Does anyone else out there have compulsive habits? I have (or had) several. When I had long hair, I would compulsively brush it. I HAD to carry a brush with me, and I always brushed my hair before getting out of my car or leaving a restroom. If I didn't, I was EXTREMELY self-conscious of it. I also have bad skin. I compulsively pick at it, to the point where my folks and brother used to slap my hands or tell me to stop picking. Seriously, I've made myself bleed many times. If I get scratches or sores anywhere, I have to pick at the healing scabs until they open up. I also used to be a nail-biter. My fingers are all scarred because I'd chew at the skin around my nails until it bled.

I appreciate the thoughts, phyllisc and Wheetin, but believe it or not she already gets a professional manicure AND pedicure once a week! I took her to a podiatrist who recommended surgery for ingrown toenails, so we undertook the pedicure route instead hoping we could avoid surgery. And her fingernail cuticles overgrow and are very thick, so that was the reason for the manicures. I understand her compulsion to pick at them because they're so thick.

We have given her lip balm but she doesn't much care for it and only uses it when we notice how awful her lips are and remind her. The problem is she's a beautiful girl who's going to start to get scars on her lips if she persists.

My mom just promised her that she could wear her, my mom's, earrings at Christmas if she didn't pick at her nails between now and then. We'll see how that works. The problem is all of these compulsions are things we can't keep tabs on all the time. We only notice her picking her cuticles if she happens to be doing it in front of us.

Anywho, I appreciate the ideas! You guys are (as usual) awesome.

I can't tell you how much better this thread makes me feel! I do soooo many of the above mentioned things! Probably my worst one is picking my skin-acne, scabs, whatever. And I have really, really fair skin so it leaves scars. My hubby is always yelling at me to quit it! But seriously, I am OCD about too many things to list even. Sad, but true!

I don't have very many anymore. I used to bite my nails and pick at my skin. I only have one now thats quite obsessive. I absolutely cannot go to bed without cleaning the wax out of my ears with a Q-tip. I do it everynight. I know it's not good to put those in my ear, but I can't stop. There have been a couple of times that I forgot to do it and woke up in the night to clean them out. My DH thinks I'm loco for doing this.

i have GAD, and depression. i am also slightly ocd

Me too. Im obsessive with paper. Notebook paper, print paper, cheap magazine paper bother me to no end. News paper, glossy mag, and fancy paper is okay. I mean I cant touch regular paper with my hands. For instance, if I am writing I put something under my hand so as not to rub the paper with the heel of my hand. In school I would use my sleeve or bring something small like a card that is easily concealable. I can only touch paper with my fingers if my hands are moisturized but with no residue, oil marks on paper make me crazy. I will throw away any paper with oil marks. cringe I cant look around and see paper lying around, it has to be in an orderly pile. Single pieces are the worst it is so hard to control single sheets of paper.:help:

Which leads to my other compulsion, surfaces. I need orderly surfaces clean, items in stacks. My last semester at college my bedroom had exposed shelves dubbed the library room and my ocd became very clear.

I also bite the inside of my lips not painfully but when I am in deep thought or nervous I sometimes catch myself chewing them. Imagine my dismay when I found out that it was audible after years and years of school tests.

I also obsess over what I write, grammatically, structurally, and audibly. it HAS to sound right before I type it. I became so good at it that throughout my education I never wrote drafts but it was torture getting the words out. This is all harder still because I was an English major.:phanvan

Whew I feel better. This is a great thread!

These are all very interesting. I have a friend that has ocd. She counts the burners on her stove constantly. She also numbers her clothes hangers and all the clothes are assigned a certain number. They always have to go back on the correct hanger.

She is better since she started taking Effexor.

Phew. I'm glad I'm not the only one on this stuff. LOL I have restless legs. The seat I am sitting in in the car MUST be all the way back ALWAYS so that I can stretch my legs out and move them around.

I pick my skin. If there's something on my lip, I have to bite it. This one caused me some grief awhile back because I had some kind of cold sore or something (never get those) on my lip and I kept biting it without thinking about it and I'd be bleeding really bad like I got into a fight. Not the prettiest sight when you're a security officer. LOL

I don't like to step on cracks anywhere. I'm not obsessive about it, but if I happen to be looking at the ground, I'll lengthen or shorten my step to not hit a crack. I give up, though, when I hit an area that has bricks or something with a lot of cracks and just step on them. I hate it, but I figure I have to control it.

This one is kind of hard to explain. I do kind of do the counting thing that OCD'ers do. I was standing with a circle of people and I had my hand on the girl's shoulder next to me and I was counting with my fingers on that hand and in my head, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5." I wasn't even aware of it until the girl said something. I will also grind my teeth to the beat of music sometimes. I think I'm better at this one - haven't done it in awhile.

And of course, I have used eating compulsively. And I am a compulsive shopper.

