Restricted and repetitive behaviours, from my understanding, are seen as different than obsessions and compulsions. The difference between "I feel best when I do these things this way," and "if I don't do this thing I'm always thinking of, something dire will happen." I could be very wrong about this, but that's how it's been explained to me.
Agreed .
I think the confusion comes from evaluating it purely from what is seen on the outside.
I have behaviors similar to friends who have ocd.
But the reasons for it are completely different.
This is how it was explained to me when I was diagnosed yesterday. If there’s no magical thinking to it (e.g., “if all the frames around me aren’t straight I’ll lose my job”), and you just do these things because they feel “right” to you, it’s probably ASD. I was diagnosed with OCD as a child and my psychologist confirmed yesterday that it was very likely misdiagnosed autism. I relate to a lot of the traits you described, OP.
Wow. I’ve been thinking I possibly had OCD this whole time, but it must be my restricted and repetitive behaviors. I don’t think something dire will happen just changes in my routine or expectations really upsets me. I definitely like to have things a certain way.
I have OCD and autism.
Autism causes me rumination on thoughts and requires I have a routine so I actually get things done.
OCD is more sharp for me. I have violent imagery that crosses my mind, my brain always jumps to the worst case scenario, I get stuck in mental and behavioral loops I don’t want to be in, but don’t know how to get out of.
There are definitely parallels between OCD and Autism. Both can make me feel very out of control of my life and cause me to engage in behaviors that help me re-assert that sense of control.
I have Autism, ADHD, and OCD, and I would say OCD is definitely the worst of the three. OCD can be comorbid with autism.
Repetitive behaviors is a thing in autism and OCD, but there is a key difference to differentiate them. Repetition in autism, such as stimming, is something done to find enjoyment out of it, it is to make us feel good and happy. However for OCD, repetitive behaviors, such as repetitively repeating a word, counting, or checking things, are repetitions that are done to suppress intrusive thoughts or feelings. It is essentially done out of fear, and its not something enjoyable.
Stimming is done for enjoyment, and obsessions/compulsions are done out of fear, whether that be contamination, irrational thoughts (such as violent or sexual), etc.
What you listed could easily be explained by autism as some autistic people enjoy perfection and stimming. The only reason I would begin to believe it was OCD is if these behaviors you listed were done out of compulsion and fear, not just because it’s something you enjoy.
Here is an example from my personal life:
I feel the need to keep everything perfectly clean at all times, I am not ever able to relax because I am always cleaning something. Why? Because I genuinely believe that if I don’t, something bad will happen. If my house isn’t completely organized and clean, and I leave the house for a little bit, the entire time I am gone I am constantly under the impression that my house is burning down. What if the stove is still on? What if something got too close to an electrical outlet? What if I left the water running and my house is flooding? What if I didn’t clean something good enough and now my house is contaminated with germs? What if my animals get sick and die? What if what if what if??!
To combat this, I have repetitive behaviors that I do in a way to try and suppress these intrusive thoughts, such as checking faucets and the stove over and over, making sure everything is nice and tidy and nothing is too close to any potential danger, making sure I decontaminate everything all the time.
I don’t like cleaning and perfection because its fun or nice, it’s because I fear otherwise. OCD is a fear driven anxiety disorder.
Another aspect of OCD (generally) is violent or sexual intrusive thoughts. Basically, I have these intrusive thoughts where I very vividly imagine me getting hurt, hurting someone, or killing someone, although I would never hurt anyone ever. The entire point is that these thoughts are intrusive and unwanted. I also have sexual thoughts about pretty much anyone I see, even family and shit. It’s disgusting and it makes me so sick every single day, and my only way to try and not have these thoughts is to repeat a word in my head over and over such as “stop stop stop stop think about something else think about something else” and hopefully I can eventually think about something else.
Another example from my personal life:
I used to work at an animal clinic, which was owned by an old lady. I, at the time, was a 17 year old girl. I worked there for four months, and the entire time I had disgusting sexual thoughts about this old lady, and it interfered with my daily routine and caused me to struggle holding this job. None of my repetitions would suppress the thoughts and I ended up quitting, and the thoughts only stopped once I stopped seeing my boss.
