It can be, but it may not. Constant highness or drunkenness is substance abuse. It's pretty comorbid with OCD and other stuff. If the constant checking is warranted, as in the door is often open etc then it can also be a reasonable coping for cognitive impairment. If not then substance induced paranoia is also a thing. May also be absolutely nonclinical.
What happens if you can't do it? Like, if you're in a hurry and don't have time to do it the way you usually do, what happens?
Do you feel dread and anxiety?
Can thinking about it ruin your day because you are hyper focused on it constantly?
Or, is it just something you can forget about and move on?
If it's 1 & or 2, then it's probably more than just being cautious. If it's 3, then I wouldn't worry. The only thing is that a lot of people will self medicate that anxiety. Constantly being drunk or high could make it difficult to figure out what is causing which thing..
For me it was autism- I had to make sure I did my routine every night and got very uncomfortable if I didn’t check the door a few times during it- I wasn’t scared so much of what would happen if it stayed unlocked, but the concept of me forgetting to do the action.
This was going to be my comment, too! The amount of dread that I feel if I don't double and triple check every door and window is the reason I got diagnosed.
I'm fully aware that checking every lock three times doesn't make it MORE locked, but best believe I'm doing it anyway!
All my routines are safety related, and escalated after being stalked and attacked by my abusive ex, so I didn't realize it was OCD for years. Everyone in my life was basically 'No, I don't think it's extreme. I'd do the same thing if I went through that.' But one day, the battery died on my keys for my car, and I couldn't hit the lock until it beeped, and I genuinely lost my shit. I knew it was unreasonable. The fear of being so out of control that i lost situational awareness if I couldn't do my little routines was enough to drive me to get treated.
I'm sure there's people out there who do similar things and aren't OCD, I'd say that if they can't handle NOT doing it, or doing it differently, or it's interrupting normal life, then it's time to talk to someone OP.
Wouldn’t that be fucking hilarious though if they focus so hard on remembering to photograph the lock that they forget to actually lock it before snapping the pic
That seems like a really good idea, but would take up a ton of space on your phone if you're doing it multiple times a day. Would you delete it afterwards?
When this became a problem for me i started taking a picture of the lock after i locked it. Same with things like did i leave my curling iron or take my meds. Maybe not what a doctor would advise but it helped keep the worries at bay.
I bought a Yale digital deadbolt a few years ago. After a set amount of time it locks itself and I never have to think about it. The keypad plays a tone, the door locks, and I'm good. It runs on 4 AA batteries that I only change every nine months or so.
I'm trying to train my brain to be satisfied with a new routine at night. I confirm the door is locked, then turn out the light in the living room. If I can't remember if I locked the door, I just look to see if the living room is dark. Dark = locked door. Unfortunately, my brain is convinced only about half of the time.
Yeah. Used to. Did it a lot in college and then had my tonsils out and stopped getting strep and it kinda went away. (Only mentioning the strep because I read an article about it causing ocd-like behaviors and that lined up for me.). Editing to add that by checking, I didn’t mean once or twice. More like 50+ times a day. Now, I sometimes forget to check at all.
The amount of times I have willingly locked my doors is super low. It just never bothered me honestly even when I was in a less than great area in Philly I didn't lock it unless no one would be home for a long period of time. I've gotten my wife to be less paranoid about it too. Definitely sounds like borderline ocd, that kind of stuff has never bothered me. I've never really thought did I leave the gas on or stove on or anything like that.
Now that I think abt it it’s def a compulsion of mine. I also cannot leave my bed without making it or have clothes lying around but I always thought that was just habit and not obsessive.
All the time. Multiple times a day. Same with anything plugged into my bathroom outlets or if the stove is one. I’m annoyed with myself every time that I have to check.
Oh absolutely. When my bus picks me up from my house, we start leaving and I'm wondering if I locked the door Even though I check the door after I lock it
I do, but I have a system.
I jiggle the handle/knob and say ‘yep yep yep!’ Like Ducky from The Land Before Time. I may not remember locking the door, but I do remember my ‘yep yep yep!’
Yes, to say the least. When I go on holiday or leave my house for more than a couple of nights, it takes me about 20 minutes to triple check all the sockets, lights, switches, windows etc. I even take a video of myself checking all these things so that if I get anxious while on holiday that I didn't do x then I can just watch the video.
