Is this considered obsessing?

[JenMac]

I don't know if this is obsessive behavior or not.  But so many things bother me.  I hate it when people lick or suck their fingers when they're eating.  It looks and sounds gross, I'd much rather them use their napkins if they have them.  My father always did this crap (he still does).  It got to the point that I stopped eating with my family at the table when I was 13 or 14.  He never used any napkins even if they were there.  He was (and is) noisy & sloppy.  He snorts and makes buggy throat noises so much that I avoid him as much as I can.  He also constantly picks at his moustache and his face and hands.  I want to yell at him, "Stop! Why do you have to do that all of the time?!"  He does it all the time, not sometimes.  I also hate it when people lick their lips, or always have their tongues outside of their lips.  Soft spoken people bug me as well, the ones who talk so quietly and softly that you can't hear them.  And they move so slowly and softly.  Another thing that's annoying is when people run their fingertips around the top of a wine glass.  What's the purpose of that?  I also have extreme sensitivity to spoken consonants.  It bothers me so much when I hear words that start with (or contain) the letter P.  Like: Pie, Pine, Alpine, Pile, Pike, Pioneer, Pain, Pay, Champagne, Paint, Pond, Pair, Pale, Park, Parlor, Pen, Pencil, Popular, Pot, Pocket and many others.  I can be having a good day (which is rare for me) and someone will say one of those words, and it'll ruin my day.  I started noticing sensitivity to the letter "P" when I was 9 years old.  If anyone said it (mom or dad or friends or teachers or anyone), it would drive me crazy.  It still does to this day.  Because I can't work I get SSI, but that's not much in terms of money in expensive southern California.  I would love to be able to work but that means having to be around people and I can't handle that.  I've tried with those "work from home" things and they're just baloney basically.  When my parents (who are 62 and 65) end up dying one day, I'm afraid I'm going to be homeless despite the fact that they both have life insurance and my mom has mortgage insurance on her house.  I'm also a single mother with a 10 month old son who's father is not around and not paying support because he's too poor himself.  Now tell me, what do you think.  Does it sound like I have obsessive behavior or am I just bugged by everything?  My mom said that her mother was always bothered by many things.  She thinks I'm like her mother.  Everything always bothered her mother, and many things bother me too.

[ocdengineer]

Sounds like at least Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, but that isn't the end of the world.  I'd say you should talk with a doctor about it and see if you can get a proper diagnosis.  Make sure you screen your doctors.  I'd look for an anxiety disorder specialist.  Anyway, the best thing for my anxiety was meditation and Xanax.  Between the two things I can control my OCD pretty well.  I work full time and then some, raise two kids, and working on my Masters degree.  I couldn't do it without the meditation and medication!

Later,
OE