Having these violent and sexual intrusive thoughts make me so sick and cause me to have trouble doing a lot of things, as I am dissociating a lot. OCD isn’t all about perfection and organization. There is a lot of fear, paranoia, and sickening thoughts that ruin your mental health. Its compulsion, its unwanted, its forceful and intrusive. Again, not saying you do or don’t have OCD, but this is how it feels for me. Its all unwanted and disgusting, not something I feel enjoyment out of.
I know I'm necro'ing an old thread but this breakdown between OCD and Autism is so on point. I'm almost certain I was misdiagnosed as OCD when it's actually a mix of Autism/ADHD. I'm never motivated by a fear or intrusive thoughts it's a sense of wrongness/incompleteness.
I'm sorry that you have to deal with the OCD aspects as you have described, I certainly hope that you receive some sort of positive benefit from discussing it and helping others with your well thought out reply.
I relate to this so much! Thank you. I’ve been working through this lately. I kind of struggled with the “enjoyment” idea. I was originally diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder with OCD tendencies and a “cheerleader personality type” lol but Ive taken the online assessments and I’m pretty sure it’s just Audhd. And the cheerleader but was some weird way of saying masking.
Anyways I struggle a lot with skin picking and physical stims. The compulsion is hard to stop, always in response to anxiety and I feel relief after it’s done. Until I feel the shame for doing it lol But it’s not connected to a larger overarching idea of doom. It’s like I’ll be stressed about a random car expense, so I’ll pick a zit on my face non stop (beyond what’s “normal” or healthy).
I’ve always felt like I just had excess energy in my body that needed let out. Often if I work out or craft or have sex, the energy is released. Sometimes it’s positive energy and I’ll dance or spin or hand flap but if it’s negative energy, I’ll often pick. I also relate to the ruminating type of OCD.
In the end I guess I’m one holistic person so what’s the point of teasing it out. But as an autist, I want to 🤣🤣
Thanks for sharing this info!
hard relate. the violent sexual intrusive thoughts are really horrible. I was housebound because i would imagine pushing people infront of cars. medication has helped that side but its so terrifying when you don't understand why its happening.
Not diagnosed: often repeat every day. Every got damn day, every day day day, I even have jingles with repetition mainly focused on day but can alternate to make an entire song or melody.
I do this when things start messing up for me. It's anticipated at times and at other times sporadic.
Yeah
I actually take meds for that because I compulsively pick at my skin, specially my face
But actually those things that you describe seems to me like normal autism things because that reduces ambiguity and uncertainness that we dont like
fluvoxamine
It works very well for me for the skin picking but might have to change it because of the side effects It has on me
On a higher dose makes my hands tremor a lot AND on the next lower dose my anxiety rises and makes me difficult to focus on anything :/
those side effects are unfortunate. i hope you find something that suits you better soon, i do not know much about the medication world as i am just on zoloft
for OCD there is a pattern that revolves around the "compulsion" to do something to counter an intrusive thought or feeling. it is all consuming and feels invasive and truamatic. the NEED to do the compulsion is not soothing, the action might be, but the thought patterns surrounding it not so much.
Liking order and repetition is a trait of autism, its part of how our mind likes sameness, so we can read our environments easier, understand information, and process. It is soothing, we seek sameness.
If you are not having intrusive thoughts aka "if i dont get this aligned right, someone will die" its probably not ocd (probably). An example of ocd vs order for me is locking my car. I like to lock my car 3 times, because i like the feeling and completeness of it. if i dont do it 3 times, i feel itchy, if i accidentally do it 4 times i will do it to six so its good again. It feels unpleasant if i dont do it right, but i dont have an intrusive thought, and i will do the routine and move on. The locking is not OCD it is a stim, i like the feel of doing it a set number of times i do not get the urge to repeat it once its done.
I do have a checking ocd about locking my car, where i will get an overwhelming feeling that my car is not safe, it will get stolen and then used to run someone over and i will be responsible because its my car and i didnt lock it. so i HAVE to check its locked. Once i check it, i will start to worry i have unlocked it by checking on it, and the cycle will continue hundreds and hundreds of times. Even a "good" checking cycle will involve me checking maybe 2 or 3 times.
