Rdr4evr

For the last, say seven years I have been very much bothered by the presence of dust, particularly dust on my possessions, such as my apartment and car. If I see a bit of dust or any kind of filth for that matter, like fingerprints, anywhere on anything of mine, I must clean it immediately or I will become very uncomfortable or angry. When I say anything, I mean anything, like my TV, computer, kitchen, tables, glass, dressers, all appliances and tools, etc, etc. I have even put a vacuum next to my TV so I can use the ‘tube sucker’ thing to suck in the dust the second they land on the TV. Sometimes when I see dust on the TV that keeps returning, or a spot on the kitchen counter where it is somewhat sticky, I get so angry that I get teary eyed and very emotionally upset. Anyway, my point to all this is that I spend a large majority of my time cleaning. I will not do anything fun at all unless I know there is not a speck of dust on my things. For example, the other night I went out to dinner with my g/f without cleaning, but I did not enjoy myself at all and went home immediately afterwards so I could clean, therefore ruining the night. Sometimes I refuse to even watch a DVD if the rest of the apartment is not as clean as I want it to be because I would not enjoy it. Now I guess this is not normal, although to me it is very much normal, but I’m at the point where this is interfering with my life and I cant do nothing about it because I will not enjoy life unless everything is clean always. I don’t know how to get this out of my head and was just wondering if any of you have any advice. Thanks.

Meier_Link

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is what it sounds like to me. I'm not a psychiatrist, but that's my prognosis.

There's probably medication or something you can take.

maleficent

What is OCD?

I'm not a doctor, i don't even play one on tv, but for a second opinion, I concur...

It is something that's treatable, both with meds or behavioral changes, but you are best off mentioning to your doctor.

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Rdr4evr

I read that site, and in its list it mentions fear of germs, contamination, etc. Now I am not afraid of dust or filth, but it bothers me to the point where I wont do anything unless it is clean.

Jonsgirl

Maybe, without realizing it, you are afraid of it, but it just manifests itself in an unhealthy complusion to clean. But it doesn't have to be fear, per se., and there's obviously something that disturbs you about dust, so it could be any number of emotions attached to it. It could be revulsion, anger, vilotalion, whatever.

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maleficent

Not that I'm trying to put this disorder on you -- but from the National Institute of Mental health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/HealthInformation/ocdmenu.cfm

One site I stumbled into, but then IE blew up, so I don't know where I was said to test yourself, see if you can go a day without doing that activity and how does that make you feel?

Is the teariness a new symptom? Or has that been there all along? When this began about 7 years ago, was there something in your life that changed? Moving out on your own, college graduation, job change, from what I've read on OCD, it's possible that it's a reaction to stress as well, to make order in a world where there's very little.

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Rdr4evr

Thanks maleficent as well as others who responded

The teariness I mention means that when I have to repeatedly clean something that continually keeps getting dusty, I will get angry to the point where I will almost cry. But this happens on rare occasion.

The only major thing that changed in my life seven years ago was that my parents separated, the funny thing about that was that my dad was a neat freak as well, just not to the extent that I am. I honestly don’t believe that that has anything to do with it though because their separation did not really affect me emotionally.

maleficent

Have you thought about getting an air cleaner to cut down on dust?

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lurkette

OCD often doesn't manifest until early adulthood, and it's likely that there's a strong genetic component. If your dad has similar traits, it's likely that you just had some genetic loading for the disorder and it's just manifesting itself "on schedule" medically speaking. It doesn't have to be triggered by stress or trauma. My sister, in her early 20s, couldn't go to sleep until she'd combed all the fringe on her throw rugs so that they were perfectly straight. She tried just going to bed but she'd lie awake, so she'd get up finally at 3 AM and straighten the damn fringe and go back to bed. There was no "trigger event," she just suddenly developed this compulsion. She got treated with drugs and therapy, and now she's fine. Everyone in my family has little quirks like that - I used to have to check all the closets and cupboards in a particular order before I could sleep, and if I skipped something, I had to start all over again.

You might want to talk to a doctor about various ways to manage this. Good luck!

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Rdr4evr

Not really, I know it wont cut it down to my liking anyway. Thr problem with damn dust is that it is inevitable, it can never be exterminated.

Rdr4evr

Lurkette, it is so funny you mention that, I comb the end of my rugs about 5 times a day as well, I don’t allow anyone to walk on it. I honestly just didn't want it to reach the point where I need medical assistance, but it seems I haven't a choice. Thanks for the advice.

KellyC

Heyyyy. You're the real life male version of Monica from "Friends"!!

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Rdr4evr

Sorry, dont watch the show.

The Phenomenon

Heh - I am about your exact opposite.

Although I AM very neat on a few select things, like my computer and games and music cds, for the rest of stuff it really does not bother me much at all.

I honestly cannot understand people who get obsessive about cleanliness and neatness. It does not make sense to me. If the car is dirty, so what? Meh

The Phenomenon

Do you watch some detective show called "Monk"? Its about this private detectiv guy that has OCD. I kinda like the show and make a point of watching it on Sundays when it airs here. Its pretty damn funny. I dunno how accurate it is though

Are you as bad as him?

Ella

The best (worst?) example I've seen of OCD in a movie is 'Matchstick Men' starring Nicholas Cage. He seeks help (forcibly) and it turns out he has some unresolved issues.

I'd talk to a health professional about it. And perhaps see the movie....it may put something in perspective for you.

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NoSoup

The silver lining in this is that it is (from my understanding) highly treatable, with most medications pretty effective at allowing to you not continue these behaviors...

Just think of the day that you'll see a GIANT mound of dust hidden away of some little corner of your apartment - and you'll simply nod it good night and head to bed

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Rdr4evr

Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Seriously though, I hope it is treatable as I cant take much more of this.

And for the person who asked about Monk, nope haven't seen that either.