Do you have any unusual habits or mannerisms?

I have slight OCD, so I count syllables when I hear people talk. And it has to be even, no fingers can be left out. If I end on one, I must end on the other.

I do things three times, often three x three i.e. nine. It can be anything; tapping a wall with my fingers or straining my muscles. My dentists believe I grind my teeth at night. I don’t. I do it awake. Three times three. It’s weird, and I have tried not to. But, it’s like I have to. On one hand I think there is no harm, on the other I kind of feel that it’s just nuts doing that.

I don’t do it all the time or in all situations though. It’s not something I do when I drive or any situation it might be dangerous.

I’ve done it since I was very small; 6–7 yo.

I used to have to do everything in 4’s, 8’s, and 16’s for example 4 ice cubes in my drink, dribbling my basketball 8 times before a free throw, etc. Then I got into dance where everything was counted in 4’s, 8’s, and 16’s I was finally able to separate that from my normal life, and my drinks are a lot colder!

- When I’m eating a food item that is generally eaten in abundance (popcorn, m&ms), I must eat an equal number on both sides. If there is one remaining, I split it in half with a canine.

- I walk peculiar. I stand straight, head level or slightly higher than level and take calculated steps. Since I normally wear boots (motorcycle, dress and combat), this often gives me a very “hard” walk. Some say it is authorial; others, pompous. I got that from living with my grandfather (ret. USMC Mst. Gunnery Sgt.)

- I lick my lips before (and often during) I talk. Most of the time not outwardly (like, seductive), but curl them inwards a bit.

- I always lock, then unlock the front door then test it, just to be safe.

- I refuse to touch handrails. Anywhere.

- I find myself counting my steps, though not all the time. Often enough for me to chuckle about it later.

I have a slight problem with checking things. I’ll check multiple times to make sure the door is locked, or to see if the lights on my car are off, stuff like that. I have to tell myself explicitly, “OK, the lights are off, remember this.” Otherwise I will have to walk all the way back to my car to make sure.

I like teasing the cat – and the cat likes to be teased – he keeps coming back for more. Laser pointers were the go back in the nineties, now it is radio controlled food dishes and hidden speakers. Had some fun the other day when I froze his water bowl. After banging his nose he spent hours licking it.

When he falls asleep in his little cat house I like to very, very quietly and carefully pick it up and put him in strange places.

@DarkScribe Old-fashioned torture is the way to go.

I have an abnormal fear that there will be something unexpected or foul inside my food so to me every food is finger food I have to dissect everything i consume inspecting it for foreign objects. Consequently i have given up on chocolate covered cherries and jelly doughnuts all together. Another quirk i have is If someone touches their face I have to touch mine in the same spot and im continuously rubbing my face I think im sub consciously worried that there’s something on my face.

I do a lot of walking, and I since I was in high school, I counted every step it took me to get from school to my house, and visa versa. I also count every beat in a song that I hear. I also have to have my shoelaces the same exact length on both sides, and shoes. When I was little I started that one. I’ve pulled out rulers before to make sure it is perfect.

you people are facking weird…

;)

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 sorry can’t help it I’m not weird, I’m uniquely different than others.

I tap the table twice before I get up, and I also snap my fingers eight times for good luck everyday.

If I am at the dentist or just bored I count to 4 on my fingers. Now since I have 5 fingers (I only use one hand) I have to go to 20 in order to end at my pinky.I have to keep doing it until I end on my little finger. Then I start over again. Keeps my mind off the dentist drill or whatever.

@rooeytoo Damn, now you’ve got me doing it.

@Zen – hehehe sorry, it is habit forming.

I also think of the typewriter keys and do the alphabet with the proper fingers in my head, a, b, c, d the whole way through.

I need diversions or I have been known to bolt from dentist’s, doctor’s offices!

I learned the alphabet in sign language when I was young and when I get anxious I start spelling out everything I’m thinking. It has gotten better in recent years but it was pretty embarrassing when I was in my 20’s.

@Supacase @DrasticDreamer @oratio @IBERnineD @Grisaille @brinibear Sheesh… Why’re there so many people with OCD here?

Me too, although it’s not so bad nowadays. =)

I also have a tendency to dance around by myself (it can range from just swinging my fingers in rhythm to swaying my shoulders to even full-blown getting up and dancing like a crazed person [although I haven’t done that last one in a long time]) or just burst into random song while walking around. When I was walking home just now I was singing My Favourite Things in an operatic/pop way. Funny thing is, whenever somebody comes near I just stop, but I continue once they get behind me.

Ah… And when there’s a song I really really reallllllyyyy like on, I may just act out the singing and mouth all the words along. You do not want to see me doing numbers from musicals with various cast members. It’s horribly embarrassing..

Glad to know I am not alone!

I also cannot play certain games online before bed if I hope to get any sleep at all. Gin is one – I will lie in bed thinking of card sequences forever. Word games are another. If I play Text Twist, for example, I will lie awake thinking of six-letter words and then every word I can make out of those six letters. It can go on for hours.

It isn’t an OCD glitch, it’s a personality feature.

@Grisaille Yeah, it’s what makes us those special dearies.

