OCD, Anyone?

[joshua.toenyes]

Hello All,

I've been involved in web design, programming, and high level electronics for almost 8 years now... and I've noticed an interesting trend in my personal behavior when compared to my non-coding friends/acquaintances...

Some would call it OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). I need to have everything around me in order, and in its proper place (i.e. shoes on the shoe rack; milk on the middle shelf in the fridge; cereal boxes facing the same way; books lined up, facing the same way, etc. etc.) I look at a messy room with the same disgust that I look at HTML document with FONT tags.

So, do some of you fellow coders suffer from the same type of behavior? Or am I an anomaly, as I obviously am with non-coding population...

-Josh

[scragar]

I demand things be a certain way, but I don't go back and forth adjusting things like OCD sufferers(that looks wrong, but dict say's it's right, interesting).


For example, if I'm not using the keyboard it has to be at about 90% to me(so esc and ctrl are near , while the number pad is pointed away), I had to put down lyno in the kitchen because I have a compulsive desire to step on every even tile(and not step on the remainder). -- not the full list, but the 2 most obvious ones to other people, the most obvious to me is that I can never have an icon selected on the desktop, I wind up clicking twice to launch things from the desktop, once to open it and once to remove focus.


They are quirks, not compulsions.

[Declan1991]

Be extremely careful diagnosing yourself or others with OCD. It demeans the disease and its effects, and could quite probably help you develop it (believing you have a compulsion is not far from actually having it).

You said, "I look at a messy room", that's the vital difference, you can look at it. If you had a compulsion, you would have to do something about that room.

[wh666-666]

I picked the first option because thats one of the things i do.

I dont know if i would class it as an obsessive disorder, but for instance if im going out, or going upstairs to bed, il be checking the locks on each door at least five times, checking the stove is off, etc.

It annoys me a bit as il check a doors locked properly, then have to go back and check it again, then again, then again, even though I tell myself, "yes its locked" or "yes its switched off". After checking a few times I just have to get on with what im doing so i dont run back and check again.

However that's the full extent of it. Im not anal about everything being placed millimetre perfectly or tidying other peoples houses to my standard.

[wh666-666]

Hello All,

I've been involved in web design, programming, and high level electronics for almost 8 years now... and I've noticed an interesting trend in my personal behavior when compared to my non-coding friends/acquaintances...

Some would call it OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). I need to have everything around me in order, and in its proper place (i.e. shoes on the shoe rack; milk on the middle shelf in the fridge; cereal boxes facing the same way; books lined up, facing the same way, etc. etc.) I look at a messy room with the same disgust that I look at HTML document with FONT tags.

So, do some of you fellow coders suffer from the same type of behavior? Or am I an anomaly, as I obviously am with non-coding population...

-Josh


In response to your post however its quite interesting.

Don't take any offence, but a psychologist might extrapolate that the reason you keep everything down to the milk in its rightful place is in some way a matter of control. They might propose that you control your environment around you so much because you feel as if you don't have enough control yourself or need to keep a tight reign on your control. Others may suggest that when you were younger you couldn't live up to someone else's expatiations or have a low self worth and have an obsessive desire to achieve the unachievable through perfection.

There are many other theories but if it concerns you deeply enough you could talk through it with a professional, it wont cure it but it will explain it.

[joshua.toenyes]

Declan1991-

You are absolutely right. I was not implying that I diagnosed myself with OCD, I was simply referring to behaviors that others have recognized as characteristic of OCD sufferers.


wh666-666-

I must say, your second post really hit on something! I will definitely put some thought into how I perceive my level of control over my life. Thanks for your input!

-Josh

[Declan1991]

You are absolutely right. I was not implying that I diagnosed myself with OCD, I was simply referring to behaviors that others have recognized as characteristic of OCD sufferers.
It's just something that I really hate, people diagnosing themselves or others in ignorance. As they say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing".

