For most OCD sufferers, it's the "do this or you'll die" thing (at least, from what I've read).
> Like I wonder how many people have compulsions that aren't motivated by something bad happen?
I'm one. I have compulsions, and none of the obsessions involve me being certain of impending death if they aren't carried out just so.
For me, it's an extremely intense feeling of wrongness. Not like morality; just that there exists some "right" way to do certain things, and doing it any other way is somehow inherently wrong or incorrect. Why would I willingly do something the wrong way?
It makes my skin crawl if I do it wrong. Like there's a physical sensation of "You've screwed up; go back and do it again until you do it right." My stomach drops and I feel that one shiver you get when you're just a bit too cold.
Of course, I'm never compelled to do useful things the right way. My go-to example is from a few years ago. I eat cereal a lot, and historically have mostly always eaten Smart Start and Raisin Nut Bran. Maybe four years ago, I branched out and got some Cinnamon Life for the first time since I was a kid. I ate the bowl of cereal and all was well. Then I tried to put the box back on the shelf... and I couldn't. It was wrong. The box was printed wrong, and I didn't know what to do. You know how there's those interleaving flaps on the top? I like to put my boxes on the shelf such that the flap the goes on top is on the left and the nutrition information faces out (that way I can pick it up with my right hand and easily open the box and pour into the bowl — any other way of doing it would be wrong, somehow). But the Life box was printed such that the flaps and the nutrition information were at odds. I had to make a choice: either face out the nutrition information and have the flaps wrong, or put the flaps correctly and have the wrong side of the box face outwards.
I debated the best compromise for some thirty minutes, until my roommate came home and asked why I wasn't in class. I hastily shoved the box on the shelf (flaps correct, nutrition information be damned) and made some excuse about having missed my alarm. I was completely preoccupied with my decision for the rest of the day, and haven't bought Life since because I can't deal with the stomach-sinking feeling of having done something wrong.
> Like I wonder how many people have compulsions that aren't motivated by something bad happen?
I'm one. I have compulsions, and none of the obsessions involve me being certain of impending death if they aren't carried out just so.
For me, it's an extremely intense feeling of wrongness. Not like morality; just that there exists some "right" way to do certain things, and doing it any other way is somehow inherently wrong or incorrect. Why would I willingly do something the wrong way?
It makes my skin crawl if I do it wrong. Like there's a physical sensation of "You've screwed up; go back and do it again until you do it right." My stomach drops and I feel that one shiver you get when you're just a bit too cold.
Of course, I'm never compelled to do useful things the right way. My go-to example is from a few years ago. I eat cereal a lot, and historically have mostly always eaten Smart Start and Raisin Nut Bran. Maybe four years ago, I branched out and got some Cinnamon Life for the first time since I was a kid. I ate the bowl of cereal and all was well. Then I tried to put the box back on the shelf... and I couldn't. It was wrong. The box was printed wrong, and I didn't know what to do. You know how there's those interleaving flaps on the top? I like to put my boxes on the shelf such that the flap the goes on top is on the left and the nutrition information faces out (that way I can pick it up with my right hand and easily open the box and pour into the bowl — any other way of doing it would be wrong, somehow). But the Life box was printed such that the flaps and the nutrition information were at odds. I had to make a choice: either face out the nutrition information and have the flaps wrong, or put the flaps correctly and have the wrong side of the box face outwards.
I debated the best compromise for some thirty minutes, until my roommate came home and asked why I wasn't in class. I hastily shoved the box on the shelf (flaps correct, nutrition information be damned) and made some excuse about having missed my alarm. I was completely preoccupied with my decision for the rest of the day, and haven't bought Life since because I can't deal with the stomach-sinking feeling of having done something wrong.