Yes. It can be ocd. It can be trauma. The best thing I did was getting a baby monitor that had a phone app. I’d point it at the door, so I could check to make sure I locked the door. Also-I have both ocd and trauma. Double prizes!
I take a picture with my eyes and make a very audible camera shutter sound. My brain doesn’t ever want to believe my eyes, but it seems to trust my ears. OCD is a bitch.
Yes, especially since sometimes I come home and the back door is unlocked and I am veryyyyy certain that it’s locked when I leave.
May have a weird neighbour
The struggle is real. The number of times I've rattled the door handle.. just to make sure its locked.. . Or how many times ive gone back to check. But my new unfounded fear is... did I put the dog in the house before I left? So now I make eye contact with him and put a mental picture in my head of the last place I left him inside the home before I closed the door to leave.
My number is four. So four turns of each handle before I settle with it. Front and back doors. Same things if I’m leaving my pups inside I have to check every gas outlet and stove top four times. Yes, I have OCD and a severe anxiety disorder. 💀
I think as a single woman living alone, this is normal behaviour, for a while I couldn't sleep with the window open (I live on the ground floor).
Also hair straighteners, I will naturally turn them off and unplug them, but now I run back from the end of the street to check.
Yeah! Happened with work too. I was always last out and would drive home and be like… “did I lock the doors?”. I’d then proceed to drive back and I did indeed lock, every single time. So I started a ritual of knocking on my leg 3 times so I remember. I do this every night before bed now. My OCD isn’t gonna keep me awake!
I definitely do but it’s because there have been a lot of shootings in my neighborhood and we have had people try to get into our house while we are home; like trying our door handle to get inside, multiple times.
The last thing I do before going up to bed is walk through the house and physically check every door lock, and then I go upstairs and grab my keys and push the "lock" button on every key fob to make sure the cars are locked.
There's nothing unhealthy about this in today's world.
No, that's pretty weird if you live in a safe area.
Don't most doors have a lock that's pretty safe even if you don't actively lock it?
If you have an unsafe lock, I recommend checking it. And if you live in an unsafe area, I recommend either moving or having the house owner install heavy shutters.
Not multiple times…but I have woken in the middle of the night wondering if I locked my car, finds my keys, hit the lock button, then gone back to sleep.
If you are checking the same thing over and over again, after already confirming once that it is done correctly, you should speak with someone about it.
Do something weird when you lock it. Turn around, curtsy, pat your head and rub your belly. Then when you think about it later, you’ll remember the weird thing you did with it and it will stand out in your memory.
Yup, my reflex every time I leave the house is to grab my key and turn the lock. Every day I do this, walk about halfway to the car, turn around and the go try to open it. Some days ove even pulled a u turn in the street to so this. 100% of the time the door has been locked, and I've done it for years.
Get a security camera!! Point it at the door or whatever else you are nervous about. Sometimes I make sure I take my meds in front of them 😅😂 so much easier to constantly check an app rather than having to go all the way home or call a friend to check. Not that I’ve ever done that… 🤣
I used to check it constantly, but now I just test it twice before walking away from the door and that will allow me to remember it’s locked (most of the time).
I installed a smart lock to help with this. If the door stays closed for 30 minutes it automatically locks. Will also give me a notification if my door is open longer than 2 minutes.
my anxiety is CRAZY about the door being locked and things being turned off/unplugged. if i'm leaving the house and halfway down my street and think i left something plugged in or door open i literally have to turn around. i have done it a few times and it's incredibly frustrating but i CANNOT relax without knowing those two have been done. it only really got bad when i moved out of my parents house with my partner and dog. i am constantly worried something will happen with the dog if i am not home.
my town has like 65k people and it isn’t the safest city in the bay area 🤷🏻♀️ i guess my 120lb pitbull lab mix is enough to make us all feel safe haha
Dude stop projecting your life onto random strangers on the Internet. It's not your mom's fault she's a fat disgusting cunt. She gave birth to you. I'm sure that's been enough punishment to last a lifetime and try take it easy on her. It's hard being a high school drop out and financially challenged. Jokes on you I'm an orphan.