When i’m at work I try to stay on track but its kinda hard when you work with hard heads LOL So when I have orders to call in I’ll snap my fingers for how many orders i have. If its 3 i’ll snap my fingers 3 times fast. When I have to do something thats kinda time consuming I snap with both hands back to back lol when its time to go and i’m not done completely I sing songs uncontrolably LOL Its usually the same song lol.

i try to balance evenly between blondes, brunettes and redheads.

@eponymoushipster Funny,I have been all three this week…

@IBERnineD well then, we have some work to do.

i guess i wring my hands quite a bit when im nervous (i was told this). I also have to take the third item off of the shelf when i buy something, totally passing up the first two. I also have to check things several times, the worst being the lights in the car and the lock on the front door, even when i am in the house. I also rub the side of my face alot when i get sleepy.

OH.

I have the curse of the shaky knee. When sitting down, my legs are in a perpetual state of bouncing up and down (the heel is elevated, calf muscles expand and contract, bouncing the knee up and down. liken it to a grandfather bouncing a baby on his knee). It’s less so a nervous tic and more so a family thing.

The only real get-togethers our family have are during the event of a death.

There we all will be, sitting in neat little rows, all of us bouncing our goddamn legs like a bunch of weirdos.

Most of the things I do are in regards to the “Did I forget to bring my X” thought process.
I triple check that I have everything I need before my day’s adventure (“Alright, Got my.. wallet, check. Cellphone, check. Pen and pencil, check. Keys, check. Inhaler, check” and they all have their appropriate pockets). As I’m about to leave my car, I triple check that I have my keys in my pocket, even if I had just put them in there.
Whenever I’m at a restaurant, even if I just pulled cash out of the ATM, I probably check my wallet 3 times in the course of the evening just to see if I have enough.
If I have to pay for something with a cashier, and/or somewhere that’d have a lot of people, I only pay in cash, because if horrifies me to imagine that scenario where my card is declined, or something else along those lines. (I pay for gas at the machine with my card, I pay for online expenses with my card, and I buy groceries at the self-checkout with my card. But that’s it.)

I do also count my paces from my car to my destination (but rarely the other way around).

I’ve got specific orders for showering, putting on clothes and sandwich making (mustard, then mayo on the first slice. cheese on the second slice. ham on the first slice, then turkey on the first slice, then toast it).

I’m sure I’ll think of more throughout the course of the day.

I don’t feel like I do but co workers and friends tell me I have a particular look of mishief most of the time. I am aware that I often hold people’s eyes in my gaze longer than is comfortable to them, don’t know why I do it though aside from I just enjoy to look.

I don’t know if you’d call it unusual, but I’m very meticulous or deliberate when I do things. For example, people tell me that watching me eat makes them hungry because I’m so careful in the way I cut my food and bring it to my mouth. When I shower, I tend to wash in the same order: right armpit, left armpit, right arm, left arm, neck, chest, etc.

I keep looking for OCD habits in myself, but I don’t feel I have them. I just find a routine that works for me and stick with it.

When I take a shower I pull my hair and get all the dead pieces out and then I wipe them on the wall of my shower

When I take a shower I pull my hair and get all the dead pieces out and then I wipe them on the wall of my shower

I do that as well.

@Supacase I have the same habit of needing to pop all my knuckles. I get very frustrated when one won’t pop. It will bug me for quite some time.

I also check things quite a bit like @Ivan does. I’m constantly checking to see if I put the windows up in the car or if the doors are locked at night. I’ll check at least twice if not more.

When I am shopping, driving or walking and/or hiking I must have tic-tacs with me. I used tic-tacs in place of cigarettes when I quit smoking 6 years ago and now I feel lost without them if I forget to bring them with me when I am out.

@jonsblond It worked well making tic-tacs a habit rather than cigarettes? It was the habit of it that was the hard part? Not the nicotine?

@oratio The habit of it is just one part, of course the nicotine is very difficult to give up. I quit smoking one day when I had a terrible cold. From that day on cigarette smoke would just smell terrible to me and make me cough. It still affects me 6 years later. My mother smokes and whenever I visit her I always end up with a soar throat for a day. I’ll admit that I still get cravings now and then, (thanks nicotine!) but the hardest obstacle for me has been the hand and oral fixation that I miss with smoking. Smoking was my blankie.

@jonsblond – it has been over 20 years for me and I still miss the hand, oral thing. So I still often smoke a straw. If you bend it just right it gives the same resistance when you suck as a ciggie did. And you can’t get in trouble for doing it and you can flick your imaginary ashes anywhere you want! When I stopped the scientific theory was that the nicotene addiction and cravings would disappear in a matter of days, after that it was just the psychological. I think scientists have changed their minds about that now, how can you sell patches for weeks and months if the original theory were true!!

I used to have a lot of odd habits – I’ve broken them now – Yay!. My car stereo was always on an even numbered volume, and I refused to push it above 20. I used to touch every light switch in the house when passing by to make sure it was fully in one position. If the clock read 1:22 I would stare at it until it reached 1:23. Thank goodness I’ve broken these habits – they annoyed everyone around me including me!