Home› Health & Wellbeing
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options

What could it be?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Health & Wellbeing
I'm not really sure why I'm doing this but I thought I'd ask for opinions anyway.

I'm not sure if I might have a condition or not but I'd really like an explanation for it so I'll explain:

Ever since I can remember I've felt the need to spell out words and sentences in my head. I'll either use my feet (tapping them) or just imagining them. Like say someone says the word "Ball"; I would then tap my left foot - B, right - A and so on and it won't feel right to me unless it ends in me tapping my left foot. I am also obsessed with neatness and order. Like in work if we have 5 out of six glasses left I'll arrange it like the 5 on a dice.

Any thoughts on that?

Comments

  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I do stuff like that. I'd describe them but they don't make much sense and are difficult to put into words.

    Rather than being something serious, I think they are just eccentric idiosyncracies (sp).
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    aye, i think it's part of human nature to look for patterns in things and try to make connections.

    to what extent you do it is down to the individual.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i used to do that! i'd spell out a word or sentence and go left to right then left to right. i would always make the last letter end on the right. i started to find it annoying so i just stopped doing it one day. maybe you should do the same incase it escalates into other things.
  • Options
    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    I have some things like that... for example I don't like odd numbers, with the exception of 5 (or a number ending in 5), I like the sheets on my bed to be centered, and others.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thank God fro that, I thought I was insane!
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    woaah!! i do that too!!! i thought i was insane too!!!! phew we're not! i just sit there like im typing, going " right ok... e.. l... e.. c t r o m a g n e t i s m.. "
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i do that when i eat. one bite on the left one on the right, must always end on the right tho, lol
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I used to do this a lot when I was younger, especially the chewing thing! If I chew on my left side for longer than I do my right side I feel annoyed with myself and next time I eat something I make sure the right side gets the food.

    It's like I'm a neglectful mother lol
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :O i did those too! its mental, its like one crisp for the left side.. right, now one for the right... another for the left.. and one for the right... im such a slow eater :P
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think everyone does some things like this, its interesting :)

    I used to work as a behavioural therapist for young children with Autism and, as you might know, one part of autism is that often autistic children will like to do things like this - like lining things up in a row, having to have things in a certain pattern, having to look at things from a certain angle etc.

    as partof our therapy, we didnt let the children do these things (for example, we want the child to drive the toy cars around normally not just line them up against the wall) and one day my colleagues and I were discussing it. we were discussing one little boy who liked to build a tower with his toy blocks but only in a certain pattern of colours and then I said well actually, if i build with the blocks, i want a certain pattern to the colours too and we all started talking about all the little things we do like that (like people have said here having left and right balanced, having even numbers etc etc) and discussing why for the children we didnt want them to do these things even tho we all did stuff like that.
    what we decided was it all comes down to how it affects your life, like i want the blocks to be in a certain colour pattern, but if they are not in that pattern, i can cope with it, it doesnt really really distress me or interrupt me from carrying out my normal daily life.

    so in my opinion, you're not crazy doing these things, we all do something like that, it is only a problem if it starts hindering your life in some way
  • Options
    Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    intrepide wrote:
    what we decided was it all comes down to how it affects your life, like i want the blocks to be in a certain colour pattern, but if they are not in that pattern, i can cope with it, it doesnt really really distress me or interrupt me from carrying out my normal daily life.
    That's exactly the conclusion I reached too, when comparing myself and Adrian Monk (from the tv series) and trying to find out what makes us different.
Sign In or Register to comment.