Tuesday 31 May 2016

Mr Mildly Obsessive


I’ve just returned from what seems to be becoming my annual business trip to China and this particular trip made me realise something about myself that I have suspected for a while.

I am a mild sufferer of OCD or Obsessive Compusive Disorder.

I looked up the definition of OCD to get a handle on what it actually means and I found this:

“An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters a person's mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease.”

It’s something that I think is getting worse as I get older.

Here’s an example.

Yesterday, I left my hotel room in Shanghai for the final time and checked out at reception. I jumped into the shuttle bus to take me to the airport and then had a wild thought that I had left my flight boarding pass in my room and my passport in the room safe. These were the two things that would enable me to get home and, if my worst fears were true, would result in my having to return to the hotel making me potentially miss my flight. I actually panicked and opened my rucksack to double check that I had the required documents.

The truth is I did have them – of course I bloody well had them!

Also, because I am obsessed with the fear of being so late that I would miss the flight, I had checked out so early that I could have easily made the return trip to the hotel (possibly twice) and still had plenty of time to catch the flight.

And the stupid thing is that in the shuttle bus, I checked my passport and boarding passes three times! THREE BLOODY TIMES!

I actually scolded myself the final time, saying rather loudly "You bloody idiot!” which brought a stare of disapproval from another passenger who thought I was referring to him.

Worse, when I got to the airport, I was so early that I had to wait for the check in desks to open. When I finally got through security, I checked my documents a further few times even though I knew that they were there.

I’m the same when I leave the house, generally. I am convinced that there is a window left open, a door left unlocked or a burglar alarm still turned off and on one or two occasions, I have actually returned to the house to double check.

I blame two things for the evolution of this embarrassing peculiarity.

The first thing is my terrible memory. As I get older, I forget things. Everybody my age says the same thing. I look at a person I haven’t seen for a while and say to myself:

 “What the bloody hell is that guy’s name???”

I suffer from all of the typical age-related memory-loss features, such as:

Walking into a room and having no idea why I went there.

Forgetting where I put things. This is particularly frustrating and I have developed a regime to counteract this infuriating problem. I always put things in the same place. However, Mrs PM sometimes decides to have a “tidy up” and moves them, which leads to me turning the house upside down looking for things, convinced that I have lost them.

Such things are affectionately called “senior moments” and many people I know around my age and older complain about this.

The second thing I have to blame is my beloved Mrs PM.  She is the love of my life but she is one of the most scatter-brained people I have ever met. For example, she has driven all the way to work and left her laptop at home. That wouldn’t be so bad if the journey wasn’t about twenty miles, usually through heavy rush hour traffic. She has also left her laptop at work when she has to do some work at home and had to make the journey back. You may think that this is okay if it’s just a one-off but it isn’t; she has done it several times.

Also, I have come home and found windows open and doors unlocked. I find myself being OCD for her too.

“Have you got your laptop?”

“Where are your keys?” 

She also drifts away into her own little world and on occasion has set off for a journey for the shops only to drift into what she and I both call “Mrs PM World” and find herself on her way to work.

This is something that she has had to put up with most of her life but, unlike me, she doesn’t beat herself up about it.

“I know,” she’ll say with a laugh. “It was another Mrs PM moment.”

When such things happen to me, I am furious with myself, which is why my evolving OCD has manifested itself to protect me against my own memory.

I also make lists of things to take with me on holiday and trips generally to make sure that I don’t infuriate myself with my poor memory. And Mrs PM does the same, so it helps her although she has still managed to become a victim of her herself. For example, no list could have stopped her from leaving a coat in Manchester airport or travelling all the way to Alaska, one of the coldest places in America, having left her winter coat hanging up in the bedroom next to her suitcase!

She has improved, mainly due to my own OCD. As she says, I have saved her on numerous occasions with just a couple of simple questions.

I’d rather make sure that everything is fine and make sure that I don’t have to enrage myself with my own shortcomings.

