "tainted" food is the obsession; cleaning yourself would be a compulsion. A sufferer of OCD suffers from obsessions about certain matters, often something like cleanliness, safety or security, that cause stress and/or mental anguish. To try to cope with the stress, they perform compulsions, such as washing hands excessively, checking locks, or performing rituals, be it physical, such as touching things or arranging things in certain ways, or mental, such as counting in your head. This usually reduces the stress... until the next obsession.

Technically speaking, you do need to have both the obsessions and the compulsions to be diagnosed with OCD, but there are people who just have the obsessions. I personally have (and here's the official diagnosis) "moderate obsessive compulsive disorder" as it affects my life, but doesn't completely control it. It's one of the odder mental conditions, because I'm completely aware that most of what I do is ridiculous, yet I still have to do it. If you do think you have it, you really should see your GP, who'll refer you to someone who can properly assess whether you have it or not, or if, like me, to what degree you have OCD. To be honest, most people have obsessive thoughts and compulsions from time to time: I mean, superstitions are really absurd- walking under a ladder will (probably) not cause the death of your family!- and yet many are compelled to do it.

Oh and by the way, don't think you're weird! There's millions of people with OCD, many of whom, of course, think they're just odd and don't bother dealing with it. Flippant as it sounds, it's one of the more interesting mental health problems!, and is one of the most significant mental illnesses, with about 3% of people thought to have it to some degree. So don't worry! And you should try and tell people- to explain why you're doing whatever you're doing. People will think that obsessions and compulsions are odd if they don't know there's a cause behind them.

God, I've rambled on a bit... anyway good luck!

Reply 8

dh00001

sounds like Mysophobia, are you afraid of other things being dirty?
but washing your hands does also sound like OCD, perhaps the two are connected.
doesn't OCD usually have a root cause?

Reply 9

Vetinari

DoctorNick2006

God, I've rambled on a bit...

It was interesting though! :smile:

Reply 10

Peep1

Hi I study psychology for A Level and for my A2 exams we have been studying OCD. It does sound like it could be that, but then again it might not be. It must be really difficult for you so well done for actually admitting you have a problem and because you seem willing to deal with it. A lot of psychological disorders arise because of stress- you say you have exams coming up.. if you're finding them particularly stressful perhaps you should consider ways of dealing with that (if you are a stressful person). You say it's getting worse so it might be the exams? It seems you have a obsession with cleanliness which is a one of the common obsessions with people with OCD. You say you clean your hands a lot- this type of 'avoidance' behaviour might be because you're trying to avoid revising? It could be that you're being obsessive to take you're mind off exams etc. It might not be OCD so don't get too freaked out, but if it is there are ways of dealing with it and it's good you've recognised it. Lots of people have problems of all different extents so don't feel ashamed because nobody's perfect. I speak from personal experience because I suffer from panic attacks in stressful situations (often involving food because I feel pressure to eat the food in certain situations) and I notice that I go off food MORE when I'm stressed and particularly around exam times since I am aware that I am feeling anxious anyway and so this is likely to increase a panic attack occuring and this puts me off eating. Perhaps I'm totally wrong but it sounds like a bit of a coincidence that it's around the exams and as you say it's got worse it sounds like you could simply be suffering from stress or at least the stress has made it worse. Find someone to talk to about it, parents if you can or if not just a friend or something, offload your worries this often helps. You soon realise you're not alone! :smile:

Reply 11

Happy_Rocker

I dont have ocd but i totally agree with the whole, if i saw someone put their fingers in the food they're cooking i wont eat it, i just think its dirty and abit gross. The only thing i think is abit extreme is the not wanting to people to sit near you when you're eating only a professioinal could tell you if it were obsessive behavior though :smile:

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