Dear
readers
and
fellow
members,
I
just
signed
up
to
the
tribe
so
I
thought
it
would
be
nice
to
introduce
myself.
I'm
a
24
year
old
student
from
the
Netherlands,
who's
about
to
round
off
his
mechanical
engineering
master
studies.
I
signed
up
to
the
tribe
since
I've
been
'suffering'
from
OCD
(or
at
least,
that's
what
I
think
it
is)
for
as
long
as
I
can
recall.
I
intentionally
write
the
word
'suffering'
between
quotes,
as
I
myself
have
no
exprience
of
living
without
OCD.
It
makes
me
who
I
am
and
my
family
and
close
friends
accept
that
way,
OCD
or
not.
However,
throughout
the
years
I
started
to
realize
that
the
disorder
keeps
me
from
making
new
friends,
even
from
starting
a
relationship.
For
me,
the
disorder
all
has
to
do
with
the
feeling
of
total
control
within
my
'territory'.
With
my
territory
I
mean
all
the
things
and
environments
that
belong
to
me.
When
I'm
at
home,
this
territory
makes
up
my
whole
direct
environment;
when
I'm
out,
the
territory
basically
consists
of
all
the
thins
I
wear
(clothes,
glasses,
watch)
and
my
belongings
I
carry
with
me
at
the
time.
The
control
I
mentioned
comes
down
to
having
everything
in
a
strict
and
neat
order
(plates
and
cups
in
the
cupboard,
books
on
the
shelf,
tv
remote
on
the
couch,
toothbrush
in
the
drawer
etc.)
Furthermore,
I'm
very
anxious
of
damaging
things,
f.e.
bumping
my
watch
against
an
object,
scratching
my
motorcycle
helmet
&
gear.
Basically,
I
always
need
to
have
everything
around
me
in
a
perfect,
laboratory-style
state
in
order
to
feel
comfortable.
And
this
disorder
keeps
me
from
doing
certain
things
I
would
like
to
do;
example:
when
I
have
an
hour
of
spare
time,
I
would
like
to
play
a
game
on
my
PS3,
but
since
that
requires
for
me
to
take
a
game
out
of
the
drawer,
keeping
the
drawer
neat
&
tidy,
operating
the
tv
remote
and
game
controller
with
CLEAN
hands
(no
grease
marks)
and
at
the
end
storing
everything
again,
I
don't
play
a
game.
Another
example:
when
I
have
a
friend
over
at
my
place,
I
can
accept
that
person
to
move
around
and
make
him/herself
comfortable,
but
I
get
stressed
by
remembering
all
the
things
he/she
touches/moves
and
which
I
have
to
reset
when
he/she
is
gone
again.
Eventually
this
has
made
me
come
to
the
idea
that
I
prefer
to
be
alone.
Yes,
I
know
the
things
I
feel
and
do
are
irrational.
I
use
the
SSRI
Sertraline,
prescribed
by
a
psychiatrist,
and
this
has
only
take
the
rough
edges
off
my
personality.
My
'detonation
time'
has
increased
from
0
to
1
second....
I
haven't
tried
anything
like
cognitove
begavioural
therapy.
I
have
the
feeling
that
since
I'm
completely
aware
of
the
stupidity
of
my
disorder,
somebody
else
cannot
help
me
by
talking
into
me.
However,
I
might
be
completely
wrong
on
this.
I
hope
that
some
of
you
members
out
there
would
like
to
share
some
experiences
(good
and
bad)
and
that
we
can
all
realize
that
we
are
not
alone
in
this.
If
you
have
any
questions
or
remarks,
any
at
all,
feel
free
to
contact
me.
Regards
