I have that obsession with making things orderly (crrecting picture frames) but not as nearly bad as monk. I also have to equalize sensation in both sides of my body. SO, I'm REALLY uncomfortable when I'm typing. I also have to shake both hands of a person with both of mine.

What's yours and what do you think of mine?

I'm a chronic hand washer and teeth brusher.

Dentists...I'm afraid of them...but i know how to not be afraid when i really have to go to dentist....anaesthesia...everytime when i'm in the dentist office i'm under anaesthesia...

I also have a fear of anything that alters the mind. As a result, I'm afraid of just about anything when I'm delirious.

I have this same fear. I've been prescribed Tylenol 3s (codeine) and Percocets a lot for chronic headaches and will only take one fourth of a pill. I've thrown away prescriptions in doctors' offices and hospital ERs. I am terrified of being impaired. I was prescribed Valium once in my 20s and never filled it. I've been prescribed other pain killers and never filled them. It's like a roller coaster thing for me--once I take a pill, if it alters me in some unpleasant way, it's not like they can stop the ride in the middle and let me get off. I'm "trapped in the box" at that point until it wears off. That's a concept that scares the bunny fur right off of me. I do know that if I take a quarter of a percocet or tylenol 3, it takes the edge off the migraine enough that ibuprofen works.

Other quirks that fall into the OCD category: I have wipes EVERYWHERE. I have a case of them in my bathroom, my livingroom, and in my car. I keep a case at work and I carry some on me when I'm out. I have a whole bathroom "thing" where I have to spray the toilet seat with amonia before I can sit on it--that includes when I'm at home and I'm the only one using my bathroom. I carry a small bottle filled with amonia to clean public toilet seats. I have a whole handwashing thing, particularly when I'm cooking. If I'm in the kitchen for 15 minutes, I will have washed my hands a minimum of three times--a lot more if there's meat involved. In the winter, my hands have been known to bleed because the air is already very dry....and that's regardless of how much lotion I use.

Before I even knew there was a show called Monk, my son was calling me Monk. I had to watch the show to see what the hell he was talking about and whether or not I should be offended. It took me a while to get hooked because I thought the whole OCD thing was just going to be a gimmick.

When I leave my apt, I have to turn back several times to make sure I have locked the door--a lot of people have this one. However I also lock the doors on my car in instances when other people wouldn't. I have been laughed at numerous times for locking my car when I go in to pay for my gas--when I use a debit card at the pump--get this---I lock the doors while I'm standing at the rear of the vehicle pumping the gas. Beat that, Batman. rofl

I got laughed at today for locking my door just today. I was in the car and these two little old ladies pulled up at the pump next to me, laughing. Well, I - being me - immediately cowered in fear and reached over, locking my passanger side door before driving off like I was scared.

They laughed thier butts off.

Boy, you were lucky to make it out of there alive, man. Seniors across the nation have been flashing gang signs and jacking people for bling. You were right to be wary.

West say-eed!

We seniors have banded together and formed the "ABBYS" (age before beauty and youth society) gang. Our goal is to get back at today's youth for stealing our social security by selling drugs and stolen goods (they stole them from us first) on street corners and not reporting their ill gotten gains to the IRS robbing us of financial security in our golden years.

We ladies show our affiliation to our gang by wearing purple clothes with red belts and purple hats with red feathers, work out at Curves and secretly meet at the senior center where we plan our next job. We go out in groups pretending we're attending a luncheon but we're really scoping out our next unsuspecting victim who forgot to lock their vehicle, swoop in using our secret gang signs, over power the victim with our oblivion causing scent of heavy perfume and make off with anything of value. Once we are through we hide out in the men's bathroom where we change into street clothes, wash off the perfume and heavy make-up and bag up the loot. We take the bling to "the boss" who sells it on E-Bay and we divide up the profits.

Beware: There may be a chapter of ABBYS operating in your area!

