Obsessions.....

[Kieron Andrew]

(yes i know i could have put this in keeping up appearances, but its gender related)

It seems the more I get comfortable with my Gender Dysphoria and issues surrounding my appearance, the more I have this obsession with things to do with that, such as buying tons of hair products, must have lots of different aftershaves & body sprays not just one or two, bottles and jars and cans of the stuff (seriously you should see my bathroom cabinets and yes i have TWO :heehee:)....I have this obsession with constantly wanting to look and smell my best even if I'm not going out, which i never had before when i still id'd as 'she'......So I think I've become more OCD than i was before, So my question is can Gender Dysphoria and OCD be linked? i think so, but was wondering what you boys and girls thought on the whole idea......

[sara_also]

When I dress I have OCD..and yes I think they can be very related..

[ZenFrost]

I've gotten less and less concerned about how I look/small/whatever the more comfortable about being a guy I get. I do have slight OCD, but that has do do with obsessively washing my hands much more than is necessary. As a girl, I wasn't too concerned about my appearance but I did bother to shave my legs and spike my hair and whatnot on a daily basis. I've never cared much about the way I look but as I guy I seem to be even more lax about the whole thing. I don't even wear a binder unless I'm going somewhere. So I don't see a connection with GID/OCD but that might just be me.

[Anthony Jake]

This is a good question Kieron.

So, i think in a way it can be linked tho probably not classified as OCD unless you already had OCD.. OCD is only defined when it interferes with you're life to the point that you can't function 'normally' within society.

But in regards to GID bearing relevance to bringing on OCD like symptoms then i think it is possible.. i mean now i actually check more so what im buying when it comes to soap and stuff... and everything has to match.. whereas before it didnt really matter.

Clothes is what i have become bad with.. they have to be in specific piles.. and only specific colours...and in specific drawers or hangers..everything else is just thrown in. Clothes have to coordinate too..

I also seem to care more about what i look like.. as much as i hate to look in a mirror i have to to check that i look, well, remotely right.. whereas before i didnt look in mirrors really.

so, in a sense yes i do think it can be related, but im not sure to what extent because perhaps we all get slightly more conscious of who we are and what were like because we are more concerned about not appearing as a girl.. thus make more effort to cover it up :2c:

[MonikaW]

(So my question is can Gender Dysphoria and OCD be linked?

I'm not a therapist or a medical professional, so this is just a personal opinion. I do believe that OCD and cross dressing may be linked but one does not necessarily lead to the other. I have a close friend who does suffer from OCD, so as a result I have tried to learn a lot of about it so I can be supportive.

We all have things that we can be obsessive about. With OCD these obsessions become something that is debilitating. It is a real psychiatric disorder. The brain chemistry changes and the neurons do fire differently. There is certainly a large grey area as to when something crosses over into a debilitating obsession. A prime example that most people experience is falling in love. In the beginning of a relationship, your love can become an obsession but then it just settles in to a routine. Not that you stop loving your honey, but it just it doesn't become the thing you think about constantly. With OCD, if you don't perform the ritual/activity over which you obsess, you can suffer severe anxiety and panic attacks. There is a really good book on OCD called: The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing by Judith L. Rapoport that discusses this.

I think about dressing a lot, and I do dress a lot. I don't consider it an obsession since I can't say that it governs my life. Also, I don't get panic attacks or suffer from anxiety if I don't dress for some period of time. Though if I don't have an opportunity to dress for some time, I do get anxious to dress. Do I have any OCD? Not at all. Does crossdressing make me feel better and less stressed? Absolutely.

So, is there a link between the two? Maybe. It really depends on the individual.

[Adam]

yes i think there linked

[Cai]

I'm not sure I'd call what I do obsessive, but I do care more about how I look now. I care whether my clothes match, whether my clothes fit, does my jacket match my shirt, what am I doing with my hair (I have a surprising number of choices for spikes), should I wear jeans or khakis with this shirt...

My obsessive behaviors (I do have a few) aren't linked to GID at all. The only one that bothers me on a daily basis is my need to count cinderblocks. The kind that line walls in dorm and school buildings...as in, the kind I walk past every time I leave my room. And I have to touch and count them every time. :rolleyes:
Mostly what I do is carryover from having an eating disorder - I eat foods in a certain order, rotate my plate clockwise as I finish each item, have to leave one bite on my plate, etc. I've gotten better about those since I've been consciously trying to stop.

[SirTrey]

I think they are definitely linked....I am much more obsessive about My "guy things" than I ever was My "girl things"....Shirts are obsessively separated and hung, pants by color and type, basically, My closet is OCD Heaven...and not just the closet....My room is impeccable, watch and wallet have to be on the bedside stand at night....and I go ballistic if My Jeep isn't clean.....so there you have it... I was neat as a girl, am a neat person by nature...but not to this extent at all. (Oh, and I am completely obsessed by wrinkles and things not being lined up just right, I can go on and on.....but I won't....so I think the answer is definitely YES).

[Kate Simmons]

It's entirety possible but I just plain don't worry about it any more. I do believe it has to do with maintaining our identity though, especially with ourselves. When I was in my "pink fog" period for instance, everything had to be absolutely perfect and everything I did had to be "femme"(my Victoria period). Good Lord, talk about obsession, I was a real piece of work. Nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel your best but it is really a matter of perspective.

What I began to realize is that I was myself inside and all the obsessing in the world didn't change that one iota. Thus began my "in your face" Ericka tomboy period to test out my theory. As it happened, I began to see it was who I was as a person that my friends accepted me regardless of any image I was trying to present and not only did they accept Ericka the tomboy but Richard the guy as well.

I guess in a way, sometimes we do tend to over compensate but if you are being true to yourself and others see that, that is what makes the real difference and that is what gives you the real confidence to be yourself. Works for me anyway.:happy:

[Marla S]

Almost any human behavior can get a disorder, it solely depends on the degree if it is something to be concerned about.
According to my observations (have the one or other disorder myself :heehee:), the one behavior can effect the other, but often not the direct way or as the only cause (that makes psych a bit tricky).

Point is, of course when something in your mind changes (eg. finding self-acceptance) that will influence a lot of other things, e.g. it will open up new ways to explore, waking up sleeping desires, burring lame fantasies, creating new emotions etc.

Once you finally realize that it is nice to look good, yes you will explore this feeling and it seems more than logical to me that you buy lot of stuff to do so, you have no experience and have to learn ... that is somewhat irritating and new, but usually not a disorder. With time this will fade to a "normal" level usually anyway.

If you didn't care for something in the past and enjoy it now, you may as well asked if you got rid of an "disorder". I wouldn't call joy without regret an disorder.

I would worry only if your bank account is empty and you can't enter the bathroom anymore because it is full of aftershaves.
That could be OCD then :heehee:

[Lisa Golightly]

I think you developed a healthy dose of pride my dear good friend... :)

[Nicki B]

Need another case from the staff shop, yet? :winking:

[Kieron Andrew]

Need another case from the staff shop, yet? :winking:

:winking:....dont think my cupboard would fit any more products in :lol2:....christmas? lol