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Odd behaviors and the reasons behind them


Mammu    

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Hi!

It's been a while since I've posted anything but since this has been going on for a while and Google isn't of any help, I thought I'd post here and ask if anyone can explain these phenomena or has similar experiences.

So, basically, in short when someone says something that my brain deems as "fitting" for this behavior, I have to sort the pitch of their voice into three categories in my head (high, mid, low) and then repeat the sentence over and over again. Basically every syllable is of a different pitch. And what makes this difficult, is that every sentence has to have the same number of syllables in each "category". And if not then my mind basically bends the pitch of what the person said so that it fits into the category that has less pitches in it. This is basically something that I can't control, it happens automatically in my head. It doesn't happen all the time (I'd say the symptoms are present about 50-60% of my day) but when it does occur it makes it difficult to focus.

This section was weird to write and to admit to anyone else but here it goes: Another thing that I do is chewing patterns into my inner lips with my front teeth. I basically slightly nibble (it seems like an appropriate word for this, although sounds absolutely horrid)/bite into my inner lip with my front teeth and I do this in the form of patterns, for example a 3x3 square, a square on the side that's also 3x3 or 4x4. And where I "bite" and in which order also has to be specific. And I can't bite the same spot multiple times or I have to all the spots the same amount of times.

From what I know about mental disorders (which is quite a lot; no expert but I've done a fair amount of research) this seems like maybe symptoms of OCD? There are some other things I do as well that kind of fit the "profile" of OCD symptoms (chewing on inner cheeks, biting nails, constantly bouncing my leg, not being able to make one of my hands wet without other being "as wet", etc.) but again, no expert.

Does anybody have any similar experiences or know if these are indeed symptoms of OCD or some other mental illness?

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Hey there,

Thank you for being so open about this experience. I can imagine that you may feel like you're the only one who does things like this, but there are plenty of others out there, and that's why it's helpful to open up and seek help. 

I think that what you are describing sounds like a compulsive behaviour. Compulsive behaviours serve a function in that by doing them, we can reduce anxiety, and they become a way of coping. I'm wondering, what impact do you feel these behaviours have on your wellbeing?

digital-mentor.png.37594766624d87064910e

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To be honest, I don't actually know how they affect my mood. I haven't noticed any changes to my mood once I force myself to stop, which can be done. But what I do know is that sometimes I don't even notice I do these things, which means that I can't really stop myself. 

What they do affect is my ability to focus and also, they make me feel kind of gross and weird, cause what normal person chews on their inner lips and cheeks?

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4 hours ago, Mammu said:

To be honest, I don't actually know how they affect my mood. I haven't noticed any changes to my mood once I force myself to stop, which can be done. But what I do know is that sometimes I don't even notice I do these things, which means that I can't really stop myself. 

What they do affect is my ability to focus and also, they make me feel kind of gross and weird, cause what normal person chews on their inner lips and cheeks?

Hey there,

Actually, funnily enough, I also used to chew my inner lips and cheeks and found that it was related to anxiety, and doing it helped me to feel calmer. I'm wondering, maybe you could try to not do them for a couple of days to see how it affects your wellbeing? That will then give you an insight into what their purpose is and what you might need to do next to move forward. What do you think?

digital-mentor.png.37594766624d87064910e

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