Me too, at all times every single door in my house is locked and when I am in the car driving or parked, its all locked up.

Im afraid of something Adrian isnt...mayonnaise.

I think we should ask Adrian about that.

I dont like yogurt. It's a little too... Alive. Or something like that. It's hart to put in to words but I could no more take a bite of yogurt than bite a hunk out of a live pig. Maybe, if I thought it had been cooked? I dont know, but I know it's not for me.

Mayonnaise, hunh? Does that include Miracle Whip? Because I could live without Mayo if I have Miracle Whip.

-M

Miracle Whip included.

PAGING DOCTOR KROGER!!!

<chuckles> Sorry. A simple joke from a simple mind. But... on the jar it says it's a salad dressing. Probably doesnt matter what they call it though, hunh?

Or... Are you afraid of Salad Dressings? Because French is like Mayo, kinda, but what about a nice vinigrette?

Hers my list:
Mayo
dentist
large spiders
needles
bananas
bees
germs
White milk (I love chocolate milk though)
complete darkness (like you cant see your hand in front of your face)
Everything about the beach (especially salt water and sand)
large dogs (like the big vicious ones that attack people)
snakes
roller coasters that go upside down
spam (dont ask)
tap water (it horrible)
seafood (except shrimp, seafood makes me sick)
ferris wheels
sharks
eels
jellyfish
piranas
Michael Jackson
and many more


should I call Dr. Kroger?

I have some social phobias. I have a lot of difficulty going up to a person and introducing myself. I always think people aren't going to like me. Ironically, I have no problem with public speaking, and have taught and spoken to some fairly large groups. Strange.

I also used to be somewhat agoraphobic (I couldn't go out alone) although that's somewhat better now.

I have a fear of telephones. I hate having to use a telephone. I'll put off making a call forever, and my stomach will be all twisted up when I have to do so.

I fear medicines. I take the minimum and try to treat things with food. I'll drink coffee to try to cure a headache for example. If you stay away from caffeine otherwise, it works!

I had one doctor who thought I was phobic of onions and garlic. I get a reaction that is similar to a panic attack. She dropped that theory when I started getting hives. I'm actually sensitive to sulfites, so I'm now always reading labels and agonizing over food additives.

I refuse to eat mushrooms, and all shellfish. I think people who eat these things are playing a sad game of Russian roulette.

I dont think you need him. He's expensive anyway. I cant do roller coasters either. Last time I was on one I was an absolute child, tiny, and my brain just shortcuts across all reason to knowing, for absolute and certain, that despite the efforts of everyone involved, NO rollercoaster is ever so perfectly safe that I could enjoy it.

It's like jumping out of an airplane. I might only have one good jump in me. I'm lucky but not so arrogant that I'd expect my chute to open EVERY time. I'm saving my one time for when I need it.

And so, when it comes to being shot along a track as fast as I drive, with a little aluminum bar for protection, upside down and backwards... Well let's just say that's another one I'll save for when I need it. Like when a car flies off a roller coaster and knocks my car off the highway, you know?

I drink a 2-liter of cola everyday but not coffee. I keep instant in the house though b/c a cup of strong black coffee helps stop an asthma attack and has worked better in an emergency than my inhalers have.

I'm also a big believer in using topical melalucca to treat insect bites, hives and other rashes. It cured ringworm on my guinea pigs. It's best used at night b/c it has a pretty strong odor in the liquid form but the hand lotion and creams can be used during the day. It works pretty well on the allergy induced rashes I get on my hands and face.

White vinegar is also good to rub on a sunburn to take the burn out. I've used it for years on my kids and my fair-haired daughter still uses it.

I try to avoid using prescription drugs as much as possible but finally had to break down and take Xanax for my panic attacks and Lexapro for the agoraphobia. I'll probably be on the Lexapro for quite awhile but I'm weaning off the xanax and currently using half the dose I was on. That stuff is nasty and it takes me 30 days to wean off half a mg. The agoraphobia isn't bothering me much right now, at least I'm able to get out and shop and keep appointments without having someone take me or go with me.

