Live data from Hacker News

OCD Is Not a Joke

thewalrus.ca

41–47 of 47 posts

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#41
post #24

Thing don't have the be jokes to be funny - or to be made into jokes. We have jokes about death, murder, WWII, the big C, and tons of other things besides. Heck, if a joke doesn't touch some deeper/dark truth, mortality, fragility, etc, it's not much of a joke, it's more into "man slips on a banana" territory.

I agree we should be able to make jokes about deeper life issues, humor is a coping mechanism for many. But it's more nuanced than that. Like in the article when a woman jokes "I'm so OCD" when arranging pens by color whilst in the presence of someone whose life is basically directed by the condition (and thus causes a lot of suffering), it can be very offensive, and the comment could be taken as demeaning. I had sim…

People who say “I’m so ocd” aren’t making a joke though. They think that is what ocd actually is, quirky and cute.

WSB is using the term autist ironically and it’s completely self aware.

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#42
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you regulate your dopamine levels? Stimulants?

Buproprion

It's life-changing, modern medication. I just came off of a 5-month course. I think it has left me permanently cured of the skipping record. Leads me to believe it is not a problem with dopamine levels, but the brain needed a break from the stimulus that the old neural pathways provided, in order to grow healthier ones.

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#43

I think in the future we will realize that OCD is actually autism and autism spectrum disorders are disorders with dopamine regulation. I think this because I used to be on the spectrum until I regulated my dopamine levels and now I'm much lower on the spectrum. Anecdotal of course, but the link should be studied more.

Here's a paper which argues that the distinction between ASD, ADHD and OCD is biologically invalid: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0631-2 So if that paper is correct (and of course it is only one study, and we should have more studies to explore this question further), that suggests that maybe the distinction between ASD, ADHD and OCD ought to be abolished, and they all ought to be subsumed into one bigge…

There's a pre-alpha Minecraft mod I read about that divided them into “spoons” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory), “brain worms” (e.g. depression, obsessive thoughts) and a generalised version of “special interests” (which models both the traditionally-ASD and traditionally-ADHD variants). It takes a very game-mechanical-as-applicable-to-Minecraft view of them, but I thought it was a decent framework. I'll see if I can find a link.

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#44
post #31

This is realy a great point. I don't know if I have OCD (I never considered my behaviour debilitating anyway) but I do have these ridiculous rituals before going to bed that take a considerable amount of time (checking if the oven is turned off, checking for open doors, windows, electrical plugs, etc). When travelling, I take pictures of plugs, appliances, taps, etc so that during the flight I can check them, if unsu…

[deleted]

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#45
post #31

This is realy a great point. I don't know if I have OCD (I never considered my behaviour debilitating anyway) but I do have these ridiculous rituals before going to bed that take a considerable amount of time (checking if the oven is turned off, checking for open doors, windows, electrical plugs, etc). When travelling, I take pictures of plugs, appliances, taps, etc so that during the flight I can check them, if unsu…

From one OCD sufferer to another, you have it.

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#46
post #24

Thing don't have the be jokes to be funny - or to be made into jokes. We have jokes about death, murder, WWII, the big C, and tons of other things besides. Heck, if a joke doesn't touch some deeper/dark truth, mortality, fragility, etc, it's not much of a joke, it's more into "man slips on a banana" territory.

For what it's worth, banana peels were a serious matter too

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/can-you-slip-banana-pe...

Re: OCD Is Not a Joke

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buproprion

It's life-changing, modern medication. I just came off of a 5-month course. I think it has left me permanently cured of the skipping record. Leads me to believe it is not a problem with dopamine levels, but the brain needed a break from the stimulus that the old neural pathways provided, in order to grow healthier ones.

I've been on it for 17 years. I have been off it twice during my adult life, about 6 months each time. Just to see if maybe I didn't need it. Tendencies I can only describe as autistic returned. For me, it seems to be long term beneficial.
Post reply on HN