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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Deneb on September 6, 2009, at 13:35:43
Sometimes I pace back and forth for like 30 mins at a time and I repeat phases to myself, or sing one line of lyrics from a children's song over and over and over again.
I've done the pacing since childhood. I stopped for a while, but recently I pace again.
Is this normal behaviour?
Posted by Dinah on September 6, 2009, at 13:57:48
In reply to Do I have OCD or something?, posted by Deneb on September 6, 2009, at 13:35:43
With OCD, you'd likely think that if you didn't pace back and forth saying the words, or if you didn't do it right, that something bad would happen. You'd feel *compelled* to do it. If you stopped, you would feel intolerable anxiety.
Some repetitive actions are self soothing activities. They are a response to anxiety without being a source of it.
I pace when I'm anxious. And on occasion I have a children's rhyme going through my mind. It can be, for me, closer to endless games of bubbles than it is to my OCD experiences.
Do you find it soothing?
Posted by Deneb on September 6, 2009, at 16:10:24
In reply to Re: Do I have OCD or something?, posted by Dinah on September 6, 2009, at 13:57:48
I don't feel compelled to pace but sometimes I feel like I should say the phrases. I guess it is self soothing for the most part. I didn't notice major anxiety, but maybe I was anxious nonetheless. Maybe it is like saying "Dr. Bob" over and over again. I know that is soothing for sure.
I sing out loud when no one is here, or just sing really softly. It's funny, I sing the ABC song, parts of Yankee Doodle and some tunes I just made up.
Posted by Phillipa on September 7, 2009, at 13:06:55
In reply to Re: Do I have OCD or something? » Dinah, posted by Deneb on September 6, 2009, at 16:10:24
I pace and repeat phases to block other things out of my mind is that OCD or anxiety? Phillipa
Posted by hyperfocus on September 8, 2009, at 13:28:43
In reply to Do I have OCD or something?, posted by Deneb on September 6, 2009, at 13:35:43
You're just like me. I do a lot of repetitive things too - like playing a bit of a song over and over again in my head. I shake my leg a lot. And I pace a lot - up and down. But it's just coping mechanisms I guess.
This is the end of the thread.
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