Episode 087 - Obsessive Compulsive? My Arse!...

The Thursday Thesis  - 15/02/2018

When credible Professionals call someone Obsessive-Compulsive and then expect them to be able to change it’s a really stupid plan, don’t you think?

Yet that’s the kind of conventional psycho-twaddle we are expected to believe will make us better, more “normal” – whatever that is.

I’ve already discussed why “normal” is bollocks in earlier posts, so I’ll give you a reminder of the take-homes about normal:

• Normal is someone else’s idea of a good thing
  
• Being normal means being ordinary and/or average
  
• Normal is beige. But – given the choice - wouldn’t you rather be magenta, turquoise or vermillion? How about scintillating and rainbow-iridescent?
  
• Normal is an acceptable level of compliance.

So, if someone you respect or believe tells you that you’re OCD, you might want to not accept their diagnosis.

I’ve even heard tell that some parents say this to their kids, believe it or not.

It’s like you’ve won the lottery or something... Congratulations – you are OCD!

But here’s the thing about a diagnosis or a label for a condition: believing in it and complying with it.

The moment you accept the condition and start telling everyone about your disorder or – better still – your fancy-sounding syndrome, you’ll start to act it out.

The more you research it, the better actor you’ll become: the longer you practice, the more type cast the role becomes for you.

Listen, if you’re going to obsess about something, at least man-up and get serious about something more bloody important than how many coloured pencils are in the cup on your desk or how many birds are on the fence.

Of all the fascinating, dynamic and fun things people could obsess over, why is it so often the trivial and irrelevant minutiae that fixates?

This makes OCD about as trivial as any other hobby, sort-of like trainspotting but without the upside of permitting anorak-wearing.

Did you know that anoraknaphobia is an irrational fear of trainspotters?

I guess I’m ranting about this because last week I decided to challenge my students and clients who declared themself to be OCD: the results were fascinating...Cures took less than a minute for the youngsters, because they haven’t had as much practice as the adults, who took a little longer.

Thinking positively about OCD: could it be the making of you if you focused it on something that mattered more than how many times you flipped the light-switch before bedtime?

If you really must have a condition, disorder or diagnosis I think you owe it to yourself to challenge it, defeat it or utilise it.

© Neil Cowmeadow 2018
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Neil@cowtownguitars.net