Do you have obsessive-compulsive disorder?

I do. What are ur symptoms & rituals? How do u combat it? I struggle every day with unwanted, intrusive thoughts. I don't wanna feel alone. Do your loved ones understand ur disorder? Mine don't. They think I use it as a excuse & want attention, which is not true.

ur not alone girl.. i have OCD too! my symptons are thinking EVERYTHING is dirty!!! i wash my hands at least 50 times a day and i will take a shower any chance i get, when i take a deep breath, i inhale from one spot then turn my head and exhale the the other way! when my clothes comes outta the dryer and IF it fell on the ground then i will NEED to re-wash it, other wise i cant wear it because i think it has bateria on it now. i can NEVER EVER walk around the house bare feet because im afraid i might catch something and i never sit on the ground (carpet) either! i can go on forever with my symptoms!! i tried so hard to stop thinking about does annoying thoughts but seems like i just cant get rid of it. girl.. dont even worrie about it! its not a big deal, people dont understand because they're not in our situation, its not like we wanna be this way! just be yourself!

I don't think I do but I do do things that make people say I have it.
I don't do it anymore but I used to have to gnash my teeth before and after every telephone pole while driving. If I touch my fingers with my thumb on one hand I have to do it twice on the other and then once again on the first hand. I have to square everything on my desk and eating table. Coins must be head's up and in line if sitting on the table. My mustach must be trimmed or it will drive me crazy. I must procrastinate til the very last minute on any project given to me, even in school (but I still do it and do it well). That's about it.

nah, Im just a little idiosyncratic. sp?

go to a psych.

There is great med's that will help you out.

you are not alone, millions of americans suffer from this.

practice being as calm as possible, breathe, and go to the psych... i have been taking med's for 5 years now and they really helped with the thoughts.

Yes, I do.

I often find myself doing things over sometimes even saying things over. I can't make decisions. I wash my hands way too much cause I feel they are dirty. I have this hair barrette in my hair that I never take out. I only take it out to wash my hair. I feel something bad will happen if I take it out. Sometimes I think horrible things like I see pets dead or something just thoughts I don't want come into my mind.

My loved ones don't really understand. Most people act very uncomfortable when I talk about it so I try not to.

I am currently taking Paxil 40 mgs. I need to take more because the symptoms even though are not as bad they are still present. Family Dr won't increase it to 60 even though that's the maximum dosage. I am going to have her refer me to a specialist soon.

I can relate to you. Do not feel alone, there are so many people out there with OCD, me being one of them, however a lot of them suffer in silence, because the nature of the illness is very hard to understand and talk about to other people. i m not gonna lie, it s a struggle every day. And after a long time of fighting it, i finally realize that it s not about eliminating the thoughts, it s about not acting upon compulsions that shows how far you have progressed. in other words, the focus should not be on not having any thougts because this is pretty much impossible, as i m sure you have found out, the focus shuld be on living your life without devoting time to long mental rituals or actual compulsions designed to defeat/cancel the thoughts. For more on this, here s a really good website.
http://www.ocdonline.com/articlephillips...
I wish you the best of luck and have faith in yourself !

Yes... its called yahoo answers and its not a joke.