OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  If you look around you on a daily basis, everyone you see has it to some degree.  The problem with it is most people use it as an excuse to either not do something they are supposed to, or as a way to coerce people into doing something they want.  There are plenty of people out there that have an actual disorder, a chemical or psychological imbalance that causes them to do things outside of what most would call normal (whether its repeating certain tasks a specific number of times, or washing their hands vigorously so many times a day that their hands are raw)

 

The problem is that people feel that OCD is just a term for anything they just want to see perfect.  So I'd like to set the record straight on this.  If you have ever said "This is really setting off my OCD." or "I'm OCDing about this right now.", you don't really have OCD.  Take a look back at those times, and truly ask yourself if you just didn't want to do something else and used what you were currently doing as an excuse.  Or perhaps you saw something doing something and you wanted it done a specific way, and used a disorder to try to get them to do it your way.

We've used OCD so much that it's almost become an irrelevant word, much like calling someone gay over the internet for doing...well anything you feel like insulting them on.  I've known a few people that actually were OCD.  The looks on their faces when you disrupt their routine in order to feel comfortable is actually saddening.  I've seen how angry or nervous they can get.  You learn to feel bad for it.

 

Because everyone really feels that OCD is apart of them though, we now need new levels of the term.  So to everyone that just uses the term, you are now a First Degree OCD.  What this means is you have things that irritate you, that you want to see perfect, and that you would rather do yourself in order to ensure that they are perfect, but if push comes to shove (or something much more entertaining or important comes up), you can forego the task for a while, even indefinitely.  You don't really have OCD, because it doesn't come up on a daily basis.  You don't have hard set routines you must follow or you break down and curl up into a little ball.  You just have things that irritate you.  That, or you just want to make a shelf at work look perfect so no one asks you to do anything else for a while.

Now to all those people who's OCD affects their daily lives, you are a Second Degree OCD.  And my heart goes out to you.  But let's give you something more impressive to call it so the rest of the world can have the now demeaned OCD.  How about Social Routine Perfectionism, or SRP?  I like the sound of that.  But I really do feel for you.  I had one friend that needed to do many of his daily tasks in fours, and originally we thought it was just a quirk until we opened the door on his third knock and he freaked.  And by freaked I mean his face turned to that of fear, and he almost froze completely.  We managed to calm him down by going outside and closing the door and talking with him and allowing him to knock his four times before going inside.  I really felt bad for him.

I'm not saying I'm above this though.  I've used the term OCD just as much as the next person.  But every time I do it, I realize the term has no meaning to it anymore.  And there are many other words that have the same effect, especially text acronyms.  Hearing people say "LOL" and "ROFL" out loud instead of laughing irks me for instance.  Why not just laugh?

What other terms do you think have been demeaned through overuse of it's unintended meaning?  I know there are a ton of them out there.

Also, no blog-post on Sunday.  I'll be in Southern California visiting family, and I'll be away from my computer until late Sunday night.  I'll be back next Thursday.  Thank you all for reading.  I've recently reached 700 page views, which is way more than I thought I'd get in only 4 months, so I'd really like to thank you all.