probably a dumb question but i really don't know the answer, do you think you were born with it or did you develop the OCD as you were growing up?

I'm only through one page of the thread, but ti sounds like the weirdest thing about you is how concerned you are about other people thinking you're weird.

Cool thread. I mashed a bunch of questions together which I hope you can elaborate a bit on.

How would you ideally want others to interact with you? Let’s say someone knows/sees/realizes you’re a little different w/o knowing exactly what’s up, but is genuinely interested in getting to know you and not trying to brush you off. Do you want that person to completely disregard all your weird behaviorisms/quirks and just act normal like he otherwise would, or would you prefer to have that person make apparent that he is ware you’re a little different and isn’t bothered by it? Maybe by busting on you a bit in a friendly way for some of the weird things he sees you do? (Would an Asperger be able to detect subtle social sarcasm?)

Does it change for someone who knows you for a longer period of time? That good friend of yours you mentioned earlier, how would you ideally want him to interact with you? Do you want him to just let you be, do you want him to talk about or recognize some of the OCD stuff you do or completely disregard it, do you want him to maybe push you a bit to engage yourself more in social interactions or not? How comfortable are you talking about your “condition” IRL?

I’m torn whether I should post this next bit, since I’m in no place to start giving out advice, but I wrote it with good intentions and something similar helped me a lot, so w/e.

I would imagine it’s going to be extremely difficult, but I think you would benefit tremendously from being more open about your OCD/Asperger’s. As soon as people understand why you behave in an unusual way and that you have little control over it, they stop thinking you’re weird and start thinking you’re interesting and will want to get to know you. Nobody likes normal ordinary people, they’re boring. Don’t hide it imo, accept it and try to let it work for you.

As I’m writing this, I think it might even be one of the best opening lines to use on a girl you just met or spotted somewhere. Hi, I’m X and I have Asperger’s which makes it extremely hard for me to talk to girls, but you blew me away when you walked by and I just had to come say hi. Do you want to grab a cup of coffee with me? I’ll tell you all about my awesome disorder. You immediately establish interest, perhaps even a little attraction depending on your delivery and who can say know to that story? Lol, I’m gonna try that sometime.

To an extent, this information is useful, but people are so complex that it sometimes is self-defeating. However, I do not need to take any notes or even use a HUD online to know a player's general tendencies and am able to remember hands that have been played over the past year, identify my trouble spots, and bring them to the forum in order to ask for advice in order to fix the identified leak.

For example, I used to have a big problem with big slick, but that is easily a thing of the past.

She was stalking me because she had a crush on me. After I caught her, I learned that she had very similar tendencies to my own. After pulling her deeper into my world, however, she deemed me to be a freak despite the bond that we shared and proceeded to use me to hook up with one of my friends.

That was a dark incident, indeed, and I had to show restraint in order to do something very regretful.

I was born with Asperger's, and OCD can largely develop as the tendencies related to the syndrome worsen over time due to environmental influences.

It is a concern that has been validated time and again, mark my words.

And trust me, if you "saw me in action", you will realize just how different I am, both in mentality and in behavior.

I can detect sarcasm if only because my personality has a sarcastic, dry undertone, and if I were to have a perfect interaction with someone, I would want this person to know about my disorders, to be comfortable with them, and know that I am a person that has much, much more depth than a psychiatric diagnosis. I am a human being who is much more than a label by a MD, and in order for the perfect interaction to occur, this must be mutually understood.

I would not want to be pushed to change my personality, as that is reflective of a lack of acceptance of their part. I am comfortable with who I am, and I am the type of person who is able to accept anyone else, as well. Some of my best friends were people with major skeletons in the closet, and I was able to see past them to see the people they really were.

As far as being open about my condition, you actually have it in reverse. mentioning it does not garner sympathy, but antipathy. People immediately believe that you are mentioning it in an effort to create an excuse to validate your shortcomings, and people are turned off by it on several levels.

Interesting. You mention that you don't want to be pushed to change your personality. Whenever I meet someone who comes across a bit shy I always up my own energy level to try and pull them out of their shell. Would that offend you?

Whenever I don't get a positive response from someone I lose interest rather quickly. If the other person seems like no fun and doesn't have anything interesting to say I start looking for ways to end the conversation. If otoh I knew someone struggled in social interactions I'd go in with a completely different mindset and invest way more time to get to know them.

My nephew has Asperger's and I love that kid. He acts awkward socially, but I know he's not to blame for it and therefore I don't care. He opens up to me and we always have fun.

I'm really surprised to hear how people are put off when you talk to them about your condition. You must have had some bad experiences trying to open up to people, that really sucks.

I am very much the same way in terms of losing interest in a conversation, probably moreso, actually; if the discussion involves a topic I could care less about, I find myself thinking about something else.

I have many social quirks, but being uninteresting has never really been one of them, as I am incredibly eccentric and sporadic. If you share my interests, you could talk to me for hours on end, and for me, the time would just fly by.

Do you become so self absorbed in what you are doing you forget simple things like having to go to the bathroom and then all of a sudden **** your pants?

I have never involuntarily excreted, but I have held it for hours on end during a compulsion because it was a secondary priority.

lol, you're a serial killer, right? Let's go play poker at Blackhawk this weekend.

You seem like an interesting person, but I must respectfully decline.

DON'T DECLINE ME!

OP, I have a great question for you, how do you react to insensitive pricks like the poster above?

+1

I just call 'em as I see 'em.

+2

You are being far too harsh, as I know he is only joking around. Such commentary is only skin-deep and is not personal, so there is no need for me to interpret it in this manner.

What disturbs me is when people take shots at the internal, detailed aspects of my personality, interpreting abnormality as something that is "wrong" or "unacceptable".

**** you for having OCD

Do you think there's a tie between OCD and extreme intelligence?

For some reason I can't see an idiot with this condition.

If this is true, you'll never have to worry!

I'm here all night folks!

Although Asperger's has been linked to above-average intelligence, I do not believe that OCD had any correlation with it.

Although who said anything about me being intelligent? Does it come across in my replies?

What do you do on weekends or for holidays? Are there parts of the world you're interested in seeing?

If you could flip a switch or take a pill, would you want to be completely rid of any OCD symptoms, or would the thought of having to 're-identify' yourself paralyse you?