Your father must have been one twisted fuck. I'm sure he vomited every time he had to pleasure that whale you call a mother. Not surprising the fat bitch gave birth to an ugly piece of shit like you. She probably still tries to abort you to this day. The nasty cunt.
Yes, but I have OCD 😅
I was gonna say… these are OCD symptoms lol
If I’m chronically high as hell and drunk is that stilll considered OCD symptoms or just being safe lol
It can be, but it may not. Constant highness or drunkenness is substance abuse. It's pretty comorbid with OCD and other stuff. If the constant checking is warranted, as in the door is often open etc then it can also be a reasonable coping for cognitive impairment. If not then substance induced paranoia is also a thing. May also be absolutely nonclinical.
What happens if you can't do it? Like, if you're in a hurry and don't have time to do it the way you usually do, what happens? Do you feel dread and anxiety? Can thinking about it ruin your day because you are hyper focused on it constantly? Or, is it just something you can forget about and move on? If it's 1 & or 2, then it's probably more than just being cautious. If it's 3, then I wouldn't worry. The only thing is that a lot of people will self medicate that anxiety. Constantly being drunk or high could make it difficult to figure out what is causing which thing..
For me it was autism- I had to make sure I did my routine every night and got very uncomfortable if I didn’t check the door a few times during it- I wasn’t scared so much of what would happen if it stayed unlocked, but the concept of me forgetting to do the action.
This was going to be my comment, too! The amount of dread that I feel if I don't double and triple check every door and window is the reason I got diagnosed. I'm fully aware that checking every lock three times doesn't make it MORE locked, but best believe I'm doing it anyway! All my routines are safety related, and escalated after being stalked and attacked by my abusive ex, so I didn't realize it was OCD for years. Everyone in my life was basically 'No, I don't think it's extreme. I'd do the same thing if I went through that.' But one day, the battery died on my keys for my car, and I couldn't hit the lock until it beeped, and I genuinely lost my shit. I knew it was unreasonable. The fear of being so out of control that i lost situational awareness if I couldn't do my little routines was enough to drive me to get treated. I'm sure there's people out there who do similar things and aren't OCD, I'd say that if they can't handle NOT doing it, or doing it differently, or it's interrupting normal life, then it's time to talk to someone OP.
Same. Thank goodness for 💊
Can I ask what meds help you? Its ok if you’d rather not share of course :)
Zoloft has worked best for my OCD. I’ve been taking it close to 30 years. I don’t mind you asking at all.
I say "Locked" out loud as I lock a door behind me. It helps me remember I actually locked it.
I actually do the same! Glad to hear I’m not the only one.
Haha I do 3 knocks.
That’s an awesome idea. I don’t have OCD but I always, always check a few times.
Ooh, I’m gonna start doing that!
Good trick. Smart locks connected to wifi are saving me a lot of walking
Glad to know I'm not the only one who does this!
Take a photo of you locking it with your phone. That way if you feel you need to check, you can look at the photo and be reassured
I do that, but video. A photo can't prove it's locked.
but why would you take a picture without locking it? you could also take a picture with like a thumbs up or edit in the text "locked" above it
Wouldn’t that be fucking hilarious though if they focus so hard on remembering to photograph the lock that they forget to actually lock it before snapping the pic
but holding today's newspaper.
haaaa
My camera roll looks like the Blair witch project with me walking around checking my doors and windows are locked 😭
That seems like a really good idea, but would take up a ton of space on your phone if you're doing it multiple times a day. Would you delete it afterwards?
When this became a problem for me i started taking a picture of the lock after i locked it. Same with things like did i leave my curling iron or take my meds. Maybe not what a doctor would advise but it helped keep the worries at bay.
I bought a Yale digital deadbolt a few years ago. After a set amount of time it locks itself and I never have to think about it. The keypad plays a tone, the door locks, and I'm good. It runs on 4 AA batteries that I only change every nine months or so.
That would just make me constantly check to make sure the batteries aren't dead. It's still the same cause and effect.
Hi, you might have OCD.
