Well, that's exactly what it is. I was diagnosed long ago, but it was never bad enough to interfere with my daily goings-about, so never worth treating.

Mine is usually

3, 1, 1, 1, 3 repeated constantly.

My girlfriend is doing her PHD in Psychology, and from several discussions on the subject her advice to you would likely be that pills would likely help, but regular therapy sessions would also be a good idea and are more likely to lead to a long-term solution where you don't have to be taking drugs, which aren't necessarily a good idea given the alternative.

Then again, she's not a doctor yet. See a psychiatrist, but I'd recommend considering therapy also if it's suggested. There's nothing wrong with it.

I believe this is what you need!

Thanks for making me look normal Morro.

Hey Morro, you're doing the right thing by getting help. A very good friend of mine has an OCD/panic disorder and it's only gotten worse as he's aged. He finally sought help at age 32 and it pretty much saved his marriage, and possibly his own life as well. The sooner you can nip it in the bud the better.

Generally, when I start tapping, I quickly fall into trying to recreate "Street Beat" from HS, or some other rhythm.

I'm a compulsive door lock checker. Not sure if it came from living in a neighborhood of dubious moral fiber or my own weirdness. Drives my SO crazy when I check a door multiple times before turning in.

Sometimes I click my teeth back and forth to the tune of my favorite songs. I'm sure I'll grind them to nothing by the time I'm 40.

The worse, that I've gotten a good handle on, is I will flex my cheeks and use my tongue to push all the air out of my mouth. If there is ANY air left in my mouth I have to take a big breath and start over again. Sometimes it takes me almost 15 minutes to be satisfied with the vacuum I've created.

Also, something I cannot stop doing, is when I am anxious or bored I will touch the tips of my fingers to my thumb. I will do this as fast as I possibly can so that my fingers are a blur, kind of the same motion you would scratch with.

Sometimes I do that for so long my wife will end up holding my hand to make me stop.

That is one of those things where I realize it's not a habit because I get upset when I can't stop myself.

f*ck, I'm doing it right now.

Hey that's SOS.

Oh the wink smiley, you meant that. Never mind.

I came in late, but I got it, too.

Listen to "Lateralus" by tool. The song. The lyrics and beat are in a Fibonacci sequence. I. Am. Trained to. Pick up on. Beats and Sequences.

Wow. That was just mean, Mex. It'd be terrible to suddenly HAVE to count your blinking and breathing, to feel like you absolutely HAD to, to feel a compulsion to count breathes and blinks, just on and on and on, always breathing and counting, blinking and counting, breathing and counting, blinking and counting...

Well, today I spent an hour and a half fiddling with my microwave and found that I can actually adjust the time of rotation. I adjusted to to (near as I could) 10 seconds. I did this because it bothered me that when I put something in, it would come out at a different position than where I set it down. Now as long as I choose 10-second intervals, I can rest easy.

Anyway, I talked to my GP and got a referral. The doc mentioned Prozac, which freaked me out a little bit. Though I guess the dosage will be quite small. Thanks for all the kind words and stories. I feel like less of a freak, now.

*twitch*

*twitch*

I have listened to that song hundreds of times and never noticed that. The beat is one of my favorites of all time.

How does that mesh with buying used books? I'm with you on the ancestry of spine-cracks, but I find that if I buy used -- ie, pre-cracked -- it doesn't bother me near so much.