Dave Gnash

Actually its a combination of ignorance towards a researched and categorized disorder, and a common/forgivable but immature tendency in people to want to label yourself as having a disorder to feel unique or special.

The symptoms that are jokingly referenced here would more commonly be found in a person suffering from the personality disorder OCPD, obsessive compulsive personality disorder... While the name sounds a lot like OCD, its actually a completely separate issue, with separate symptoms and causes. One of the biggest differences is that OCD is traced back to biochemical differences in the brain, where OCPD is generally categorized as a personality disorder - meaning it develops through external stimuli.

Some symptoms can appear similar, but for the most part OCD and OCPD are very different. OCPD people have extreme urges for order and control, thus the constant cleaning - and its too an extent where it causes serious issues with the majority of their relationships with other people. OCD on the other hand, in a general perspective, deals with intrusive and uncontrollable irrational thoughts that enter the person's mind. (Thats where the rituals come from - as a way to cope with the anxiety from these thoughts)

Some basic ways to differentiate:

- if you like arranging your pens on your desk etc- you're an average person that just enjoys a sense of symmetry and order

- if you're constantly stressed out, and find yourself irritated by everyone around you and they the same because you need things absolutely clean at ALL times, or you don't like other people making decisions for you, even the simplest ones, and its costs you friendships, employment, relationships and/or marriages you could be OCPD

- if you spend 45 minutes every day rearranging the pens on your desk, not because you actually care about the order, but because whenever leave work, the thought that something horrible is going to happen if you don't get the order just right (like you or a family member might die) overwhelms you with stifling anxiety, even though you know the thought is entirely silly and stupid, you could be OCD.