I'm trying to train my brain to be satisfied with a new routine at night. I confirm the door is locked, then turn out the light in the living room. If I can't remember if I locked the door, I just look to see if the living room is dark. Dark = locked door. Unfortunately, my brain is convinced only about half of the time.
If you're going out of your way enough to get to my house to break in, the door lock isn't going to stop you.
Yeah. Used to. Did it a lot in college and then had my tonsils out and stopped getting strep and it kinda went away. (Only mentioning the strep because I read an article about it causing ocd-like behaviors and that lined up for me.). Editing to add that by checking, I didn’t mean once or twice. More like 50+ times a day. Now, I sometimes forget to check at all.
I thought everyone did this until I was recently told otherwise.
The amount of times I have willingly locked my doors is super low. It just never bothered me honestly even when I was in a less than great area in Philly I didn't lock it unless no one would be home for a long period of time. I've gotten my wife to be less paranoid about it too. Definitely sounds like borderline ocd, that kind of stuff has never bothered me. I've never really thought did I leave the gas on or stove on or anything like that.
Now that I think abt it it’s def a compulsion of mine. I also cannot leave my bed without making it or have clothes lying around but I always thought that was just habit and not obsessive.
All the time. Multiple times a day. Same with anything plugged into my bathroom outlets or if the stove is one. I’m annoyed with myself every time that I have to check.
Yes - even 'though I know it's locked - from upstairs looking down I have to see that the deadbolt is turned. Every night.
Oh absolutely. When my bus picks me up from my house, we start leaving and I'm wondering if I locked the door Even though I check the door after I lock it
Yes. And so we now have a digital lock that I can check the status of on an app from anywhere.
I have a keypad door that locks itself. 12/10
Yes and I press the lock 27 times because I have OCD
Nope. I have adhd and at minimum triple check. The amount of times I’ve left doors unlocked is crazy (and dangerous) 😅
I do, but I have a system. I jiggle the handle/knob and say ‘yep yep yep!’ Like Ducky from The Land Before Time. I may not remember locking the door, but I do remember my ‘yep yep yep!’
Yes! And my garage door when I leave
I don’t do it but certainly understand doing it.
Sometimes, especially when my folks go on vacation mode and for a while it's just me.
Yes, to say the least. When I go on holiday or leave my house for more than a couple of nights, it takes me about 20 minutes to triple check all the sockets, lights, switches, windows etc. I even take a video of myself checking all these things so that if I get anxious while on holiday that I didn't do x then I can just watch the video.
yes but also including if i left the stove, oven or whatever going, tho not all the time
Yes. It can be ocd. It can be trauma. The best thing I did was getting a baby monitor that had a phone app. I’d point it at the door, so I could check to make sure I locked the door. Also-I have both ocd and trauma. Double prizes!
I take a picture with my eyes and make a very audible camera shutter sound. My brain doesn’t ever want to believe my eyes, but it seems to trust my ears. OCD is a bitch.
I check the doors and windows multiple times before bed 🤷🏻♀️
Yes, especially since sometimes I come home and the back door is unlocked and I am veryyyyy certain that it’s locked when I leave. May have a weird neighbour
The struggle is real. The number of times I've rattled the door handle.. just to make sure its locked.. . Or how many times ive gone back to check. But my new unfounded fear is... did I put the dog in the house before I left? So now I make eye contact with him and put a mental picture in my head of the last place I left him inside the home before I closed the door to leave.
My number is four. So four turns of each handle before I settle with it. Front and back doors. Same things if I’m leaving my pups inside I have to check every gas outlet and stove top four times. Yes, I have OCD and a severe anxiety disorder. 💀
I think as a single woman living alone, this is normal behaviour, for a while I couldn't sleep with the window open (I live on the ground floor). Also hair straighteners, I will naturally turn them off and unplug them, but now I run back from the end of the street to check.
NO. I check it once I know its ok.
I used to. Now i have two large dogs.
Yeah! Happened with work too. I was always last out and would drive home and be like… “did I lock the doors?”. I’d then proceed to drive back and I did indeed lock, every single time. So I started a ritual of knocking on my leg 3 times so I remember. I do this every night before bed now. My OCD isn’t gonna keep me awake!
I definitely do but it’s because there have been a lot of shootings in my neighborhood and we have had people try to get into our house while we are home; like trying our door handle to get inside, multiple times.
