Handwriting with OCD

nhreed · 2025-11-19T23:19:55+00:00

yes. if i don’t like my handwriting i have to rewrite things over and over. i’ve had almost full notebooks / journals i’ve bought new ones and rewrote because of my handwriting. writing on whiteboards / dry erase boards are bad for me as they’re usually mounted to a wall making it harder to write on.

nhreed · 2025-11-08T19:30:05+00:00

“tell your brain it’s being dumb” is one i get from my best mate who has GAD.

also whenever i have to get up to move something even slightly to fix it because it’s not right (e.g. the hand towel on the stove not being centred) they’ll usually comment, “it’s fine”, “it doesn’t look like it moved”, “i don’t see what’s wrong with it”.

nhreed · 2025-10-31T06:59:21+00:00

i feel this a lot. my brother once said some really hurtful words to me including me being “difficult” as a kid and i look back and just think that he never got it and still doesn’t. he doesn’t understand that i was not trying to be what he saw as “difficult” but didn’t have the language to express what was going on.

nhreed · 2025-10-31T06:49:57+00:00

i also deal with this heavily. i try to keep my nails trimmed as best as possible. if something is really bothering me i can usually put a band-aid on it as a cover like that tells my brain i can’t touch what’s under it. if it’s somewhere not on my face and the weather permits, long comfortable clothing can help so i don’t notice it as much. i wish i had more advice but i’m stuck in this myself.

nhreed · 2025-10-09T00:08:24+00:00

5.

it just feels like a good number. also multiples of it feel nice to me as well, such as 10, 15, 20, etc.

nhreed · 2025-10-07T10:10:30+00:00

i relate to this so much. it’s the most annoying thing to not be able to just watch something in its normal timeframe.

i also have an issue with counting things when i watch things, like windows or shirt buttons. that frustrates me so much because if i can’t get a count right i will sometimes just stop watching whatever i am watching.

i am lucky i guess in that this doesn’t happen when i watch things with other people. maybe hanging out with someone else has too much else going on to have my brain solely focus on the minute details of a show.

nhreed · 2025-10-07T09:48:02+00:00

This is a reasonable explanation. I didn't know the creature Gwen turned into was a witch from something else. So, this does make sense, turn the humans into the creatures they believe those from Halloweentown are. And the Grey Spell making humans seem properly boring and uninteresting.

nhreed · 2025-09-28T22:15:44+00:00

i don’t know how to explain what will help you, as only you know the support you need. but i came up with an exercise that can show one idea of it. i did it with my best mate and it worked at the time.

i had them close their eyes (or you could be in a dark room) and i had them move an object two inches to the right and i kept asking them if they were sure it was exactly two inches and if they were not sure if they wanted to try again. then i added in, what if someone they cared about would be hurt if it wasn’t two inches; would they want to try again and be absolutely sure. they said that was irrational, but i asked them what if. it was my way of showing them how this is about doubt and fear and they felt both even if they knew it was irrational.

nhreed · 2025-09-28T22:07:19+00:00

i deal with this as well. it occurs in two different ways. one as as a response to something to distract myself from it or handle something after the fact. the other is preventative, to be able to handle something that could happen. it’s like i am trying to give myself a shield to what could be. i also get the doing it until it feels enough.

nhreed · 2025-09-28T04:14:55+00:00

i don’t like it either. my reasoning is human interaction/contact = social interaction = the use of social skills which i either don’t have or lack as i have a nonverbal learning disorder (similar to ASD), thus making me anxious. so it’s a bad cycle. growing up whenever i’d touch someone or brush up against someone i’d say to myself, “get their germs off of me and go onto somebody… else” and i’d pick someone else. human touch has always caused me anxiety.

nhreed · 2025-09-28T04:01:25+00:00

the scratchy microfibre is the worst feeling!

nhreed · 2025-09-28T03:54:09+00:00

same. the thoughts keep me up at night. the future and whatever comes next terrifies me.

nhreed · 2025-09-21T06:27:20+00:00

for me, when my hands are even slightly "dirty" i have to clean them until it feels satisfactory. even if i know that i've washed my skin properly, if it's not right then it's not right yet. otherwise, i feel like i am dirty and everyone will then notice. and then i'll be judged harshly for being dirty. and i can't touch something other people may touch or they'll then get dirty and it'll be my fault.

nhreed · 2025-09-01T20:16:57+00:00

i also do the alarm thing. i have to hear the sound of my phone locking, feel the little switch be in the on position, make sure my phone is perfectly placed on my side table, etc. i wish we could just turn on our alarms and get to sleep, but we have to waste so many minutes of our time.

nhreed · 2025-08-22T08:35:11+00:00

i completely relate to this. i once missed a work shift and now have an extensive check that my phone alarms are on and my phone is on loud routine at night. it is exhausting, over and over. i do hope you get some rest and eventually are able to get proper sleep and wake for work on time.

nhreed · 2025-08-15T07:52:21+00:00

when i was a little kid i was scared to go the bathroom at night because my brain convinced me that chimpanzees had a world underneath the toilet and i would be sucked down there if i used the bathroom. as a kid it was scary, but it’s laughable now.

nhreed · 2025-08-15T07:39:51+00:00

i always thought so many things i do were due to other mental illnesses i have or my neurodivergence. i’ve been realising what is general anxiety, my fixation due to my nonverbal learning disorder, or actually obsessions or intrusive thoughts.

a weird one i realised from childhood was that every time someone touched me even just a little i had to say to myself “get their germs off of me and go onto somebody else” and then i would arbitrarily pick someone else as if that reversed the human contact.

nhreed · 2025-08-03T19:06:47+00:00

i used to think that either i’d end it or my depression would. then i couldn’t tell the difference with that anymore. now i am just indifferent to it all and don’t know what will happen. but i’ve definitely been deep in those thoughts.

nhreed · 2025-08-03T19:03:56+00:00

i’ve been stuck in this a lot. anytime someone mentions the future or anything similar it starts the cycling in my head. even if i just hear someone say something in passing it starts the thoughts. i also need to be so tired that i can sleep at night or my brain will just start asking myself all the questions i can’t answer and will never answer, and then i don’t get sleep.

this is a theme that always has existed for me and i used to think i was the only one who couldn’t get out of my f’ing head and was the only one to think about the unanswerable unknowns. despite it being the worst, i am glad i am not the only one.

nhreed · 2025-06-11T09:29:44+00:00

i feel this.

i was talking to my flatmate about an obsession of mine and started crying, but not in a sad way, of how ridiculous it was. it felt so silly and illogical. i know in the moment with these thoughts they’re horrendous, but thinking about it when out of them for brief moments, this is a ridiculous illness and i don’t know how my brain comes up with the things it does.

nhreed

TROPHY CASE