PTSD and OCD: Has Trauma Caused You to Become A Little Obsessive-Compulsive?

There is a relationship between PTSD and OCD, but sometimes the obsessive-compulsive behaviors sneak up on you and so it's not so obvious. Have you noticed, since your trauma, that you have new, idiosyncratic behaviors, even ones that don't make sense? Do you clean (yourself or your home) obsessively? Does everything suddenly have to be perfect?

Following a trauma, it's normal for your behavior to change in response to the new experience you've had. The question is, how do you move past that?

PTSD and OCD: Letting Go of Control

My trauma went on for hours, days and weeks. For the most part, each day was more horrific than the day before. From the very beginning, I started marking time by watching the clock. I was in too much pain for sleep, so throughout the night I watched the minutes flip by on the clock by my bedside. Later, in the hospital I watched the digital display of the clock above my bed.

By the time my trauma was over, I had a real issue with time, how it passed (quickly or slowly) and how much time passed when I was trying to fall asleep. Back at home, I developed an obsession with time. I bought a ridiculous number of watches (wrist, necklace, pin) and was always racing against the time. Unless it was bedtime, when the time raced me into unbearable anxiety. I watched the clock all night waiting to sleep but too anxious to do so.

To combat the anxiety at night, I began turning all the clocks in my room to face the wall. I thought if I couldn't see them, the anxiety would be reduced. However, it didn't go away. In an attempt to further reduce the anxiety every night, I began unplugging the clocks in my room. Only if time didn't exist could I relax enough to finally drift off to sleep.

You can imagine how years of this behavior entrenched a habit. And how I was at a loss for how to explain it when a boyfriend finally asked, as I moved around the room unplugging the clocks before we went to sleep, "Why do you do that every night??"

Seeing my behavior through his eyes, I could see how crazy it seemed. And yet, I couldn't stop.

Dealing with Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior and Trauma

How do we overcome the OCD tendencies trauma puts in place? There are some very specific approaches that help. For me, trauma recovery work naturally lead to a lessening and eventually an end to my clock obsession. Listen to this interview about obssessive-compulsive behavior and trauma. Recently, I spoke with Dr. Robin Zasio (from A&E's Hoarders) for ideas that you can begin implementing to combat your own OCD tendencies.

Michele is the author of Your Life After Trauma: Powerful Practices to Reclaim Your Identity. Connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and her website, HealMyPTSD.com.