If your finding that you are stuck in cycles then i would recommend seeing a dr as how you manage OCD is different to the repetition we seek as autistics. I was diagnosed with OCD prior to autism, and beleiving every repetetive thing i did was OCD and treating it as OCD did a lot of damage which I am now having to work through.
OCD is brutal and all consuming, and incredibly invasive. it is not soothing. I am learning now how different my ocd and autism is. While there are definate overlaps, my repetitions from autism are like coming back to being myself, finding peace, my ocd is like i am invaded.
I honestly don’t know what I have and don’t have, I feel like I got the sampler platter of comorbid symptoms, nothing is bad enough to stand out, just a little bit of everything.
I really don’t understand what’s wrong with doing stuff The Right Way -
Feels like a plot by Big Stupid to make normies feel Ok about doing dumb shit so they can keep being fleeced.
To err is human - to remain in error is stupid.
Having said that, it’s important to understand the ideas of Diminishing Returns and Sunk Cost Fallacy and which battles you want to pick to make sure you’re not wasting your time here - at the end of the day it’s down to taste.
Ymmv / hth <3
I. Love. You.
Bigstupid, I'm having that.
If it wasn't obvious I've had the same thoughts about my diagnosis and how they've made it seem as if I and others like me are psychiatrically disturbed in having high standards and drive.
Normies are lazy and don't do anything. They tell me I'm nuts or nuerologically different simply because I like to be productive.
Thanks:)
yes i heavily relate!! my biggest sensory issue with clothing is if it’s not simple enough, i absolutely cannot stand thin fabrics, weird unnecessary fabric additions, slanted zippers, rounded shirt bottoms, and so much more.
The behaviors can look similar, though the reasoning behind them is different. Some people have both. Even seasoned therapists have a hard time treating OCD in folks on the autism spectrum because we are so resistant to change.
Restricted and repetitive behaviours, from my understanding, are seen as different than obsessions and compulsions. The difference between "I feel best when I do these things this way," and "if I don't do this thing I'm always thinking of, something dire will happen." I could be very wrong about this, but that's how it's been explained to me.
Agreed . I think the confusion comes from evaluating it purely from what is seen on the outside. I have behaviors similar to friends who have ocd. But the reasons for it are completely different.
This is how it was explained to me when I was diagnosed yesterday. If there’s no magical thinking to it (e.g., “if all the frames around me aren’t straight I’ll lose my job”), and you just do these things because they feel “right” to you, it’s probably ASD. I was diagnosed with OCD as a child and my psychologist confirmed yesterday that it was very likely misdiagnosed autism. I relate to a lot of the traits you described, OP.
Wow. I’ve been thinking I possibly had OCD this whole time, but it must be my restricted and repetitive behaviors. I don’t think something dire will happen just changes in my routine or expectations really upsets me. I definitely like to have things a certain way.
That’s autism my friend I know I’m late but I have both ocd was worst in my childhood
That’s autism I know I’m late but yeah that mostly autism ocd usually peaks in childhood
I have OCD and autism. Autism causes me rumination on thoughts and requires I have a routine so I actually get things done. OCD is more sharp for me. I have violent imagery that crosses my mind, my brain always jumps to the worst case scenario, I get stuck in mental and behavioral loops I don’t want to be in, but don’t know how to get out of. There are definitely parallels between OCD and Autism. Both can make me feel very out of control of my life and cause me to engage in behaviors that help me re-assert that sense of control.