To refer to wh666-666's post, analysing behaviour is fascinating. The Enneagram is a very good analysis of human behaviour. I really like it's healthy and unhealthy versions of each personality. There is nothing essentially wrong with being a control freak (for want of a better phrase), as long as you don't go too far.

[KDLA]

I've been involved in web design, programming, and high level electronics for almost 8 years now... and I've noticed an interesting trend in my personal behavior when compared to my non-coding friends/acquaintances...

Some would call it OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). I need to have everything around me in order, and in its proper place

It all depends on the REASON you do this. Is it to create a pleasing environment (like an artist) or because you need to create functional order (like some programmers)? (Or for no reason at all -- like an OCD sufferer)

Really, people with (either of) these tendencies are drawn to web development. You might not have been aware of these tendencies at the time you pursued this career, but they can become more pronounced as work style becomes integrated into your personal life.

[drhowarddrfine]

I don't design hardware anymore but the last computer I laid out, the PC board layout guy told me it had 10,000 traces (the copper tracks on the board). Even I was surprised.

The only way to keep track of all that is to have a certain mindset that is still with me now, I think. I've become incredibly efficient when running things. Like planning my trip to the grocery store and library being timed with when the books are due and which library is on my way. That's a rather simplistic view but I do have some bizarre ones.

They don't get in my way but it might drive my wife a little crazy. At one time I was convinced I had ADD. Like it was mentioned above, you have to be careful you don't overanalyze yourself and just consider that you are just the way you are and there's nothing wrong with that. The only way it's a problem is if it hurts you or others, including any significant social areas. In my ADD situation, no, I just like to work in quiet isolation without distraction.

[joshua.toenyes]

It all depends on the REASON you do this. Is it to create a pleasing environment (like an artist) or because you need to create functional order (like some programmers)? (Or for no reason at all -- like an OCD sufferer)

Well stated KDLA-

I think that as long as there is a reason for "controlling" your environment around you, a disabling condition does not exist. For example, if you find that you are more creative and can think more efficiently with your office clean and tidy, then keep it clean and tidy. On the other end of the spectrum, if you lock your front door, and you know that it is locked, there is no underlying functional purpose to re-check the lock five times before going to bed.

According to the DSM-IV's diagnosing criterium for OCD:
...the individual must realize that his/her obsessions or compulsions are unreasonable or excessive. Moreover, the obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming (taking up more than one hour per day), cause distress, or cause impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning.

Therein lies the difference between diagnosable OCD, and simply being controlling. If your personal habits actually contribute to your efficiency, creativity, or sense of well-being, then by all means, indulge them. If your habits start effecting you, or the people around you negatively, then it may be time to seriously evaluate your personal habits.

-Josh

[Scriptage]

the individual must realize that his/her obsessions or compulsions are unreasonable or excessive. Moreover, the obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming (taking up more than one hour per day), cause distress, or cause impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning.

I don't think this is at all true as OCD is not limited to actions that people compulsively perform it is often linked to the excessive repetition of intrusive thoughts; these thoughts can be of disgusting images or actions, urges to harm oneself or others, the need to repeat words or phrases or the ritualistic need to count.

It's just something that I really hate, people diagnosing themselves or others in ignorance. As they say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing".


OCD affects people differently and there are varying degrees ranging from a mild annoyance to a debilitating disease; if you have an urge to check the stove 5 times before you go out knowing full well that it is turned off then that is OCD albeit a mild form.

I cannot see why there would be any correlation between OCD and programming as OCD tends to lean more towards the repetition of simple tasks than the programatic logic of complex tasks. I say this from experience as I have a mild form of OCD; phrases repeat in my head consistently with little or no respite and I have overwhelming urges to touch things with fear of extreme consequences if I do not, however, I find that I can control my own actions (in the majority of occasions) as I know that the fear is illogical but there is still an annoying niggle in the back of the mind.

Regards

Carl

[\\.\]

Yes please, can I have that with chocolate sprinkles as well as the raspberry sauce?