I don't have any trouble talking to strangers or starting conversations with strangers but I'm not sure I could ever do any public speaking. I'm your opposite in that respect. I hate the sound of a phone ringing so much that I only have one phone turned on and that's upstairs where I can barely hear it. I blame the phone phobia on working in retail where the phones ring constantly and had to be answered in 3 rings or less. Ringing phones jangle my nerves at home but I could handle them at work.

kees/sue

You see, I was a stage performer when I was very young. It was thought that it would get me over being shy and awkward (Laugh now - it's deserved) but I did get good at pushing that stagefright down and getting out there and doing a show - at one point I did a Jerry Lewis Telethon. I had no problem with audience size. None.

But when I walked off stage I got what i called reverse stagefright. I wasnt worried about the same things as before but now I was obsessing over what could have and almost (or did) go wrong out there. Because even though a magician can cover an error, he still knows he made it.

In short... I think I can do most anything anyone else can - anyone at all. I'm just destined to pay for it coming and going...

Hi there!

Well, I am afraid of people dressing like animals.....I will never ever visit Disneyland, I will die if I see a giant Mickey Mouse in front of me!!!
In the supermarket, whenever they make annoucements of a new product and use this merchandise, I immediately get off the supermarket. By the way, at the supermarket, I must stop the car on the right side of the main door, the entrance door, otherwise I cannot start my shopping, always from the back of it on..... And one more, if i got there to get one product only, I must pass all corridors until reach the right spot....
I have some other things, but not for now...later maybe....

hugs

michele

In Mr. Monk goes Back to School, he tries not to step on the cracks of the pathway they (Sharona and the principal/classmate of Trudy's school) were walking on.

I'm like that too, I try not to step on cracks or lines on the road... it's not like I believe in the "you step on a crack, you break your mother's back" thing, I just do it. I can't really explain it.

Not sure if this is an OCD thing or some other issue but I have an aversion to watches and jewelry. I've had a couple watches in my life but I always carried them in a pocket. I've been married once but I've never had a wedding ring. I don't like having, you know, things on me. I've had two or three necklaces in my life when I was in my teens and never could get used to it. A watch sweats, it's binding, and I found myself continually fiddling with it. I can remember having a ring once in my life--also around my teens--same thing...sweaty, binding, I kept fiddling with it. I went through the whole wedding ring thing with my ex-husband. "But other men won't know you're married." My retort was that other men don't need to know I'm married--I do, and if I don't, rings come off. Married people take rings off all the time and stray. It guarantees nothing and it's a waste of money. By the end of it, I had won the argument. Not only did I get out of it, but he decided not to get a ring either. He was in a lot of debt before we even met and I managed to convince him to put the money on one of his bills.

I can't have anything on me except regular clothes. No jewelry, no watches. There's also the money aspect of it. They're not functional items. They don't DO anything. My family grew up dirt poor. My brain just can't reconcile spending more than a hundred dollars on anything that doesn't have a cord or a steering wheel. rofl. I get an ugly case of "buyer's remorse" on anything pricey--I get physically ill. I've had entire meals come back up--almost anything eaten at a restaurant with garnishes on the plate. My stomache knots up and I start shaking. Sometimes the food was good, sometimes bad. It didn't matter--I knew how much it cost. It doesn't matter whether I'm the treater or the treatee--I can deal with the occasional steak house or the chinese buffet. That's as far as it goes. There's just no such thing as a $20 dollar pork chop and my brain knows that.

