Compulsive email checking? - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Message Board

k_2005 · 02-13-2007, 12:28 PM

Okay, so I seem to have this strange obsession with checking my email all the time. If I am sitting at my computer trying to do homework, I often do not get much accomplished because I have to continually check my email. If I do not check it, I feel like I am missing something and it makes me anxious. In addition, I also feel the need to read and re-read the same email several times. I will close out of it, then go back to it and read it again. Also, when I send an email, I have to go back and re-read it several times, even re-reading it well after it has already been sent. If I am expecting an email from someone, I will check my inbox repeatedly until I receive it, clicking the 'refresh' button over and over again.

Does this sound like OCD?

firenice · 02-14-2007, 12:15 AM

Yes, it does. However I would wonder if it just happens when you are at the computer doing homework; that is, might it be connected to the homework as a means of avoidance in which case it's less ocd and more avoidance. Both aren't terribly productive. Is this a recent development or has it been going on for some time? How are you dealing with it?

k_2005 · 02-14-2007, 08:41 AM

Hello:

I am more tempted to do it when I am actually sitting at the computer. However, even if I am away from the computer, I still have to come back to it. Even if I am on campus, I have to find a computer in-between classes to check and re-check. I have seen a therapist in the past, but that was mostly for other anxiety-related issues. I remember we talked about OCD at one point, but the therapist was not completely sure if I had it or not, and I do not remember if she diagnosed OCD. I think I may have OCD tendancies elsewhere as well, but I just wanted to know if this was one of them.

I have been doing it for a long time, but I have never really thought about it as OCD before. I have been trying to set limits on it, like only checking three times a day--morning, afternoon, and night. That works as long as I make a very conscious effort.

I have also had an eating disorder, and I think I may have had a bit of an OCD component to it. For example, I had (and sometimes still have) a ritualized eating schedule in which I would eat three meals of X number of calories and three snacks of X number of calories on odd-numbered hours. Does that sound obsessive-compulsive?

Thank you!

firenice · 02-14-2007, 11:32 AM

Ya, it all sounds like OCD. There are a couple of things you can do to help minimize the tendencies. One, do a bit of research and begin to practice what is called mindfulness meditation. Also do some net research on cognitive behavior therapy and rational emotive therapy both of which are effective in dealing with OCD. There is a lot of information on the net freely available and there are some books available also. You may also want to consider seeing a therapist again, find one that is familiar with cognitive behavior therapy.

dannic1 · 02-14-2007, 07:11 PM

Dont' feel bad or alone. I have noticed that when I'm at work or on my home computer, I find myself checking a lot to see if I have received any new emails. I didn't even associate it with OCD until it ocurred to me the other day that the email checking and OCD might possibly be related.

danni