Hello, I'm new on the block!

Hi everyone.

I'm not sure how well this is going to go, as I'm writing on my phone and getting a little disoriented (my night time prescription meds do that to me as a side effect). I felt the need to write this as an effort to try to relieve the tension I'm having lately.

Long story short, I have OCD. My therapist for the last nine months has been hinting at it on and off, and I've finally come to grips with it last week during a session with him. I've realized I've had OCD for many many years. I'm in my late 20s now.

I also have Adult ADHD, Bipolar Disorder type 2, Asperger's Syndrome (which I do not believe is part of the autism spectrum; please don't call me autistic or a person with autism), and Anxiety, the last of which manifests as OCD as far as I know? Because OCD is an anxiety disorder?

It's a bit overwhelming!

I literally just heard of the different "types" of OCD. I'm not sure what the definitions are. Can someone please explain, or point me into the right direction for definitions and examples? It doesn't have to go into massive detail.

I'm glad to have found forums for people like me, living with this... Disorder. My particular OCD, at least, from my perspective, involves obsessions that aren't really related to the compulsions I have. I obsess over situations, how people perceive me, and everything being as perfect as possible... Except my home/room, when company is not over. I just learned from my therapist that people with OCD aren't always neat and tidy!

I look forward to getting to know everyone. Is there possibly a live chat? If this is not allowed to be asked, moderators, I'm sorry. I'll edit the post to exclude the question if you wish, just PM me or post!

Thanks for reading, everyone.
DLMMS

Welcome to the forums!

There's not... as far as I know, particular official 'types' of OCD- there are some popular terms used to quickly denote popular obsessions/fears: HOCD (obsession that you're homosexual), POCD (pedophile), TOCD (transsexual), so forth..... the sexual obsessions are very prevalent at the present time.... then there's what folks refer to as 'Pure-O', which is OCD obsessions that are more internalised, that don't show themselves in the form of obvious compulsions, such as hand-washing. And yes- you don't have to be a neat freak to have OCD- my OCD tends to be more of the Pure-O type.... thoughts of harming others, for example.

But it's all OCD, and afaik there's no special subtypes that you'll ever see on an official Dx. Only terms that have been popularised by frequent usage in the community.

We have the forums, and blogs, and private messaging, but no, there's no live chat function, here. If members wish to chat, just remember that linking to a site that also contains a forum, would be against the forum rules, also nothing that is, or approaches, social media may be linked in open forum.

Given that the users in PF are typically all over the place, live chat probably wouldn't be of much use, to be honest. We're pretty evenly split between the Americas and Europe, as far as distribution goes, with a large minority in the Pacific region. It's hard to connect except thru forum and PM.

Hi there! Looks like you share a bit of my own chimera-like mental make-up. I'm also ADHD, bipolar II, and have anxiety out the wazoo. Pure-OCD is mine by the way, and yeah like Snaga said you can have all sorts of types (maybe even ones that haven't made it into definition yet).

Also may seem odd at first, but it makes sense if your compulsions aren't related to your anxiety. Usually mine are a way of distracting me from my anxiety.

Welcome to the forums DLMMS!

I have intense anxiety and bipolar disorder too, It's nice to meet some people with similar diagnoses!

Like Snaga said, the "types" of OCD aren't necessarily official but are more community terms. Pure-O is really the only other "type" of OCD I can think of (besides POCD, HOCD, ROCD, TOCD, etc.) that's sorta-kinda recognized by some professionals, but not all. It's all OCD though!

OCD can latch on to prety much anything from what I've seen! Like Snaga also said, POCD, HOCD, ROCD, TOCD (pedophile OCD, homosexual/sexuality OCD, relationship OCD, transgender OCD respectively) are pretty common in the community as of late.

There's quite a bit to OCD, there's a lot to know and it can be pretty overwhelming! Feel free to PM me if you need anything

Wow, I'm so happy for so many friendly replies!

I think from the (very helpful) descriptions -- thanks for letting me know they aren't 'official' by the way, I'll have to tell my therapist because he was kind of puzzled when I mentioned seeing the different types on here! -- that I probably have "Pure O". And that, like Holodeck said about theirs, my compulsions are supposed to be distractions from the obsessive thoughts.

Gotta say, the compulsions work to distract me relatively well. Until the feeling of compulsion ebbs away, and I see, for the Nth time, the raised, red skin left behind after I "pick" the blackheads out of my pores. Sometimes I realize there isn't anything there, and I just can't make myself NOT pick. Because it LOOKS like there's something there. Or there under the skin. Or something. It's CRAZY! And it drives me nuts and makes me feel like an idiot... even when I know I'm not really an idiot. When I see all the red skin left behind, I feel guilty and I feel pretty awful inside. "Good grief, we know this happens to our skin every time, so WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THIS!?"

To try to keep myself from leaping into a compulsive, uh, episode (is that the right word?), I end up trying to avoid mirrors (since a big target is my nose; large pores there) so that I can't study my face too closely.

I don't have compulsions to check locks/the stove's turned off/wash my hands a lot or any of that. For which I'm grateful.

Moodyblued, I'm taking you up on that offer to PM. I'll send something to you before I crash for the night. (What the heck is up with insomnia lately? Anyone else having trouble falling asleep?)