Are you the sort of person who leaves the house thinking "Now, I did turn the electric fire off, didn't I ?" ? Or maybe "I'd better go back in and make sure the back door is locked".
Most of us do this, it is perfectly normal.
The reason we do it ? - we're not concentrating on what we are doing; we are not being 'Mindful'; being mindful is tuning all your senses onto a particular task, actually thinking about what you are doing..........
Most of use work on 'auto-pilot'; get into the car, to go down to the supermarket, and the next thing you know, you are parking the car..........Did you see the traffic lights at the junction ? do you remember ? - probably not, because you aren't being mindful.
Hence that indecision about the back door being locked, or turning of the fire. But what happens when, instead of going back in to have a look at that back door, you do it not once, but twice, or maybe three times ?
I bet most of us on this forum have done so at one time or another .....Well, that's still fine; there's something bugging you at the back of the mind....you're thinking about whatv you're going to do about Christmas presents this year, and yes, it is bugging you. It is part of the stress of modern day living.
There is so much to do every day, things not to forget, it's amazing how multitasking we are in our thinking.
But what happens if you need to go and xheck on that back door five times ? - is that normal ? The answer is, it is a sign that there is something that you are churning over in your mind. Easy to put right; what was it you were so engrossed over, in thought ? You can usually think of it, in a short time, because it is a problem you really are concerned over........it bothers you, and you wish you knew the right thing to do.
What happens when you begin to realize you are in a habit of repeating one task, over and over agan? (like washing your hands, or checking the windows are all locked, or open...whatever)
You might have Obsessive compulsive disorder.
Now when is it a habit that you can keep a healthy check on, and when is it an illness ? Well, it is easy to tell; it becomes an illness when your day to day life starts to suffer as a result of this repetitive behaviour........
A case in hand:
OCD is an embarrassing condition
Gillian Knight was 13 when she first noticed that something was wrong with her everyday behaviour.
She began to worry that something she did or failed to do might cause an accident or harm someone she loved.
Had she turned off the cooker, or the iron? Had she left everything in the house safe?
The thoughts just kept coming into my head all the time and in order to get rid of them I had to check that everything was safe
Gillian Knight
What started as a mild anxiety soon turned her life upside-down.
Gillian, now 43, recalled: "I was having intrusive thoughts that I would accidentally harm somebody or cause an accident.
"I didn't want to hurt somebody, but the thoughts just kept coming into my head all the time and in order to get rid of them I had to check that everything was safe.
"Nothing triggered it. It just happened.
"I remember once spending an hour trying to get out of the bathroom, trying to make sure that the bathroom mat was totally flat so that no one could possibly come in and trip on it.
"But the more I tried to make it flat the less I could guarantee that it was flat.
Most of us do this, it is perfectly normal.
The reason we do it ? - we're not concentrating on what we are doing; we are not being 'Mindful'; being mindful is tuning all your senses onto a particular task, actually thinking about what you are doing..........
Most of use work on 'auto-pilot'; get into the car, to go down to the supermarket, and the next thing you know, you are parking the car..........Did you see the traffic lights at the junction ? do you remember ? - probably not, because you aren't being mindful.
Hence that indecision about the back door being locked, or turning of the fire. But what happens when, instead of going back in to have a look at that back door, you do it not once, but twice, or maybe three times ?
I bet most of us on this forum have done so at one time or another .....Well, that's still fine; there's something bugging you at the back of the mind....you're thinking about whatv you're going to do about Christmas presents this year, and yes, it is bugging you. It is part of the stress of modern day living.
There is so much to do every day, things not to forget, it's amazing how multitasking we are in our thinking.
But what happens if you need to go and xheck on that back door five times ? - is that normal ? The answer is, it is a sign that there is something that you are churning over in your mind. Easy to put right; what was it you were so engrossed over, in thought ? You can usually think of it, in a short time, because it is a problem you really are concerned over........it bothers you, and you wish you knew the right thing to do.
What happens when you begin to realize you are in a habit of repeating one task, over and over agan? (like washing your hands, or checking the windows are all locked, or open...whatever)
You might have Obsessive compulsive disorder.
Now when is it a habit that you can keep a healthy check on, and when is it an illness ? Well, it is easy to tell; it becomes an illness when your day to day life starts to suffer as a result of this repetitive behaviour........
A case in hand:
OCD is an embarrassing condition
Gillian Knight was 13 when she first noticed that something was wrong with her everyday behaviour.
She began to worry that something she did or failed to do might cause an accident or harm someone she loved.
Had she turned off the cooker, or the iron? Had she left everything in the house safe?
The thoughts just kept coming into my head all the time and in order to get rid of them I had to check that everything was safe
Gillian Knight
What started as a mild anxiety soon turned her life upside-down.
Gillian, now 43, recalled: "I was having intrusive thoughts that I would accidentally harm somebody or cause an accident.
"I didn't want to hurt somebody, but the thoughts just kept coming into my head all the time and in order to get rid of them I had to check that everything was safe.
"Nothing triggered it. It just happened.
"I remember once spending an hour trying to get out of the bathroom, trying to make sure that the bathroom mat was totally flat so that no one could possibly come in and trip on it.
"But the more I tried to make it flat the less I could guarantee that it was flat.
