Chacham's Journal: Verbiage: NT OCD rituals/Question: Do you have any rituals?

In Survival Games Personalities Play, the author mentions NT games. One of them being what she dubs "Superstition". The NT plays six variants of the Robot game, the most scary probably being Haunted (where the NT imagines doing bad things to the one's he loves, in extreme cases such as killing a cherished child or spouse). Superstition seems pretty interesting. I think it's a misnomer, though it really doesn't matter. Here's her definition.

The game of Superstition is one in which Robot players may go to extremes to avoid something--like germs. The Superstition player may refuse to touch doorknobs, steering wheels, or other objects with their bare hands. These players may also avoid particular places, situations, people, or things. In addition on to, or instead of avoiding things, Superstition players may engage in repetitive rituals--like cleaning, counting, or chanting. They may also exhibit facial tics, or other repetitive body movements. Examples of Superstition are the man who washes his hands one hundred times a day, or the child who spits on each shoulder and then repeats certain phrases to herself before she enters any room.

I was discussing this with a friend (INTP) who said he thinks all NTs have a mild form of OCD. And with that, we were talking about rituals we each have.

I check my doors at night to make sure they are locked. Usually at least three times, and in a very specific way. First i lock the doorknob (which turns on the inside even when locked) and the deadbolt, i try opening the door, and i move my hand in front of me to make sure the thingy on the knob is flat, and on the deadbolt is slanted in the correct direction. I never believe myself, so i end up doing this a few times. Then, find other door and basically repeat. While what i am doing has some basis in reality, it's overwhelmingly irrational.

This happened more when i was younger. If i turned too many times in one direction (such as turning a corner) i would imagine an internal spring was being wound up, and *had* to be unwound at some point. As such, every once in a while i would spin in the other direction to "unwind". Even today i do this to some extent, especially when pacing back and forth. I try to equalize my turns in either direction.

When putting on hand lotion, i usually rub it around, and wrap my right hand on my left thumb and twist, then the same to the next finger, and so on until the pinky. After that, the left hand does the right hand from pinky to thumb. Then repeat in reverse order. If i break to order, i become agitated.

Being Slashdot users are probably mostly N, a good deal will be NTs, and likely have this issue. Do you? What are your rituals?

no

[SolemnDragon]

i can't say that i have this issue. I've examined and re-examined every aspect of my daily life, and i would say that my two times putting on lotion were nromal, and my three sneezes today seem average and my rings have all been rotated properly, the 47 sips of water i drank were normal, as were.... oh. right. Never mind.

All kidding aside, i really don't have this issue or others like it. I check to make sure the iron's turned off when i leave home, but only when i've been using it, and only because i lef

Re:no

[Chacham]

And who said you were an NT? :)

These are only problems when the person is using them to distract his own attention away from where he thinks he is doing poorly.

Other than the sysadmin's habitual 'ls'?

[KshGoddess]

I don't think I have too many rituals, per se. I put my shoes on right-foot left-foot, but I think that's more habit. It doesn't upset me to do the other way 'round...

I sometimes think I check my email too often, though I'm trying to break myself of the once-every-15-minute-ssh-'home' routine.

Re:Other than the sysadmin's habitual 'ls'?

[Chacham]

I sometimes think I check my email too often, though I'm trying to break myself of the once-every-15-minute-ssh-'home' routine.

That's not too hard for me. I check more often just so my session doesn't time out. :-P

However, checking slashdot mesages. Now that's important......

Leaving a trail

[superyooser]

I also sometimes imagine that I'm leaving a string behind wherever I go. When I'm walking, and even when I'm driving. I imagine it starting from the time I was born when my umbilical cord was cut. Ever since, I've been making my own path - laying down a string. Sometimes it bothers me if I drive taking one route to a destination, but come back a different route. Like you said, the string isn't being "unwound." However, these thoughts don't actually affect which way I go. I recognize them as irrational and i

Re:Leaving a trail

[Chacham]

Sometimes it bothers me if I drive taking one route to a destination, but come back a different route. Like you said, the string isn't being "unwound."

Heh. Now, if i only had a pair of scissors......

However, these thoughts don't actually affect which way I go. I recognize them as irrational and ignore them.

They affect me slightly. Though, i do ignore them mostly. Except the doorknobs. Can't forget the doorknobs..... :)