Cleaning day and night

I clean day and night. With small children and a mom who lives with me, its getting really hard to keep up. I let my little girl have a hamster and now I really regret it. It started about 2 months ago. I do not have time for much else, besides other compulsions like shopping(not for me like groceries). I feel like a failure. I have a lot of other problems too. My husband is very strict and it has lead to a lot of this. How do you start making it stop? Love Abbey

Abbey, it sounds like you are in a very restrictive situastion at the moment which isn't helping you cope at all. People with OCD need to have the option to be flexible always there in order to help them realise that there are alternatives to doing everything one way. Considering the situation that you're in, I believe that you can either do two things:

- Talk to your husband & make sure that he understands what OCD is

- Arrange an appointment with your local doctor & talk to him/her about it

Take care,
Kevin

Thanks, I think i might talk to a Dr. first. Thanks so much!

Hi Abbey,

Don't give up. I have OCD and I was also married to a very strict, rigid husband. My OCD got a lot worse during that marriage and there were a couple of occasions when I was pretty sure that I was going to lose my mind.

That marriage ended 11 years ago and I have since remarried a wonderful man who is very supportive of my quirks. Of course, the fact that we both have strong aspie traits probably helps as well

I'm not suggesting that you leave your husband. I'm just pointing out that life can and will get better, but Kevin is right, you have to change your situation. Talking to your Doctor is a good start, but it's incredibly important that your husband understands and supports you in handling your quirks.

Remember OCD is just a survival mechanism in response to an overwhelming situation.

abbey13 wrote:Thanks, I think i might talk to a Dr. first. Thanks so much!

No problem my dear. Out of the two options that I made, I believe that the doctor one would be the best to choose. I am not confidant that your husband would be willing to understand what's happening but, then again, I don't know him or you too well.

Abbey13,
I was "cleaning" away this evening, and I thought of your post. How are you doing?