Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is sometimes misunderstood. It’s not all bad, and not everyone with OCD is “crazy” or even obvious to spot.
But a lot of times people with OCD are just chill, normal people. We’re easy to get along with, we’re easy going, and we’re social butterflies. Sometimes people don’t even realize you have OCD because they’re looking for stereotypical signs.
Here are some of the ways chill people have OCD:
You’re a perfectionist. Everything you do must be with the goal of striving for perfection. You don’t understand how people can half a** anything because you put all of yourself into everything.
You can’t live with yourself knowing that you could have done better. And it is so much more satisfying in the end when you know you’ve put in all your effort and see results.
Everything must be in order. Clutter and dirt are your worst nightmares. When there’s clutter, whether it’s your own or someone else’s, you immediately start organizing it. And when something is dirty, you just have to clean it.
You cannot stay in a messy environment for long. You either fix it or leave it as soon as possible. Whether it’s physical space, your emails, or your physical appearance.
Your physical appearance is tidy and clean. When you see other people with dirty finger nails, smelly breath, disheveled hair, or look like they got dressed in the dark, you cringe. You look at them and think of all the ways you want to help. Every inch of your own body is clean and groomed, and you care about having a tidy physical appearance. Not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for hygienic purposes.
When you find a new hobby you love, you throw all of your energy into it. You spend all your time either thinking about it or doing it. Because of this, you become a master of your craft and excel at such rapid rates.
People are always astonished how you can pick something up and become so good at it so fast. It’s in your nature, if you love it you will become the master of it.
When it comes to school/work, you are a workaholic. Getting started on your work may be difficult, but once you start you dive all in and don’t come back up for air for hours.
While people say it’s more efficient to take more breaks, you just keep working because once your on a roll your efficiency seems to keep skyrocketing until you crash, which may not be for hours on end.
When you like someone, you reallyyyy like them. It’s scary. Like everything else in your life, you become obsessed with them. You’re constantly either talking to them, talking about them, being with them, checking their social media for the 100th time, or daydreaming about them.
You don’t understand how people can cheat because once you really like someone, you are all in. You are a very loyal friend and companion. Once in a while you need to step back and refocus on other parts of your life so that you don’t go overboard.
When you’re anxious, it is debilitating. You obsess over the same anxious thoughts over and over as they keep amplifying in your mind. It’s a vicious cycle that becomes very difficult to break out of so you’re always doing something to distract your mind from wandering thoughts. It’s hard for us to sit still and not be preoccupied doing something.
When you develop a good or bad habit, it sticks around for a long time. As someone with OCD, you tend to obsess and repeat the same actions or processes over and over. So when you develop a bad habit, it becomes hard to break because your mind is wired to keep repeating it. But on the flip side of the coin, once you work through and develop good habits, you really keep up with them and people are impressed.
You have physical “ticks ” that you find yourself doing throughout the day. Whether it’s twitching your eye or or tapping something a certain amount of times or biting your nails and pens. You forget you’re doing them because they’ve become second nature, until other people point them out.
Once you break out of one physical tick, you develop another. It’s a hard habit to break because we always need to be moving and doing something. And it is often as a result of feeling anxious.
Whatever it is that has grabbed your attention and passion, you always put 110% into it. You know no other way, but you don’t exactly want to change it. You embrace your crazy passionate self and when directed properly, you can be invincible.