OCD about being environmentally friendly

[sophiie01]

Hi everyone!

I'm new on this forum and I have something to ask: does anyone else have OCD related to being environmentally friendly? I'm currently reading a book about OCD and it mentioned that obsessions with being environmentally friendly were first documented by Australian scientists in 2012, and I was wondering if any of these such people might be on here. It's a type of OCD that I have and I really wanted to know if there's others out there.

Now, I have OCD about other things as well: the number three, counting, violent and disturbing intrusive thoughts, checking and rituals, etc. But environmental OCD is a massive one for me as well.

I go to ridiculous lengths to be environmentally friendly. I dig through public rubbish bins for recyclable bottles, cans and newspapers, I can't walk past recyclables on the street without picking them up, I haven't bought non-second-hand clothes in four years, I obsess over checking light switches to save electricity and checking taps for water (don't get me started on dripping taps), I can only buy second-hand books and furniture, my dishes pile up for days before I can justify washing up in a few centimetres of water (with eco friendly washing up liquid), I can't drive because I fear using petrol and the list goes on and on and on. 

It's debilitating, it really is. I was on sertraline and it was magical, but I've since developed Bipolar I and had to be taken off it. I've been in therapy and things are a bit better - I can take warm showers now and it's so amazing. I'm hoping that with time some of the other behaviours will go away.

Is anyone else here like this? I really just want to know I'm not alone.

Sophie xxx

[Velvet Elvis]

I have OCD and am an environmentalist.  I don't think I've ever put the two together.  I'll have to think about it. 

When I was a vegetarian, I think some things could have reached OCD levels.  I wouldn't eat at restaurants where I knew the same cooking surfaces were used for cooking meat and whatever I was eating, for example.  I gave up on vegetarianism once I started a SSRI for the first time and came to realize I was really being kind of absurd with it.

  

Edited August 30, 2015 by Velvet Elvis

[aura]

I don't have OCD related to the environment, but interestingly we have a lot of the same obsessions: the number 3, light switches, checking water taps... and of course violent intrusive thoughts and checking. I used to have an obsession about preserving water, after having lived in the Middle East where water is scarce, but I don't have it anymore.

I also have bipolar I and OCD, and I've just started on sertraline. Are you taking any mood stabilizers? My doctor thinks I'll be all right as long as my lithium levels are good, and indeed so far no mania (I've had med-induced mania from SSRIs twice before). I'm also doing exposure and response prevention therapy. 

[sophiie01]

Thank you so much for your replies, Velvet Elvis and aura, I really appreciate it. 

Aura, we definitely do have some similarities - I've had SSRI-induced mania as well. Mood stabiliser-wise I'm currently on Epilim and Lamictal, plus a few other medications. I really hope the lithium works out for you, and the therapy. Exposure and response prevention really helped me. I used to yell at my family and have panic attacks when they would flick light switches multiple times or leave the tap on for too long, but thankfully that's much more rare and much less severe now.

[Gearhead]

I also have bipolar I and OCD, and I've just started on sertraline. Are you taking any mood stabilizers? My doctor thinks I'll be all right as long as my lithium levels are good, and indeed so far no mania (I've had med-induced mania from SSRIs twice before). I'm also doing exposure and response prevention therapy. 

Hi Sophie-I don't have OCD, but I have Bipolar l, and I wanted to chime in about sertraline/AD's in general.

A lot of bipolar people find that they can take AD's if they take them as part of a cocktail, often with a mood stabilizer and an AP of some kind. If the setraline helped you that much, it's worth asking your pdoc about. I take Cymbalta for anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and before I was on Lamictal and Seroquel I got manic from AD's.