Comfort eating

[Amanda]

We have a niece whose OCD comes out in the form of showering for two hours although she is better than she used to.  She will wash her hands then washes her hair, washes her hands again then washes another part of her body and so on.  Personally I think it's due to the years of bullying she went through during her school years.  I learnt to keep my opinions to myself early into my relationship with Rick as his sister refuses to listen and she's always right - the family have given up trying to help.

For many years my OCD came out as needing a routine which includes putting shoes on my left foot first, clothes - left side first, lining up stuff from the left to right.  I am getting better for not changing clothes if they get dirty, at my worst I could change up to 5 times a day.  It wasn't a problem before leaving school and started when I was about 19 years old.  It has got better since my mum died in 2011 as we didn't have a good relationship and I 'couldn't do anything right'.

People who don't suffer with OCD long term don't understand how tiring it is having repetitive behaviour and trying to break it.

___

I'm so sorry you and your niece go through OCD but I can relate to so much of it!  I do the left side first thing with my clothes and shoes and washing too but at its worst for me was washing my hands every time I touched something I thought was dirty which made my hands raw and was the main reason I got the diagnosis.  My handwashing is a lot better now but my counting and security fears are still very much a "thing" for me even now.