OCD or Obsessive Presents itself in a wide variety of ways and some may be the most curious. So much so that lately this serious disorder has been treated humorously in movies and on television. But we’re not kidding when we talk about symmetry OCD, a problem that can be very limiting in your life. But there is a solution, because Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also has a treatment.
What is Symmetry OCD?
Symmetry OCD is so closely linked to Order that most of the time they present as a single problem. Looking for symmetry is also looking for order or balance, and who doesn’t bet on balance? Who does not prefer an orderly and harmonious life? The middle ground is virtue, they say, and when Obsessive Compulsive Disorder appears, order, symmetry and balance disappear to make way for excess.
People who suffer from symmetry OCD put things in a certain order, according to colors, alphabetically, by size. Whatever, but on the condition that everything turns out to be symmetrical. Doing this with the objects in your house can take more time than you would like, time that you could be devoting to your family, time that you subtract from your hours of leisure and rest, and time that you steal from yourself.
If we go further, the consequences of symmetry OCD at work are more than evident. Do you really have time to place everything symmetrically and at the same time perform your functions? Probably not. And that without taking into account the reasons why you need everything to appear in a symmetrical position, which are none other than achieving a sense of security that you don’t really have.
Consequences of Symmetry OCD
So far we are talking about objects. Of clothes, work spaces, books, furniture that have to have a certain order because if not, anxiety shoots up because the person with this OCD fears that if they do not check or perform neutralization behaviors, they will have an attack panic. After all, OCD is related to anxiety. You have to place things in a symmetrical way because if you don’t, something bad will happen in your life. And you don’t realize that what you fear so terrible is already happening precisely because you live subject to the slavery of your obsession that imposes certain compulsions on you.
Symmetry OCD becomes almost a horror story when the person who suffers from it goes from objects to people. You notice on the street if your neighbor’s tie is askew and that makes you very nervous, in the shirt of your co-worker in which it seems that a button has been placed later and presents certain differences with the rest. Can you imagine living pending all those details?
And then you stand in front of the mirror to look for perfection in symmetry. You look at yourself, you touch yourself, you measure yourself, is the right part the same as the left? And symmetry does not exist in the case of the body, let alone perfection. From here we can go looking for the cause of this symmetry OCD that can be found in an excess of perfectionism combined with anxiety.
Symmetry OCD Treatment
As you can imagine, living with OCD is leading a completely dysfunctional life that can lead to job loss and social isolation. It is therefore necessary to seek the right treatment and here you can stay away from self-help gurus and surfing the Internet.
Go directly toe, although you may also need pharmacological treatment to overcome OCD. But psychological therapy is the only one that can guarantee that you get out of a disorder like OCD and that you recover a functional and healthy life.