What Makes You Happy?

A lot of things make me happy because I’m a happy person.

One thing that makes me feel happy is a clean apartment.

There’s something about a clean environment that gives me a sense of peace and contentment. When things are out of place, the floor needs vacuuming, etc. I feel totally out of sorts.

For example, I knew I was going to do some spring deep cleaning in a few weeks so I didn’t do my regular dusting and vacuuming. After a couple of weeks of letting things go, I was ready to tear out my hair.

I don’t concentrate well on other things when my environment is out of sorts. So rather than wait for the few weeks that I had left to clean I had to clean immediately.

It took me about a week to do all that I did (I can’t do a lot at one time so I have to take my time) but once I completed everything, it felt so good and I felt so happy.

Now I can concentrate on my writing and trading knowing that when I walk out of my office into the other part of the apartment, everything is neat, clean, and in its place.

I was asked once if I had OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder in which people have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions).

Repetitive behaviors, such as hand washing, checking on things, or cleaning, can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions.

Many people without OCD have distressing thoughts or repetitive behaviors. However, these thoughts and behaviors do not typically disrupt daily life. For people with OCD, thoughts are persistent, and behaviors are rigid.

Not performing the behaviors commonly causes great distress. Many people with OCD know or suspect their obsessions are not realistic; others may think they could be true (known as limited insight).

Even if they know their obsessions are not realistic, people with OCD have difficulty disengaging from obsessive thoughts or stopping compulsive actions.

 A diagnosis of OCD requires the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions that are time-consuming (more than one hour a day), cause significant distress, and impair work or social functioning.

OCD affects 2-3% of people in the United States, and among adults, slightly more women than men are affected. OCD often begins in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood; the average age symptoms appear is 19 years old.

Obsessions

Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that cause distressing emotions such as anxiety or disgust. Many people with OCD recognize that the thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of their mind and are excessive or unreasonable.

However, the distress caused by these intrusive thoughts cannot be resolved by logic or reasoning. Most people with OCD try to ease the distress of the obsessions with compulsions, ignore or suppress the obsessions, or distract themselves with other activities. Typical obsessions:

• Fear of getting contaminated by people or the environment
• Disturbing sexual thoughts or images
• Fear of blurting out obscenities or insults
• Extreme concern with order, symmetry, or precision
• Recurrent intrusive thoughts of sounds, images, words, or numbers
• Fear of losing or discarding something important

Compulsions

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession. The behaviors typically prevent or reduce a person’s distress related to an obsession. Compulsions may be excessive responses that are directly related to an obsession (such as excessive hand washing due to the fear of contamination) or actions that are completely unrelated to the obsession.

In the most severe cases, a constant repetition of rituals may fill the day, making a normal routine impossible.

Typical compulsions:

• Excessive or ritualized hand washing, showering, brushing teeth, or toileting
• Repeated cleaning of household objects
• Ordering or arranging things in a particular way
• Repeatedly checking locks, switches, or appliances
• Constantly seeking approval or reassurance
• Repeated counting to a certain number”

Quoted from the American Psychiatric Association.

So, no. I do not have OCD. I just want a clean environment to live in 🙂