OCD - Ignored it for a long time

[Panther101]

Hi, im a 30 yr old guy happily married and father to 3 gorgeous girls. Im an old fashioned gent. So much so that i push of all my oddities and issues aside striving to be my idea of a perfect father and provider.

For far too long now i have had this issue scurrying its way around my head filling it with self doubt and loathing. Not to mention the constant and monotonous checking of locks. Even though i know quite rightly that ive just done it!!!!! And the worst part for me were the occasional images that would pop up in my head of horrific things happenning to the ones i love, as if my mind is asking me "how would you feel, imagine how they feel?" The older im getting the more unspeakably harrowing these little snippits can be. Well for the first time in about 10years i finally spoke out. Last week we talked about my compulsion of picking my nails, the constant twitching and need to pick at the skin around my nails, one which is aweful to look at, looks deformed. For as long as i can remember ive been doing this without any thought. I have never put all of these oddities together. After researching i found that im not a monster, im not evil i have OCD. So this is my first step, reaching out to the world. It would be great to chat to other people with similar issues and advice.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Panther,

Congratulations and well done on your first step reaching out to the world 🙂

Your family sounds like they mean everything to you. You clearly love them very much. How blessed are they to have such a devoted, caring husband and father in their lives.

I admittedly don’t have OCD so I may not be the best person to respond but I still wanted to say hello. Plus your post reminds me a little of my dad who has certain fixations with repeatedly checking if doors are locks, windows are locked, Kitchenware needs to all face a certain direction/be at a certain angle or else he gets really upset, etc. But, unlike you, he has never sought help; it’s a pride thing for my dad...

I think that’s the thing though...it doesn’t even matter if your logical mind knows you’ve checked, another part of you feels compelled to double and triple check. Even though I have no direct personal experience, I would think it must be so frustrating and stressful to have those compulsions to check them re-check things. I feel that would be so exhausting...

I was thinking my gentle suggestion for your next step could be making an extended appointment with your GP, mention your struggles and ask about the possibility of a mental health plan with him/her. The mental health plan will entitle you to some Medicare rebatable psychologist sessions plus your GP might have additional advice and support. Perhaps this is something you might like to look into...

Once again, well done for reaching out here. That’s enormously brave.

There’s no pressure but if you feel it helps, you can continue writing here to purge your thoughts, vent, update us, etc. I feel there are many caring people here...

Kind and warm thoughts,

Pepper