This doesn't seem to be a very active forum but I thought I would still share my experience with OCD for anyone that may be struggling or not sure what they may be dealing with yet. 

I was diagnosed with OCD, Anxiety, and Depression about 10 years ago. I know I was living with it much longer than that but no one in my family or close inner circle ever said anything to me or just figured it was normal. I remember as a child I would throw a ball at the wall for hours on end while my parents watched TV. While throwing the ball I would count numbers in my head or throw the ball in rhythm with a beat in my head. This went on during my pre-teen years. In my teenage years I was obsessed with counting numbers in my head and also memorizing numbers. I still remember dozens of phone numbers ranging from family, friends, or even pizza places from my childhood years. In school I would constantly tap my fingers on the desk along with a beat in my head. I was in the band from middle school through high school and I was constantly tapping my fingers to drum beats I would hear during band and marching band as well. I always had a hard time with geometry. I only passed with a C- because the teacher felt bad for me and knew I was trying as I had many after school visits with her to try and get an understanding of what I was missing. All of my other grades were A's and B's. I later attributed this to a part of OCD that somewhat mimics ADD or ADHD. My ability to focus on anything remotely complex is very hard for me. One big difference I have seen with OCD compared to ADD or ADHD is that my mind doesn't run nonstop like most people with these disorders complain of. I took an ADHD test four years ago and it showed I was borderline. I do believe many people struggle with thinking they have ADD or ADHD but simply have OCD. My psychiatrist has confirmed this suspicion with me as well. 

My OCD symptoms really took off when I hit mid 20's. I began to notice an obsession with cleaning things and always organizing things. This is the classic sign of OCD that everyone says "My OCD this or my OCD that." I can promise you they don't know the struggle! They think its funny or somehow an asset to their life but its not for people that are living with it. Nothing ever seemed clean enough and items were always out of place for me. If they weren't today then the next day they would be. Fortunately, I never struggled with always feeling dirty and wanting to scrub my hands or body to bleed but it does happen to many people. 

When I got married I believe the added stress of marriage and kids exacerbated the OCD, Anxiety, and Depression. The cleaning and organizing problem began to take precedent over family time. If laundry was not folded and put away it put me in a bad mood. The cars always had to be cleaned inside and out. The kids rooms were always messy and had to be cleaned everyday no matter what. There were never enough essential items in the fridge or pantry and bulk buying these things were a priority for me. I remember putting up a shoe door hanger organizer on the pantry door that I used to separate every non-perishable item that would fit in it. My spouse actually liked it but it drove me to constantly fill it and fueled the desire to always have bulk replacements so it would never be empty. The list goes on and on.  My spouse was verbally abusive and nasty at pointing out all of the things I described above. I went 27 years before someone actually told me I might have a problem. She sucked at how she presented it but it made me realize I may need to see a psychiatrist. Once I did this I was put on a medication and it has helped immensely. I am since divorced and still struggle with things but its much better now than 10 years ago. You may read these signs and think "Well everyone is like that at some point what's the problem." The best way for me to describe it is it felt like an addiction and they consumed my life. I was blowing all of my free time on these things while I could've been doing dad things or being a caring husband. I believe that is the difference between a casual "My OCD this" and a full blown diagnosis of it. 

I believe I am fortunate to not have a severe diagnosis of these three illnesses but I wanted to share my experience with anyone who reads this and may be looking for answers. I never knew I had a problem until my ex-wife came in the picture and started pointing things out very aggressively. She was nasty but in her defense she couldn't understand why an almost 30 year old man was doing things like this and no one ever said anything until now. The medication I am on now is great and I have been able to work as a firefighter/paramedic with no problems since then. Yes it did impact my work in fire/rescue but only with non-essential things like keeping the medical supply cabinet stocked and organzied or keeping things cleaned. None of these are bad traits in emergency services or healthcare other than taking up too much time from other important things. I actually believe the obsessive component to OCD helps me with patient care as I tend to work through patient care protocols very thoroughly and rarely miss a step. 

Feel free to comment if you so desire!