I think makeup is an extension of the whole "feeling encumbered" thing--I can feel it on my skin and constantly fight the urge to wipe it off. It feels like a thick layer of sweat. I was in my late teens, just starting college, when I tried the whole makeup thing and I lasted two weeks. I have to walk around every single day for the rest of my life with this goop on my face? Not! I can tolerate hand lotion--that's it. I do use hair spray but that's not something I can feel on my skin. I tried carrying a purse, again, in my teens--I hated it more than anything else. I have to carry this thing around with me everywhere I go? Not! I don't carry more than I can fit into my pockets, which is my wallet, money, ID cards, important pieces of paper, the occasional postage stamp...that's about it. I have to be clean and unencumbered. Maniacally so.

You know, I don't wear jewelry or watches either. I used to, but was never gaga over them. I wore a wedding ring for a couple of years, and then developed some kind of wierd fungal infection. I still have a scar where my wedding ring was, and haven't worn it since.

I don't wear a lot of makeup either. Does something strange to my complexion. I went for a free makeover years ago. They put stuff on, and took it off, and tried again 2-3 times. Almost anything they put on me (and they try to put on as much as possible so they can convince you that you need it) made me look like a cheap hooker. I usually just powder my nose. I use hairspray too.

I also developed an aversion to shiny synthetic fabrics.

This is the third time I've posted on this topic between two different threads. The more I think on it, the more issues I realize I have. No wonder my son calls me Monk. I won't drink or eat after anyone else. That includes relatives--even my son. There's another one. Okay, guess I need meds.

snakes
spiders
small spaces
crawl spaces
sharing food/drinks
and one that hasn't been mentioned on Monk- TRAIN HOBOS! they murder ppl with axes (true story it was in the newspaper the guy stoped right before he got to our town, and I live near the tracks, work too, after dark! waaaaaaaa!)

OK, that was something my grandfather, an agoraphobe, game me a healthy fear of -- hobos. When I was a child, we lived near this area where hobos lived in the depression, and my grandfather always told me stories of them, and to be careful of them. The only thing was I was born in '65.

But he also warned me about hippies. For years I was afraid of denim.

Hobos and hippies. I was soooooo born for Monk.

O my gosh. Train hobos! I lived on a street that dead-ended at a marsh and on the other side of the marsh was the train tracks. All us kids were warned about hobos because they did come through the marsh looking for odd jobs, hand outs, food, etc. I never saw one but my mom remembered them. I was born in 1944 but my sisters were born in '32 and '34 so it was always a warning every parent gave their child. We all went in the house when the street lights came on in summer.

OMG -- I had a similar experience when I was a kid. I was born in '64, so this had to be in the early 70's. Our backyard butted up against thick woods, beyond that was a brook and then train tracks. You could always hear the faint noise of the train coming. Every night around 6 the train went by and the older boys on the block told my sisters and me that it was the "hobo train." They said the train stopped and the hobos got off and would wander around the neighborhood, killing people. Every night when we heard the train we would stop what we were doing and run like hell to get inside where it was safe. To this day when I am at my parents and I hear the train, a chill goes up my spine. I told my kids the story and now when they hear the train, they say "here comes the hobo train."

Coincidentally, our backyard butted up against thick woods, but our street ended up at the Erie Canal. No trains in sight. I guess these were canal hobos. I'm not sure how they differ from train hobos.

You don`t need meds. for this one, it is just good common sense. My parents did not allow my brothers` and me to eat or drink after anyone, so many illnesses get passed around this way. I try to avoid danger and germs. When my children were growing up, I was so afraid harm would come to them. In the afternoon, I could barley cook supper, I was always walking the neigborhood checking up on the kids, making sure that no one had kidnapped them. It was a real pain in the neck for them. I still call my now grown children to give them weather reports, I tell them if there has been a crime commited in their neigborhood, I tell my daughter not to walk her dogs without her husband going with her. I tell my 37 year old son not to go on his bike rides after dark. You get the picture. My Dad was just like this. It would take a whole book to explain all of these fears.