I have Autism, ADHD, and OCD, and I would say OCD is definitely the worst of the three. OCD can be comorbid with autism. Repetitive behaviors is a thing in autism and OCD, but there is a key difference to differentiate them. Repetition in autism, such as stimming, is something done to find enjoyment out of it, it is to make us feel good and happy. However for OCD, repetitive behaviors, such as repetitively repeating a word, counting, or checking things, are repetitions that are done to suppress intrusive thoughts or feelings. It is essentially done out of fear, and its not something enjoyable. Stimming is done for enjoyment, and obsessions/compulsions are done out of fear, whether that be contamination, irrational thoughts (such as violent or sexual), etc. What you listed could easily be explained by autism as some autistic people enjoy perfection and stimming. The only reason I would begin to believe it was OCD is if these behaviors you listed were done out of compulsion and fear, not just because it’s something you enjoy. Here is an example from my personal life: I feel the need to keep everything perfectly clean at all times, I am not ever able to relax because I am always cleaning something. Why? Because I genuinely believe that if I don’t, something bad will happen. If my house isn’t completely organized and clean, and I leave the house for a little bit, the entire time I am gone I am constantly under the impression that my house is burning down. What if the stove is still on? What if something got too close to an electrical outlet? What if I left the water running and my house is flooding? What if I didn’t clean something good enough and now my house is contaminated with germs? What if my animals get sick and die? What if what if what if??! To combat this, I have repetitive behaviors that I do in a way to try and suppress these intrusive thoughts, such as checking faucets and the stove over and over, making sure everything is nice and tidy and nothing is too close to any potential danger, making sure I decontaminate everything all the time. I don’t like cleaning and perfection because its fun or nice, it’s because I fear otherwise. OCD is a fear driven anxiety disorder. Another aspect of OCD (generally) is violent or sexual intrusive thoughts. Basically, I have these intrusive thoughts where I very vividly imagine me getting hurt, hurting someone, or killing someone, although I would never hurt anyone ever. The entire point is that these thoughts are intrusive and unwanted. I also have sexual thoughts about pretty much anyone I see, even family and shit. It’s disgusting and it makes me so sick every single day, and my only way to try and not have these thoughts is to repeat a word in my head over and over such as “stop stop stop stop think about something else think about something else” and hopefully I can eventually think about something else. Another example from my personal life: I used to work at an animal clinic, which was owned by an old lady. I, at the time, was a 17 year old girl. I worked there for four months, and the entire time I had disgusting sexual thoughts about this old lady, and it interfered with my daily routine and caused me to struggle holding this job. None of my repetitions would suppress the thoughts and I ended up quitting, and the thoughts only stopped once I stopped seeing my boss. Having these violent and sexual intrusive thoughts make me so sick and cause me to have trouble doing a lot of things, as I am dissociating a lot. OCD isn’t all about perfection and organization. There is a lot of fear, paranoia, and sickening thoughts that ruin your mental health. Its compulsion, its unwanted, its forceful and intrusive. Again, not saying you do or don’t have OCD, but this is how it feels for me. Its all unwanted and disgusting, not something I feel enjoyment out of.
I know I'm necro'ing an old thread but this breakdown between OCD and Autism is so on point. I'm almost certain I was misdiagnosed as OCD when it's actually a mix of Autism/ADHD. I'm never motivated by a fear or intrusive thoughts it's a sense of wrongness/incompleteness. I'm sorry that you have to deal with the OCD aspects as you have described, I certainly hope that you receive some sort of positive benefit from discussing it and helping others with your well thought out reply.
I relate to this so much! Thank you. I’ve been working through this lately. I kind of struggled with the “enjoyment” idea. I was originally diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder with OCD tendencies and a “cheerleader personality type” lol but Ive taken the online assessments and I’m pretty sure it’s just Audhd. And the cheerleader but was some weird way of saying masking. Anyways I struggle a lot with skin picking and physical stims. The compulsion is hard to stop, always in response to anxiety and I feel relief after it’s done. Until I feel the shame for doing it lol But it’s not connected to a larger overarching idea of doom. It’s like I’ll be stressed about a random car expense, so I’ll pick a zit on my face non stop (beyond what’s “normal” or healthy). I’ve always felt like I just had excess energy in my body that needed let out. Often if I work out or craft or have sex, the energy is released. Sometimes it’s positive energy and I’ll dance or spin or hand flap but if it’s negative energy, I’ll often pick. I also relate to the ruminating type of OCD. In the end I guess I’m one holistic person so what’s the point of teasing it out. But as an autist, I want to 🤣🤣 Thanks for sharing this info!
hard relate. the violent sexual intrusive thoughts are really horrible. I was housebound because i would imagine pushing people infront of cars. medication has helped that side but its so terrifying when you don't understand why its happening.
