Could this be classified as OCD?

infractuspennae

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Every year, on a certain day, my main character follows a very precise ritual: she wakes up, showers, walks to work (instead of taking the bus), goes to a certain store and buys a certain type of item during lunch, back to work, walks home, and prepares a candle lit dinner (which no one eats). She's done this for 25 years. It's the only real repetitive thing that stands out with her as being unhealthy.
 

Anninyn

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Probably not.

According to OCD-UK
OCD presents itself in many guises, and certainly goes far beyond the common perception that OCD is merely hand washing or checking light switches. In general, OCD sufferers experience obsessions which take the form of persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts. They are often intrusive, unwanted, disturbing, significantly interfere with the ability to function on a day-to-day basis as they are incredibly difficult to ignore. People with OCD often realise that their obsessional thoughts are irrational, but they believe the only way to relieve the anxiety caused by them is to perform compulsive behaviours, often to prevent perceived harm happening to themselves or, more often than not, to a loved one.

I'm not sure that a single, yearly compulsion or ritual would qualify.
 

Fruitbat

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I don't think so, because OCD thoughts/actions are "persistent and recurrent." Once per year is recurrent, but "persistent" sounds to me more like an ongoing thing, not sporadic. I'd consider it more of a personality quirk or something like that, a little strange but not really anything that impacts her life enough to qualify for a diagnosis.

ETA: If I read about that, and that was the only "off" thing this person did and with no explanation, it would probably come across to me as contrived and not very believable. But that's just my opinion.
 
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infractuspennae

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Thank you. I as reading about OCD but, wasn't so sure. It's just a quirky activity I suppose.
 

buz

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Every year, on a certain day, my main character follows a very precise ritual: she wakes up, showers, walks to work (instead of taking the bus), goes to a certain store and buys a certain type of item during lunch, back to work, walks home, and prepares a candle lit dinner (which no one eats). She's done this for 25 years. It's the only real repetitive thing that stands out with her as being unhealthy.

Every year, on a certain day, I wake up, shower, go to work, come back, go to a relative's house, eat turkey/green beans/potatoes while listening to painfully generic piano music, listen to family members have the exact same yearly conversations about tryptophan, eating too much, turkey quality, That Year Grandpa Flipped the Riding Mower, and football...

:p

In other words, sounds more like a ritual or tradition :)
 
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infractuspennae

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Every year, on a certain day, I wake up, shower, go to work, come back, go to a relative's house, eat turkey/green beans/potatoes while listening to painfully generic piano music, listen to family members have the exact same yearly conversations about tryptophan, eating too much, turkey quality, That Year Grandpa Flipped the Riding Mower, and football...

:p

In other words, sounds more like a ritual or tradition :)


That would be some story.
 

melindamusil

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I once read that a very basic definition of mental illness/OCD is "when you have a compulsion so severe that it negatively impacts other parts of your life". For example, many people insist that their favorite sports team can't play/win a game unless they wear a certain jersey. That may be weird, but as long as it's not impacting the rest of their life, it doesn't qualify as mental illness.
 

KTC

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NOT ocd. A lot of people don't really understand ocd, judging by how the term is used every day in the wrong context. someone upthread suggested tradition. I would go with either that or ritual.
 

KTC

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I once read that a very basic definition of mental illness/OCD is "when you have a compulsion so severe that it negatively impacts other parts of your life". For example, many people insist that their favorite sports team can't play/win a game unless they wear a certain jersey. That may be weird, but as long as it's not impacting the rest of their life, it doesn't qualify as mental illness.

Great example.

I, on the other hand, count out the syllables of a conversation on my outer thighs. I ALWAYS have bruising...because as gentle as I'm tapping, I'm doing it all the time (when I'm IN it). And...I'm not a very good listener, when I'm tapping. I'm trying to stay up with the beat and I lose track of what's being said. And other shit, too. (-;