Is this obsessive compulsive??

[Captain Arrrgh!]

Hello all,
I wasn't certain if this shoud go in the science thread, but since I lean towards philosophy my self... Anyway, let me bounce this off all of you to hear what you think.

I have a ....what, condition?..... where I need to do things in chronological order. Without fail. For example, if I have on my 'to read' list, serveral historical novels, some sci-fi, and say an alternative novel with a post apoc theme, I simply MUST read them in order. I have to sort them by timeframe, era and epoch, and if for some reason the timing doesn't jive, I have to fit it in as best I can, for example the Sci fi novel might be Robinson's 'Mars' series. I would have to judge as to whether or not the post apoc novel would be feasible in being placed before or after it.
With games. When I bought Med 2, I couldn't play it! I had to reinstall Rome and BI, then play through them, then depending on where my ruler was in BI, I started Med 2 with the faction closest to that region.
Now when the patch comes out, I won't be able to play Med 2. I'll have to go through the whole process of Rome, BI, then Med 2.
The same goes for say, a game like Splinter Cell. I have to play them in order, and if I have another third person sneaker, such as metal gear, I have to place it in the chronological hierarchy as legitimately as possible.
Needless to say it can be very frustrating. Sometimes I can't finish a series because it takes so long to go through everything.
Sometimes, a friend will give me a book who's timeline happens to be at the beginning or midway in a 'theme' I am pursing, and I have to go all the way back and start over again. Ai Carrumba!!
I believe it has something to do with attempting to fully live an alternate life, but then I'm quite pleased with my 'real' world. I'm in shape, for an old fart, and have a beautiful family and intersting hobbies.
Any opinions?
(EDIT) Also, if anyone has anything similar, let me know.

[Amorphos]

many people have similar, it is a problem only in degrees i.e. how far you take it or ‘let’ it go. in my opinion its quite a good disorder to have once under control, as you will be able to unswervingly stick to a given matter to the end and resolve it. some people take years in meditaion to get to that level of singularity of mind.

my advice [as one who used to have to touch everything of a kind - like touch one window pane and have to touch every one in the house [glad it didn’t get to street lol] and other similars [arrange things in lines etc]]; is to give yourself boundaries then tighten them. it sounds easy to do but i know it is not, but you must listen to that inner voice which tells you where to stop. however don’t even try to completely stop! it is part of your psyche and can be developed, it is nearly impossible to completely change anything about oneself no matter how clear it is to others and yourself.

[Katrina]

I suffered from a...moderate (in comparison to some pretty intense cases) case of OCD that had me doing the oddest things in inconvenient manners.

I still have it to some degree, though I have grown out of major parts of it, but it is odd.

The one thing that helped me was to realize that whatever I was doing did not have to be done. All it took was hard, concentrated realization to progress past what my OCD was telling me to do. It took time to get to where I am now, but it takes work.

Some people simply cannot. However, these things really vary from person to person. So I suggest that if you don't mind what these compulsions are telling you, than just go with it. However, if it is inconvenient and you don't like it, than concentrate strictly on the fact that no matter the fact that you can go in chronological order and no matter the fact that you feel you should simply because you are telling yourself that, you really and truly do not have to.

Great Scotts, I hate OCD.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

Great and very helpful answers, friends. I'm familiar with the 'touching' one as well, but for me I had to touch the same thing twice with the exact same speed and pressure, or I thought I'd loose a finger. I also couldn't walk on the separations on sidewalks, because I feared a glass sheed would shoot up from it and slice the front of my foot off. Absurd, I know. These two are quite common, so I hear.

The most frustrating one was that if I was talking with someone, I couldn't say the words I'd originaly formulated in my brain. Just before the words left my mouth, I'd have to think up different vocabulary, but convey the same meaning. Excruciatingly frustrating, I must say.
I think the best way is to abandon fear, fear of the consequences and let it go, kind of like when what's her name let DiCaprio go off the life raft in Titanic....
It's incredibly liberating to free one's self of such ocd shackles.

[Amorphos]

I also couldn’t walk on the separations on sidewalks

oldest one in the books! except for the glass sheets - this is where you have an over active imagination... don’t ever take any LSD mate seriously! you can obviously note the absurdity and the level of, so concentrate on the extremes first and perhaps lt the gaps in sidewalks go for now.

i agree about the fear of consequences and letting go - absolutely.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

What are you talking about? There ARE glass sheets in those cracks! .
Actually, I shouldn't joke about that, it'll reinforce my belief in it.
Anybody else have these issues? Anyone with the 'changing vocabulary' one?

[Da Skinna]

What are you talking about? There ARE glass sheets in those cracks! .
Actually, I shouldn't joke about that, it'll reinforce my belief in it.
Anybody else have these issues? Anyone with the 'changing vocabulary' one?

Changing vocabulary, I think if it's the same for you like I'll be talking and all sudden I have this thing I really want to say, and I know it's an eloquent explanation of what we're talking about, and then a split second later, I lose most of it and then try to say what I want but it's all garbled or something, just not as good as when I first thought of the thing to say...

Or it could just be me...

[Denny Crane!]

Ahhh my flat mate disabused me of this a long time ago.

People do not have OCD, that is obsessive compulsive DISORDER! He has worked with the people who have OCD and it becomes a disorder when it positively ruins your life and you have to seek treatment. It is compulsive because it intrudes on that persons thoughts and is so pervasive it finds its way to disrupt the person life.

How about OCB obsessive compulsive behaviour.

Peter

[tnick777]

I think that you talking 'pirate' is worse...

You have issues bud

But they're cool and fun issues

[Da Skinna]

Hmm, so basically you got the words down what you wanna say, but just are compelled to change them? For what reason? Is it like syntax, or is it trying to find better words to convey your message to that one particular audience?