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Overanalyzing things. Could this be OCD?

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Overanalyzing things. Could this be OCD?

Postby jayan3 » Sat May 06, 2017 1:23 pm

A bit of a long post...and weird..

I think I have OCD.
I've been to a psychologist only three times in my life and only when I was 17. Now, I'm 20.
The reason why I went to the psychologist was because during that period I was anxious about something for a week or so in an obsessive and repetitive manner. On our second appointment, he told me that I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies (keep this in mind). However, I've never been formally diagnosed with it.
I know that it would be better to see a therapist again but I wanted to find out what your opinion is on something specific that has been happening this past two years. That's why I won't get into details about my past in the beginning. Because I want you to focus on this situation right now. I will share information later, though. Any help will be highly appreciated :)

What I'll talk about began about two years ago but it's been annoying only in the past four or so months. It happens every day but some days it's very strong while some others it's tolerable. Also, these past four or so months, I've been alone. My friend is studying far away for me, I couldn't get into a school that I wanted to and I can't find a job so I'm mostly alone at home. Something that I'm pretty sure has contributed to this whole thing.

The problem is that I constantly overanalyze things. Anything. And worse, my brain is forcing me to overanalyze. It feels like an obligation. If I don't do it, I will experience anxiety. Like something hasn't been finished. The anxiety is not disabling but it's definitely annoying.
And if I'm forced to analyze serious stuff that have to do with people and things around me, it kind of twists my worldview. Don't take this weirdly. I just mean that, for instance, I will be surrounded by people and I will secretly overanalyze stuff in my mind, sometimes even inappropriate stuff about them. That ruins both my attention and my mood. Sometimes it ruins even the most casual things because not only do I need to overanalyze them before proceeding with doing them but also because this overanalyzation makes them less enjoyable.

But, again, the issue is not only with the type of things that I overanalyze. It has to do with the fact that I feel obliged to overanalyze them. Because, again if I don't do it I'll feel like something is incomplete. And I end up overanalyzing them again and again and again. Because my brain tells me that the more I analyze them the better idea about them I'll have in the end.
That mainly happens when I'm relaxing at home. It happens when I'm busy as well (as I pointed out about hanging out with others earlier) but it's prominent when I'm not occupied. For example, I will keep overanalyzing stuff when I'll be listening to music on my bed. Or when I'll be playing a video game. Or when I'll be watching TV etc.

That's what I want you to focus on. But what bothers me equally is obviously the type of thoughts that come to my mind. They range from analyzing the specs of a product that I recently bought (in order to convince myself that it was worth buying) to how my relationships with other people are and to even vague social stuff. And this last type (vague social stuff) are the ones that bother me the most, not only because they're very difficult to examine but also because there are a lot of them.
Things that have to do with sex (especially this one), racism, politics and other people's viewpoints. Or, randomly, how the city that I live in looks like and how it compares to other places (lol). Or how better people of my age are contrary to me (something that leads to obsessive comparisons with others).
Like, for example, one of the most recent question that comes to me is how open minded are the people of my country when it comes to sex (I'm not American btw). I will then visualise situations where I'll be asking them questions or I will start doing google searches to find out about their experiences again and again. And what happens most of the time is that for some reason my mind will focus on the things that will surprise and shock me the most. Like my mind wants to worry me. And I'm not a close-minded person and I don't like to pay attention to these things. But this is the pattern. And by the way, I mostly focused on stuff related to sex because this has been the main topic in my brain for this past month (lol). It's a meaningless thing. It even makes me feel guilty and judgemental about others. And frankly, even if I was right on the subject matter, I'd still wouldn't like to be bombarded with this annoying thoughts. It would defnitely ruin a conversation as I'd really like to have a conversation about these things with other people but I'm pretty sure that instead of liking the discussion I will be secretly ovenanalyzing their opinions and experiences in my mind again and again. My mind will crave confirmation for shock value.

I'd love to find out a way to stop this, not only because it causes me that feeling of surprise and close-mindedness but also because it disallows me from focusing on and enjoying stuff, since it happens repeatedly. Again and again and again. I never reach confirmation (and there's no logic in reaching anyway).

So, what do you think. Could this be a symptom of OCD? Have you ever experienced something similar? Is it something deeper than that?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post :P
jayan3
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