Attention OCD sufferers...I'm a freak

I've always been what I would describe as mildly obsessive-compulsive.

I have to check the alarm four times before I go to sleep. Once to make sure that I set it for the correct time. Once to make sure I set it for AM, not PM. Twice to jiggle the switch to make sure I have pushed it all the way up. Then Eric has to check it once to make sure I'm not completely retarded.

I change my sheets twice a week. If I don't, I lie awake all night, fretting about whether or not my sheets feel sticky, and was that cat hair that just touched my lips?

Before departing for work every morning, I take my store keys from the front pouch of my purse, and move them to the left front pocket of my pants. I have to touch them every three minutes to make sure that I haven't lost them in the car. Sometimes, it makes me feel better to just clench them in my fist during the commute to ensure that I haven't lost them.

In the grand scheme of things, these tics are minor. They don't negatively affect my everyday life. I don't wash my hands hundreds of times a day. I seem relatively normal to most people.

But then I watched A & E's "Obsessed". It follows two obsessive compulsives through their daily routines, and their subsequent therapy to overcome the horrors of their OCD.

I have to confess, this show has fucked me up in all sorts of ways.

For example, I can no longer distinguish if I actually need to pee, or if my OCD is making me go every 5 minutes.

After I make 10 visits to the bathroom with no outcome to speak of, I sit and worry that OCD is going to take over, and I'll just sit on the toilet for the rest of my life, chugging gallons of water and scrubbing myself with anti-bacterial cleanser.

Do you understand what I'm saying? "Obsessed" made me develop OCD that causes me to obsess over whether I have OCD. My brain has become a shitty hall of mirrors that only reflects OCD. And that shit ain't right.

Avoid "Obsessed" at all costs. I think I might need to pee.