I used to really bite at my cuticles. I got that one under control, too. I'll see some loose skin on my cuticles and pick that off, but make myself stop before it gets any deeper. I used to bite at the perfectly healthy ones, but I make myself not do that.

A lot of this is work-in-progress and I still struggle sometimes. Looking at all this, it's encouraging to me. Because if I can control certain things that were compulsive behavior like biting my cuticles or stepping on lines, maybe I can keep my eating under control. I can hope, right?

One that really stands out lately for me is that I don't like pushing the "open door" buttons at the hospital with my bare hands. I have gotten shocked a few times from them so now I always have to use a piece of cardboard, my clipboard, a pencil, or anything else handy because I am freaked out to touch them. People probably think I am some sort of germ phobe since I won't touch these huge metal buttons. And since I work in the OR there are tons of these buttons to open every single door around here.

they make a nail biting nail polish. i had to put on my son when he was a child. at first he would eat right through it...but after a while it detered his biting and now he doesn't bite at all. i also started trimming them almost daily (at first there was nothing to trim)..but he hated his nails growing at all. so, it worked. he doesn't bite anymore---we used tobasco sauce, too.

oh yeah..i am reminded of a few more things ----i am a slight germ o phob--but not bad. i will NEVER EVER EVER EVER touch anything in a public bathroom with my bare hands. i have friends that know i am this way and will prepare a towel for me if they use mine. i always get the towel ready then wash my hands, grab the towel dry..turn off the faucets with the towel..use the dirty towel to grab another clean towel..then use that towel to pen the door. if not towels are available i will use my shirt or some clothing.

my son is showing signs of ocd also. as i mentioned with the old nail biting. he grinds his teeth during the day..and he sucks his lips ALL OF THE TIME. he gets this huge scabby ring around his mouth that makes him look like he has impetigo. this is a nervous habit, and he doesn't do it a lot at home, but he does it at school bad. i used ot have the habit of sticking my tongue out when i was really concentrating (as a child)..well..he sucks on his lips. he has to cover his face in vaseline daily, and it helps some..but. he also is now taking an antihistimine that is helping. i noticed that someone mentioned their child doing this with their lips and having really thick cuticles. well..the same is with my son. he also has those really thick white marks on his nails (feet and hands). his doc said that he just has "bad" skin. he has rashes a lot and he is sensitive. his nail beds are bad..and the same is with his mouth.

they make a nail biting nail polish. i had to put on my son when he was a child. at first he would eat right through it...but after a while it detered his biting and now he doesn't bite at all. i also started trimming them almost daily (at first there was nothing to trim)..but he hated his nails growing at all. so, it worked. he doesn't bite anymore---we used tobasco sauce, too.

My parents tried that with me. It didn't work. I bit them anyway, because once you chew on them long enough, the stuff comes off anyway.

i know..everything seems to be like that...luckily it worked..

however..i tried that with him with the breast ..i know..tmi...i nursed until he was 2...no taste at all was making him give that up..haha..and there was only so much i could subject myself to. i'm sure i created his oral fixation..hopefully he never starts smoking.

About q-tips.. if they weren't made to clean out the ear, what were they made for????

I've heard they're bad to put in your ears too, but they look like they're designed for it.. so I am confused!!

I like cleaning my ears with q-tips after a shower, when its all wet and comes out easy.

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About q-tips.. if they weren't made to clean out the ear, what were they made for????</p> <p>I've heard they're bad to put in your ears too, but they look like they're designed for it.. so I am confused!!</p> <p>I like cleaning my ears with q-tips after a shower, when its all wet and comes out easy.

</p> <p> </p> <p>ok..i'm talking way too much on this thread, but i had to respond to the q-tip thing. i read an article one time on msn about the q-tip addiction. and the guy described it as a total eargasm that he has when cleaning out his ears. i HAVE to clean my ears with a qtip after a shower because of the Water. i also can feel the wax depositing in my ear and it itches and tingles and of course, i grab a q-tip and go at it. and for me..it is an eargasm...it just feels ssoooooooooo good. </p> <p> </p> <p>i have tried to quit my qtip habit..and i got ear infections.</p>

I don't like the feel of q-tips in my ear, it really bothers me.. I don't like fabric rubbing on my skin like that (cotton balls). It's one of those things that make my skin crawl, but I do it occasionally.

But I know what you're talking about, I use to do that with the shower water.. I remember in HS my boyfriend at the time thought I was a looney toon for doing it. I eventually stopped because I knew that couldn't be good for me. But I'd let the water spray right into my ear and I had eargasms.. hah. It just felt so good.

wow...that's a new way to irrigate the ear..haha...it hurts my ear if Water goes directly in it.

i have what doctor's like to call "yucky ears" my ears on the inside are not shaped well to "clean themselves" and it is hard for doctor's to see in there. and i have eustacian tube dysfunction..so i have frequent ear infections.

i think it is genetic, my brother was born deaf, but he has had his ears reconstructed twice and he is able to hear, but he will need to sign when he is old (although he doesn't know sign language).