I have phobias or better word fears but I don't let them stop me from living my life. I do straighten pictures on the wall if they look crooked but it is not something I have to do and I am certainly not obsessed with keeping my room clean spotless. My parents would say that I have an obsession with things and collecting and if that is an obsession it is one that I enjoy. IMO

I don't know if it'd be considered a phobia, but I have this really strange anxiety of talking on phones. My mum will tell me to call someone to see when something is scheduled and I start getting an anxiety attack until she finally calls them. I have some sort of anxiety probelem and acute paranoia... Or atleast it seems that way sometimes.

!chik!

You're not alone. I do the same thing. Only I don't have my mother to make calls for me anymore. (Sometimes I can get my hubby to do it, but not always) So I have to do it, but I can feel my stomach starting to tighten up, and I put it off as long as possible. Sometimes I pace. It's mostly outgoing calls that I have a problem with. I can usually answer the telephone, but sometimes even that bothers me too.

This phobia can wax and wane. There've been times when it has gotten better to the point that I hardly notice it. Sometimes it helps if I write down everything I know I want to say ahead of time. (It makes me think of Adrian and all his little note cards) But it does help.

Telephonophobia - fear of telephones.

lol. I should try that with the notecards. I mean, if the answering machine pops up I'm fine. But, you know, even if I'm talking to one of my closest friends on the phone I just get all nervous. I don't know. I'll try "the cards" next time.

!chik!

i have to have everything even like everything i eat and touch has to be a even amount i also have gephyrophobia- fear of bridges i also think i have many others so yeah!

I love Monk, he is so much like me in so many ways!
I cant stand any typos, my hand writing always has to be as close to
perfect as it can be, all of the things on my shelves are the same size,
like I have a shelf for each set of things of different heights. Absolutely
everything HAS to be straight especially frames also pens and such on
my desk. Monk is basically my OCD hero!

Anyway, thats all i have to say.

Also I love the number 22 because it is 11 twice which is just two
even and parallel lines. i always count things into 22's. or eights,
because they're two even circles atop of each other.

All right. I have an absolute aversion to folding covers or pages or breaking spines of paperback books. I have read the first three Monk books and when I put them down at the end they looked exactly like they did when I bought them: brand new.

I do know where this came from. When I was in elementary school I brought a favorite book to show and tell and when my teacher saw the busted up and drawn in condition of the book she gave me a good talking to about abusing books.

That's my thing.

Hi, im from Argentina so my spanish is not that well...
I found myself very similar to Monk... for example:
I have an obssesion with the times, i have to eat at 12 pm, have a tea at 5: pm... i never use green soaps, i never tread the lines in the floor. I have "routine" after i got shower... i use alcohol in my hands everytime...i clean all my room class, i order the chairs and tables in the school i do the same trip walkin from my school to home since 4 years ago...
well... thats me... i hope you can understand me

Germs! This is my BIGGEST phobia. I wash my hands all the time and use alcohol after it. If I touch something or someone's hands I just can't use that hand (or part of the body) before I wash them (and use alcohol). It's an obessesion, really. But it's just inside my routine that I consider it Normal.
And, there's something more: If someone coughs or snezees beside me, I just stop breathing. And run for an open place with fresh air. This can be a big problem. I don't hnow what I would do if I were in an elevator and it happened, for example in the first level and I had to wait until I got to the last one. How many minutes can someone survive without breathing??

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find a lot more of these things the more I watch Monk.

I am deathly afraid of both heights and water. I can't even step on a footstool. All the lights in my house are lamps; I won't have any ceiling lights because I wouldn't be able to get on a chair to change them; pretty much anything that takes my feet off the ground I get dizzy. Which means I also have a hard time getting my hair cut or being in a doctor's chair (I know, I know I won't fall out, but I'm still really uncomfortable). With water, let's just say I had a traumatic experience when I was younger and as a result I can't get into water that's mid-shin and above.

I wouldn't say I'm afraid of the dark, but I'm afraid of pitch-blackness where you can't see a hand in front of your face.

