Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Do you suffer from OCD?

Personally I don't think so. One seems to lean toward the negative while the other the positive. I think it is rather like a glass being half-full or half-empty. It's just a matter of perception.

You're darn right it is. I don't think it is a serious one but it is one nonetheless. Rather like caffeine but not as serious as tobacco or hard liquor.

This addiction may have some negative consequences (what addiction doesn't?) but it is not life threatening. It might take away a small degree of quality in your life in that you could be experiencing other things and you could be using some of your time more wisely but it won't hospitalize you.

Also, everyone of us has addictions of one sort or another. In fact, I believe we all have OCD. Some of us have just a minor dose of it - others have a good share.

If you find yourself playing the same game hour after hour after hour, chances are high you have OCD.

Have you said, after playing it for a year or two, that you are going to stop playing this game and along comes a new feature to the game, and on you go again.

This doesn't apply to me. After playing Farmville for almost two years and Cityville for almost a year - I walked away from them and started to Squidoo.

As I write this module, I think of many of the people I have befriended on Twitter, Facebook and Squidoo. Many of you know what I mean and many of you might feel I am thinking of you and yes, you are probably right.

I know of people who are still on Twitter three years after I met them. They are still tweeting regularly about the same old thing - they throw in variations but their goals have not changed. One of them tweets one-line jokes, another tweets music, a third tweets about social injustice and so on.

On Facebook, I have friends who are on all day uploading funny posters, music videos, religion, comments about government corruption and some idiot who constantly tells others where to get FREE ebooks (oops, wait a minute, that's me). I even have friends who keep me updated on what they are doing at a given time ... "I'm at the hardware store buying a ladder" or better yet "I just spent the last half hour washing dishes". Like, as if I give a hoot.

And of course there is Squidoo. I suspect a lot of my friends (and yes, I do consider you my friends) will open their eyes a bit wider now that we have reached this point.

Question - When does a Squidoo lensmaster shows signs of OCD? Does making one Squidoo lens a week indicate you have OCD? What about if you have made over 100 lenses? I ask that to myself as well as you as this is my 88th lens. There are some lenmasters with more than 300 lenses to their credit - what about them?

Let's not forget the bloggers among us. Some people only have one blog but they are constantly updating it and some of them may only have a few readers who follow them. Then there are others who are not content with one blog but have two, maybe three or maybe even a half dozen. I'd say having a half dozen blogs is a good sign of having OCD.

Are you a collector of things? Are you a Pack Rat?

I collect American Indian Head Pennies - I have two collections. I also collect Canadian Large Cents - I have two collections of them as well. Does that make me Obsessive Compulsive? Probably.

Do you accumulate far more than what you need? Are you afraid to throw things away because you might need them .... five years from now? Perhaps you are just being organized, thrifty and resourceful. You decide.

Do you maintain the same thought in your head for hours, days or weeks on end?

Do you sing the same song in you head all day long?

Do you check your taps and the lock on your back door just once before you go out or do you do it twice, three times ... four?

The essential key to solving any problems that one might have is to be aware that you have a problem. Many people are experts at denial in spite of the overwhelming evidence that is presented to them.

Let's face it - nobody is perfect even though there are are some rare people who are close (like me ...duh). Besides, how big a problem is OCD anyway? I suppose that depends on each person's life-style.. For some, it is a minor inconvenience - for others, it can be a major issue. Only the person who has it and those around them can say how serious it is.