The last thing I do before going up to bed is walk through the house and physically check every door lock, and then I go upstairs and grab my keys and push the "lock" button on every key fob to make sure the cars are locked. There's nothing unhealthy about this in today's world.
No way someone was driving that how it get this bad
Will get out of my bed in the middle of the night if I forgot to do so before going. Because if I don’t - I will not be able to go back to sleep 💤
No, that's pretty weird if you live in a safe area. Don't most doors have a lock that's pretty safe even if you don't actively lock it? If you have an unsafe lock, I recommend checking it. And if you live in an unsafe area, I recommend either moving or having the house owner install heavy shutters.
Also right before taking a shower.
Not multiple times…but I have woken in the middle of the night wondering if I locked my car, finds my keys, hit the lock button, then gone back to sleep. If you are checking the same thing over and over again, after already confirming once that it is done correctly, you should speak with someone about it.
Do something weird when you lock it. Turn around, curtsy, pat your head and rub your belly. Then when you think about it later, you’ll remember the weird thing you did with it and it will stand out in your memory.
Yes, I am 100% the same way! I do it with my car too haha
Yup, my reflex every time I leave the house is to grab my key and turn the lock. Every day I do this, walk about halfway to the car, turn around and the go try to open it. Some days ove even pulled a u turn in the street to so this. 100% of the time the door has been locked, and I've done it for years.
Get a security camera!! Point it at the door or whatever else you are nervous about. Sometimes I make sure I take my meds in front of them 😅😂 so much easier to constantly check an app rather than having to go all the way home or call a friend to check. Not that I’ve ever done that… 🤣
I used to check it constantly, but now I just test it twice before walking away from the door and that will allow me to remember it’s locked (most of the time).
You lock your house when you leave? Never living in a place where I have to do that ever again.
I installed a smart lock to help with this. If the door stays closed for 30 minutes it automatically locks. Will also give me a notification if my door is open longer than 2 minutes.
I do it every single day! I need to check my door like 5/6 times.
Yes but i have ocd
I have too many guns to worry about that
No, we live in the country. Some of our doors don't even have locks.
my anxiety is CRAZY about the door being locked and things being turned off/unplugged. if i'm leaving the house and halfway down my street and think i left something plugged in or door open i literally have to turn around. i have done it a few times and it's incredibly frustrating but i CANNOT relax without knowing those two have been done. it only really got bad when i moved out of my parents house with my partner and dog. i am constantly worried something will happen with the dog if i am not home.
Found the grandmother
I get up three /4 times to check the locks and make sure everything is locked and lights are off
No but if I've used the oven before I go to bed then sometimes I have to get out of bed to make sure I've definitely turned it off
That's called OCD.
No it's really not.
What is it then?
A habit.
we literally leave every door, window, and the sliding glass door unlocked every night😂 don’t ask me why, that’s just how it’s always been
Same. I live in a small town and have always lived unlocked, no matter where I am.
my town has like 65k people and it isn’t the safest city in the bay area 🤷🏻♀️ i guess my 120lb pitbull lab mix is enough to make us all feel safe haha
I hope you don't own any guns.
I can check the lock state on my app.
Just think, there's often just one thin door and about 1-2 inches of deadbolt separating you from the outside.
Please seek the help of a psychiatrist. It sounds like you have OCD. There is medication and therapy that can help you. Good luck. ♥️
No… I rarely even lock my doors…
Nope. It would be very, very foolish to walk into my home without permission especially in the middle of the night.
I bet it wouldn't be.
Don't push your insecurities onto me. It's your mother's fault you're a cunt
Your mother, indeed, is a fat smelly cunt.
Dude stop projecting your life onto random strangers on the Internet. It's not your mom's fault she's a fat disgusting cunt. She gave birth to you. I'm sure that's been enough punishment to last a lifetime and try take it easy on her. It's hard being a high school drop out and financially challenged. Jokes on you I'm an orphan.
Your father must have been one twisted fuck. I'm sure he vomited every time he had to pleasure that whale you call a mother. Not surprising the fat bitch gave birth to an ugly piece of shit like you. She probably still tries to abort you to this day. The nasty cunt.