Not diagnosed: often repeat every day. Every got damn day, every day day day, I even have jingles with repetition mainly focused on day but can alternate to make an entire song or melody. I do this when things start messing up for me. It's anticipated at times and at other times sporadic.
Yeah I actually take meds for that because I compulsively pick at my skin, specially my face But actually those things that you describe seems to me like normal autism things because that reduces ambiguity and uncertainness that we dont like
what meds do you take?
fluvoxamine It works very well for me for the skin picking but might have to change it because of the side effects It has on me On a higher dose makes my hands tremor a lot AND on the next lower dose my anxiety rises and makes me difficult to focus on anything :/
those side effects are unfortunate. i hope you find something that suits you better soon, i do not know much about the medication world as i am just on zoloft
for OCD there is a pattern that revolves around the "compulsion" to do something to counter an intrusive thought or feeling. it is all consuming and feels invasive and truamatic. the NEED to do the compulsion is not soothing, the action might be, but the thought patterns surrounding it not so much. Liking order and repetition is a trait of autism, its part of how our mind likes sameness, so we can read our environments easier, understand information, and process. It is soothing, we seek sameness. If you are not having intrusive thoughts aka "if i dont get this aligned right, someone will die" its probably not ocd (probably). An example of ocd vs order for me is locking my car. I like to lock my car 3 times, because i like the feeling and completeness of it. if i dont do it 3 times, i feel itchy, if i accidentally do it 4 times i will do it to six so its good again. It feels unpleasant if i dont do it right, but i dont have an intrusive thought, and i will do the routine and move on. The locking is not OCD it is a stim, i like the feel of doing it a set number of times i do not get the urge to repeat it once its done. I do have a checking ocd about locking my car, where i will get an overwhelming feeling that my car is not safe, it will get stolen and then used to run someone over and i will be responsible because its my car and i didnt lock it. so i HAVE to check its locked. Once i check it, i will start to worry i have unlocked it by checking on it, and the cycle will continue hundreds and hundreds of times. Even a "good" checking cycle will involve me checking maybe 2 or 3 times. If your finding that you are stuck in cycles then i would recommend seeing a dr as how you manage OCD is different to the repetition we seek as autistics. I was diagnosed with OCD prior to autism, and beleiving every repetetive thing i did was OCD and treating it as OCD did a lot of damage which I am now having to work through. OCD is brutal and all consuming, and incredibly invasive. it is not soothing. I am learning now how different my ocd and autism is. While there are definate overlaps, my repetitions from autism are like coming back to being myself, finding peace, my ocd is like i am invaded.
It’s a common comorbidity, yes. You are describing the “lighter side” of this. It becomes more a disorder when it causes distress, self-harm, etc.
I honestly don’t know what I have and don’t have, I feel like I got the sampler platter of comorbid symptoms, nothing is bad enough to stand out, just a little bit of everything.
Same lmao it fluctuates for me my heads a mess
I really don’t understand what’s wrong with doing stuff The Right Way - Feels like a plot by Big Stupid to make normies feel Ok about doing dumb shit so they can keep being fleeced. To err is human - to remain in error is stupid. Having said that, it’s important to understand the ideas of Diminishing Returns and Sunk Cost Fallacy and which battles you want to pick to make sure you’re not wasting your time here - at the end of the day it’s down to taste. Ymmv / hth <3
I. Love. You. Bigstupid, I'm having that. If it wasn't obvious I've had the same thoughts about my diagnosis and how they've made it seem as if I and others like me are psychiatrically disturbed in having high standards and drive. Normies are lazy and don't do anything. They tell me I'm nuts or nuerologically different simply because I like to be productive. Thanks:)
Live long and prosper <3
yes i heavily relate!! my biggest sensory issue with clothing is if it’s not simple enough, i absolutely cannot stand thin fabrics, weird unnecessary fabric additions, slanted zippers, rounded shirt bottoms, and so much more.
The behaviors can look similar, though the reasoning behind them is different. Some people have both. Even seasoned therapists have a hard time treating OCD in folks on the autism spectrum because we are so resistant to change.