What are the symptoms of mild OCD? My dad has it real bad so I don't know how it starts. But I have certain things I always do a certain way. -I always wash and stack dishes the same way and rearrange them if someone else has done it differently and get agitated whenever mum gives me a dish that I do early in the process later and have to rearrange the whole drying rack so its right -the cheese is always in a raspberry bag in the fridge. Mum put it in a mixed berry bag this time and I got agitated and had to put it back in a raspberry bag -I ALWAYS stack anything I'm carrying or putting down from largest at the bottom to smallest at the top and have to arrange everything to meet that standard or I get annoyed It's small I know, and there are other things I'm sure I do without realising, but I'm just wondering if there's anything to it. Coz Mum has said more and more lately that I'm being very OCD about things.
I think you have it mildly. I always have to have a cup of water on the left corner closest to me on my desk at night, if I am pegging out clothes they MUST have matching colours and fading, I have to sleep facing away from the closest wall or to the middle of the bed, all my computer files must be corectly organised and I have to turn power points off if I unplug or plug something in.
Another thing I can't stand is leaving the DVD player open. We use a portable DVD player hooked up to the TV and I always have to shut it when its playing and Mum always leaves it open, which drives me NUTS.
The term "OCD" has become a slang term for people who are picky, organized, like structured behaviors or are what some people would call "control freaks". OCD, however, is a very specific disorder. What distinguishes "picky" from a "disorder" is the degree to which it affects your daily life. For example, if you were to say that you had to wash your hands before you ate and that you got upset if you didn't wash your hands, then that wouldn't be a disorder (and it's actually a good habit to have). On the other hand, if you were to say that you had to wash your hands 20 times a day and that you had to do it the same way every time and if you messed up while washing your hands then you had to start over from the very beginning- well, that's something very different. Or if you were to say that you couldn't eat unless you washed your hands, then that would indicate that this wasn't just a habit. That healthy habit of washing your hands has begun to interfere with your daily life and it's become a disorder. So, no, what you have described doesn't meet the criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It has the signs of compulsive behavior but hasn't reached the level of a disorder.
Unless it is adversely affecting your life I would not worry about it. We all have things which bug us to no end. For me it is uneven stacks of things and lights being left on when no one is in the room.
