Where is the line drawn. How do you know if you’ve crossed the line from bad habit into compulsion. I can’t seem to find the will power to stop. Sometimes I’m silently screaming in my head “stop it, just stop” and still I can’t stop. What triggers something to be a compulsion rather than just a bad habit? I’ve had compulsions in the past that just one day, out of the blue, stop. Why do they come and go? There’s been some discussion at mental health that I also have OCD, I think kinda mild but I hate the feeling of not being in control of myself. Anyone with OCD have the same feelings?
My best friend has OCD, and your description sounds exactly like his.
Sometimes new compulsions arise, and sometimes the old ones just disappear with no warning.
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It’s confusing 1515
It must be hard to keep track of them, and I bet it’s frustrating to have to accomodate them.
My friend seems very irritated that he can’t control his compulsions, and he seems a bit embarassed when he has to ask people to abide them, like making sure all the soda cans in the fridge have the logo pointing outwards.
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I was extremely impulsive when I was taking 2mg of ativan a day. Also when I took Zyprexa along with Risperdal it made things worse and I would just blow through what little money I had, all the time.
When I switched to just Risperdal and lowered my ativan to around .5 mg a day, my impulses and compulsions lowered a HUGE amount. Now I’m on Invega, and I’m even less compulsive/impulsive.
Try to be patient with yourself. It’s not always our illness that makes us act a certain way. We sometimes forget some meds have side effects on us, even though they’re helping us function.
<3
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I take Ativan prn but it helps with my ocd tendencies. Sometimes I will obsess about something for years and then it just goes away and I’m on to the next obsession. I would say I at least have 2 or 3 fairly big ones going on at any given time and plenty of little ones that may last weeks or months. I guess I can’t handle the mental stuff it’s just when it comes to compulsions that I get a little upset. I don’t like that out of control feeling. Like my body is not my own.
I’m sorry to hear that. I wish I could help more than just say you’re not alone. : /
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Bad habits are due to lack of thought. They’re habits because they happen without much conscious thought. It takes conscious thought not to do a habit. Compulsions are usually accompanied by obsessive thoughts, and they don’t stop just because you become aware of what you’re doing.
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You are very smart, you know that?
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Thank you! 
But I was just rehashing stuff I’ve read. 
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But still to rehash it so concisely in such a lovely little bite sized nugget for my already over-taxed brain seems very smart. I love it. Thank you. So biting my nails is a bad habit and picking is a compulsion. No wonder I’m struggling so.
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I know the kind of feeling you mean. I describe it to my pdoc as like being locked outside of the cabin on a plane, banging on the door trying to get in while someone else is piloting the dang thing 
it is such a surreal feeling to not feel in control of yourself.
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That’s a great analogy. It’s is surreal, I don’t like that, it reminds me of being psychotic
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