My Obsession

I’ve decided to finally give in to my obsession with messageboards. This morning I set my homepage to Ezboard.com to save time. I mean, if I’m going to log on 20 times a day I might as well save some time.
Which led me to wonder…am I a tad obsessive about this? I did a google search, and then took this survey on BBC.com about obsessions. The first question is “Do you avoid stepping on cracks on the sidewalk?” Oddly enough, I do. I think about it, anyway, and this makes me more aware of them. No, I don’t do the Jack Nicholson dance from “As Good As It Gets” or anything. Here was their answer:

Avoiding cracks in the pavement is common childhood behaviour based on superstition.
A compulsive avoidance of stepping on pavement cracks is also frequently present in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Sufferers might even take detours to avoid crazy paving. It is quite normal for adults to act on irrational superstitions.
However, if you still miss the gaps between slabs it does not mean you have OCD. It is quite normal for adults to act on irrational superstitions.

And no, I don’t think about breaking my mother’s back when I do it.
Do you often buy things you don't need, because it helps you relieve anxiety?
Define “need.” Are they talking about that DVD that plagues me every time I walk into Walmart that I have to go to the back just to look at it? The one I’ve been avoiding because I really didn’t have the money and I wanted to prove that I didn’t have to buy every DVD I wanted and when they send it back because it didn’t sell I go on Amazon.com and pay $2 more for it?
No, apparently not.

Some people suffer from a condition known as compulsive shopping. Compulsive shoppers buy in such quantities and so frequently that their habit interferes with their relationships, job or finances.

Okay, I’m safe there…unless you count my VHS collection under the bed.
Do you ever feel compelled to check that you locked all your windows after you have left your house?

No, but my mother has to check everything in the house three times before she goes to bed. She’s not compulsive about the windows, just the doors, the water faucets, the stove, the coffee maker and the doors to her car. Yes, I’m pretty sure she has borderline OCD, and they say it’s hereditary. I just drive down the street, get about two blocks, then have to come back and check the door. I guess I have OCD with ADD.

Most of us have gone back to check whether we closed the windows or locked the front door after leaving the house. This is because we have normal security concerns about being burgled. But obsessive-compulsives might check the windows fifty to a hundred times.
These normal thoughts and actions become obsessive-compulsive behaviour when they stop people from leading normal lives. Obsessive-compulsives might spend over an hour checking things because of niggling doubts in their mind. Because of this, they might find it impossible ever to turn up to an appointment on time.

I answered yes for 6 questions. But I was thinking about my mother when I answered three of them.

Many people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders also have these compulsions, but theirs can completely disrupt their daily lives.
Although people might find it hard to understand people who suffer from these disorders, they simply have extreme forms of compulsions that many supposedly normal people show.
Almost everyone has some form of compulsion that they find difficult to control. These are all personal characteristics that go to make up the individuals we all are.

Apparently the BBC is not that obsessive about questionnaires – they ended on question 11.
I think I’ll go check my inbox again.