Spiders (especially when they're hanging)

Bees

Any kind of bug except for butterflies and ladybugs

Snakes

Ants, especially if there's a group of them on the ground (like they found something sweet on the ground).

Escalators

Elevators (if I'm alone)

I'm a bit claustrophobic

Everything has to be straight and if it isn't I freak out.

I definitely have phobias and obsessions like Monk. I have a major fear of falling. I don't think this one really exists because I've never been able to find a name for it or any information about it. I have a tendency to trip and fall (usually landing on my knees), a lot, which is embarrassing in itself. Most of the time this happens on flat ground, which makes it worse. Seattle has a lot of hills but so far, not too many hills on those.

It's weird, because if I do feel myself starting to fall, or if I do fall down, I get this panic attack thing. My heart starts pounding, and sometimes I will feel nauseated or even start crying.

I noticed this tonight. I keep a pill box in my purse and keep aspirin in it, instead of using the regular bottle. It has eight compartments, and I always check to make sure that each one has the same number of pills in it! If one has more, I will take the extra out and take those first.

I LOVE to straighten things on shelves in stores. I think it's called "Facing" the shelves. I had a job once where I got paid barely enough to live, but I loved it because most of my job consisted of facing and restocking shelves. I have to keep myself from straightening things on shelves at Costco and so forth, since I don't work there, but it bothers me when I see a big box of a product that only has a few items in it. I don't understand why they can't take the few items out and put them in with a new box to make them look full!

Andrea

I have minor OCD, like someone else said (and what my signature says), the pictures on the wall HAVE to be straight. I straighten them all the time. I pick up litter sometimes, because I can't stand that. Not too many other ticks, though. But I can relate!

Virg

I was diagnosed with OCD years ago before it really even had a name, but thankfully I am nowhere near as bad as Monk (at least I don't think I am ). Counting is the major thing for me. I will count everything. I have to check that my front door is locked 6 times at night before I can go to bed. I have to have all of the doors in my house shut. If you want to freak me out, go into the kitchen and leave one of the cabinet doors half way open. I can't hang pictures in my house because I would spend way too much time straightening them everyday. Those are just a few, I won't bore you with anymore.

Nothing scares me. I have a husband and children/grandchildren. Ok, bad joke.

When I first started watching Monk, I was soooo happy. I always thought that having OCD meant you went to the extremes (socks in baggies, etc.) but then I researched it a bit and found that you can have varying degrees. Some of the things I thought were "crazy" is actually a form of OCD.
I've discussed most of my phobias on other threads, but my biggest is (I can barely say it)

SPIDERS

I live on a farm (not sure if these are limited to farm-type places, but I never saw one until I moved out here.) Anyway, we get these huge brown things that just scare the begibbers out of me. Daughter swears they are the brown recluse. While they look very similar, I doubt it. I do, however, smash them to smithereens the very second I see them, and flush them. Just to make sure they never come back to get me for breaking their legs.

Meme

OMG Meme I am with you on this one!!! I think spiders are my only true phobia. I will break out in hives if I come into contact with one. I can't even bring myself to smash them. I go grab my cat and he will hunt it down and kill it for me. LOL I think they are evil little buggers. I came into contact with a brown recluse a couple of years ago and still haven't recovered. Make sure those brown spiders are not brown recluses because you'll be in deep pain should you be bitten by one, their venom is very potent.

*shudders* Okay I gotta stop talking about this.

I have several. To name a few..

-most social situations
-mice
-almost all insects
-germs (that's a big one)
-dying
-emitted stomach contents (I don't like saying the word..)
-hospitals (especially being inside of one and the smell)

I definitely have some phobias and obsessions like Monk.

I do not drink milk,
I do not like crowds,
I hate insects,
I am afraid of dying (in spite of my young age).
I like everything in order,
I check my doors if they're closed before I go to bed,
...


I've got more - I've got OCD (maybe not on the same level as have Monk, but still it's OCD).