Perhaps mild OCD is a good thing.

I just hope that I remember to post this all on my blog.

At least my daily readership will go up as a result, even if it is only me making sure, four or five times today, that I submitted the post.

Oh crap – maybe that’s why most of my hits come from Manchester!

14 comments:

River said...

I'm a bit concerned that Mrs PM goes out and leaves windows open and doors unlocked!
As for having a tidy up and moving things specifically placed where you always place them, that's wrong too; but I wonder why she bothers at all with tidying up when she is such a scatterbrain that it wouldn't matter to her where things are.

joeh said...

I have similar issues, except I only travel with Mrs. C and she makes sure we always have everything so I don't worry.

When I was working I always left needing my train pass, my wallet and my work id. I kept the pass in my shirt pocket, my wallet in the back pocket and the ID in my front pocket. I tapped each pocket about 15 times a day to make sure I had those three items. It was just a habit to check. People gave me a lot of funny looks.

I also leave stuff in the same place, if I get distracted and put the car keys in a different place, I do panic.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi River,

Well both me and my eldest lad make sure that she doesn't. Before I leave for work I always remind her to make sure the windows are closed when she leaves.

The reason she "tidies up" is because (she claims) I make the place look messy. Part of me understands that but it doesn't help my evolving OCD.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Joeh,

When I am abroad I keep my credit card wallet in the hotel safe, taking just one card with me in my other wallet. Normally I carry both round with me so I end up panicking when I can't find my credit card wallet while walking around - until I remember where it is.

I wouldn't rely on Mrs PM to look after tickets etc.

She would lose her own head if it weren't attached to her body.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Grace said...

Thankfully I am married to someone who is as tidy and organized as I am. I jokingly refer to myself as being OCD but I'm just super, super organized. I've told people the reason I am that way is because I am the laziest person on the planet - I don't want to expend any extra energy finding what I'm looking for. My father always said "A place for everything and everything in it's place" Just makes life easier. I always have a mental list going. Some folks think hubby and I are a bit obsessive but we are never without what we need and we are always early.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Grace,

I'm fairly organized too particularly when travelling. I am also lazy - but don't tell Mrs PM I confessed to that.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Pandora Behr said...

I think that being mildly OCD is the realm of the intelligent person who likes this orderly. Reading this, seems like we have a few traits in common - especially the triple checking of the passport/ boarding pass etc. I know I checked that I turned off the heater three times before I left home this morning.
Great post. Enjoy China.

Cheers,

Pand

JahTeh said...

I always remember to check that I have my house keys in my bag when leaving but I wish I would remember to do it before I shut the front door. I live in a complete mess most of the time but essential things are never moved, matches, candles and big torch so when the lights go out I know exactly where to lay my hands on them. That said, the other thing I can rely on is not knowing where the cat is when the lights go out.

Mrs PM said...

How rude ;-)

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Pand,

Good to know that it's not just me.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi JT,

I think if I lived alone, my house would be a lot messier. But at least I'd know where everything is.

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi my dear,

Rude - but true!

xxxx

DrB said...

Dear Mr PM,
Have a senior moment is not normal although most people accepted it.
It is a sign that your brain does not have enough anti-oxidant and fuel.
There are 2 things you have to do:
1) increase anti-oxidant intake such as 4 green tea bags a day (black tea has its ant-oxidant roasted off), a handful of berries, a serving of green veg.
2) make sure you consume good oil - butter, olive oil, coconut oil, fish oil everyday (about 15 mL) but cut down sugar and carbs,

As you grow older, free radicals built up in your body, and they killed your brain cells. So you need anti-oxidant to neutralise the free radicals.
As you grow older, your brain can't absorb their fuel glucose, so you have to provide an alternative fuel - fatty acid for your brain.
Trust me, I'm a doctor, :-)

Try that for 2 weeks, and you will see your senior moments disappear.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi DrB,

I love green tea so I might just follow your advice.

It sounds like good advice to me.

:o)

Cheers

PM