OCD & things to that effect

[Why Me]

I just had the idea for this topic when reading this topic.

I always have to walk in certain patterns when I'm walking in the mall (or shopping centre if you're in England, which brings me to a funny story. Read below.#1), I can never walk on cracks on the sidewalk or any other place, I almost never sleep with a pillow, if I do one thing with one side of my body (twitch the right side of my nose), I have to do it to the other side for as long until it feels equal, and there are a few other things. I'll post them when I can remember them. Tell me your OCD or things to that effect bits.

#1. I was in England (go England!) about 3 years ago, in a mall in London with my grandma and brother, and we were waiting for an elevator to tak us to the mall from the parking garage. The digital screen that said which floor the elevator was on read, "UM." We later realized that it meant, "Upper Mall.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

The usual -- number of steps taken with either foot must match the other, same with which foot steps over cracks (and some cracks count as two or more cracks), this wacky thing I do with my eyebrows every time I remember I have a wacky thing with my eyebrows (which happens every half an hour or so)...
I'll keep posting as I remember.

[unoriginal name]

Well, there's the usual sidewalk/tiled floor thing, but I also have a tendency to flip this jacket that I wear most of the time up over my head is unzipped. If I'm eating Smarties, I always eat them one at a time, the first with my front teeth, second with one side of my back teeth, third with the other, fourth with front, etc. ect.

There are other things I'm sure, but I can't think of them right now.

[jean-luc]

An updated list...

1) My hands must be moist. If they are not, I will wash them. I used to compulsively lick them, but I got over that.
2) I'm very sensitive to textures. I cannot stand flannel, wool, or certain synthetics.
3) My hair must be out of my eyes. It's pretty long right now, so I obsessively rearrange it.
4) Stacks next to each other should be of even height. They should preferable contain an equal number of objects. said stacks must be lined up. etc...
5) Sometimes I repeat a word or sentence for several minutes in my head (or sometimes aloud) to get it to sound right.
6) Books and the like must be right side up. when on their side, the title on the spine must be the right way.
7) when playing games involving cards, I will align the cards in my hand and in the deck if no one stops me (and I can tell right side up from the back pattern).
There's probably more that I'm not thinking of...

I also have a few odd autism symptoms (I'm properly diagnosed with PDD, which is a general peripheral autism), such as always moving in repetitive fashions and doing certain odd motions (shaking my hands, touching my ear, etc...) repetitively when I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing.

[Why Me]

An updated list...

1) My hands must be moist. If they are not, I will wash them. I used to compulsively lick them, but I got over that.
2) I'm very sensitive to textures. I cannot stand flannel, wool, or certain synthetics.
3) My hair must be out of my eyes. It's pretty long right now, so I obsessively rearrange it.
4) Stacks next to each other should be of even height. They should preferable contain an equal number of objects. said stacks must be lined up. etc...
5) Sometimes I repeat a word or sentence for several minutes in my head (or sometimes aloud) to get it to sound right.
6) Books and the like must be right side up. when on their side, the title on the spine must be the right way.
7) when playing games involving cards, I will align the cards in my hand and in the deck if no one stops me (and I can tell right side up from the back pattern).
There's probably more that I'm not thinking of...

I also have a few odd autism symptoms (I'm properly diagnosed with PDD, which is a general peripheral autism), such as always moving in repetitive fashions and doing certain odd motions (shaking my hands, touching my ear, etc...) repetitively when I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing.

I do most of these things, too. Especially the cards one. And I've never been tested for PDD, but now that you say it, I think I might have it. Haha.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Oh, I got more:
When my foot slips off of some small elevated point (e.g. the sidewalk curb, off the edge of my bed), the other foot must suffer the same fate, and an equal number of times.
When one of my shoes scuff the pavement while making a step, the other foot must produce an equivalent amount of scuffing. Often, the scuffing with the other foot will be too much or not enough, and so varying intensities of scuffing must be produced by either or both feet in order to balance out the scuffing. I can go out for a walk and spend a solid 10 minutes or more of the walk focusing on getting the scuff balance just right.
If something accidentally brushes against my face, I have to touch the reflection across the center of my face to balance that out.
Whenever I enter some situation in which my appearance matters (e.g. most social interactions), I surreptitiously check that my fly is zipped.
I can't write on chalk boards when the piece of chalk is very small, and I hate the sound of nails on a blackboard more than any other sound I've ever heard.
Once my defensive-carry knife has been drawn, it can't be sheathed again until it's taken a life. (Kidding. I don't even carry a knife.)

[Sockmonkey]

When my foot slips off of some small elevated point (e.g. the sidewalk curb, off the edge of my bed), the other foot must suffer the same fate, and an equal number of times.
When one of my shoes scuff the pavement while making a step, the other foot must produce an equivalent amount of scuffing. Often, the scuffing with the other foot will be too much or not enough, and so varying intensities of scuffing must be produced by either or both feet in order to balance out the scuffing. I can go out for a walk and spend a solid 10 minutes or more of the walk focusing on getting the scuff balance just right.
If something accidentally brushes against my face, I have to touch the reflection across the center of my face to balance that out.

I also have to do things like that when something happens on one side of my body and not the other. It's really annoying at times, especially when I'm in public places and have to do idiotic things to compensate.

[jean-luc]

Further thoughts:
I must be wearing a watch. If I think that my watch is missing, I seriously momentarily panic. If I cannot determine the exact time it makes me nervous and edgy.
Certain objects, such as plates and newspapers, must not be placed in my field of view when I'm trying to do something else. For example, if I'm watching TV and there's a plate on the floor, I have to slide the plate under the couch to concentrate on the TV.
I'm slightly synesthetic (whether to more of an extent than others, I'm not sure). I associate flavors with colors, and I sometimes 'feel' bright lights as a sort of pressure on my face.

[TribulatioN]

For myself:

1) When I'm tapping with my fingers, I gotta do it again with the opposite hand.
2) Same with cracking my knuckles, and it has to be in the same pattern.
3) This was awhile back, but I used to walk in patterns on tiles. Not any more though.
4) See jean-luc's number 4.
5) When pressing random buttons on random instruments, such as a remote or calculator, I have to pressing them equally, based on the symmetry of the instrument.

That's all I can think of for now.