Picture Perfect

* Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric anxiety disorder most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or "rituals") which attempt to neutralize the obsessions. (From Wikipeda, the free encyclopedia).

As I was browsing through At Home with Popski, I stumbled upon her article on obsessive compulsive. Obsessive compulsive? Hmmm.... why not write about it, too? After all I know a lot of people who are obsessive compulsive, some of them have a mild case of 'oc-ness' and some are severe that you'd think they're so over-acting. Let me share with you some stories about my family and friends and their 'oc-ness'.

On my son Joey... I've noticed that he's got it since he was about 4, influenced maybe, of the other men in the family. When we're talking about his toys, all of them are neatly kept in their original boxes, just like from the day we purchased them. You're not suppose to throw away the boxes, because believe me, he's gonna ask for it. This is kind of a positive attitude to me because it means that he takes care of his belongings and I'm quite happy about it.

When it comes to bedtime, now this is really interesting, his slippers are neatly arranged on the foot of his bed and he expects to find them in the same position when he wakes up the next day. If you're going to pass through his bed, you should be careful not to kick his slippers. He will also request me to help him straighten his pajamas when he lies down. He doesn't like them rolling up to his legs. It amazes me because I have never encountered such behavior coming from a child. He also has his own utensils and drinking glass and doesn't like anyone else using them. I really don't know how he knew of these things at such a young age. Runs in the blood, I guess.

On my husband... his 'oc-ness' is kinda mild. He won't allow you to sit on the bed if you just got home and still have not changed to your house dress. He always carries a bottle of alcohol or hand sanitizer. He doesn't like the maid preparing his food, paranoid that her hands are not clean. He takes longer time in the bathroom than me.

On my father... We call him the master of cleanliness. You cannot enter their room without taking off your shoes or slippers, and mind you, the floor is always clean and shiny. Very meticulous with his clothes. His car is always kept clean inside and out. And same with my hubby, he doesn't like the maid preparing the food.

On my father-in-law... He retired from work after his by-pass operation. As a way of exercise, he took care of cleaning the house. He takes hours doing it, making sure he turns everything upside down (lol), wiping every corner and dusting even the smallest holes in the furnitures. Even more so when he's cleaning the bathrooms and his car.

On my sister... Of all the girls in my family she is the 'oc-est' of all. She recently went home for a 3-week vacation from the US. She works as a laboratory technician in Ct. Even while we were growing up the signs of 'oc-ness' have always been there. It became worse when she went home from the States. Due maybe, of her working in the lab, with all the viruses and bacteria, she won't even open our bathroom door with her bare hands, she would grab a tissue and use it to open the door. Really weird, but true. When she visits my store, she won't sit when offered a chair, thinking that her pants would get dirty because anybody sits on them.

On my friend Raffy... Oh Raffy please forgive me for sharing this (hehe). He is the real Mr. Clean. Their family had a vacation in Subic last summer, they have 4 girls by the way. After a 2-day vacation they packed their things and put them in the car. Meldy, his wife, was busily dressing up the girls when the shirt of the youngest fell on the carpet of their hotel room. Raffy saw that and immediately ordered his wife to reverse the shirt before putting it on to their child. Why? Because he thinks that the shirt is already dirty and he doesn't like his car getting dirty, too. Imagine that.... he would rather have his youngest get the dust just so his car will be kept clean. He didn't even bother to go back to the car and get her daughter a new shirt.

On myself... Somehow I think I got it, too. Whenever I go down to the store I always make sure that I'm wearing socks. People have been asking me if I feel cold, even in the heat of summer (lol). Well, I would rather wear those socks because I don't want my heels getting dark and my feet getting dirty. :) When it comes to groceries... I make sure I wash the canned and bottled foods, the chips, soda and canned juices before my family consumes them. I don't want them getting Leptospyrosis (a disease you get from rat urine and stool).

Each one of us has this certain obsessive-compulsive behavior.
However, displays of these traits such as being a 'perfectionist' does not necessarily mean that we have OCD.







2 comments:

Max Coutinho said...

Hello Liza,

Your family is really something!
But you are right: I also think that we all have some oc-ness...me, for instance, I don't like things out of its place (it gets on my nerves).

Cheers

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