I have a few... well, more than a few...
Does this sound more like OCD than autism? I'm convinced that I have OCD but I'm not diagnosed.
Weird quirks:
- I don't like different foods to touch each other, for the most part. I have posted pics of my food on here that probably show this lol
Conflicting flavors/textures will probably make me gag. I don't have a lot of tactile sensitivities except for food textures.
- I can't sleep in total silence. I use a professional-grade white noise machine and I can't sleep without it. Sometimes in addition to that I sleep with the TV or Youtube on.
- I sleep with my arm around a pillow. I can't sleep if I'm not hugging someone/something. Although it has been years since it has been a "someone" and I've never had a serious partner.
- I can't do anything else in the morning until I have brushed my teeth. I hate the feeling of having a dirty mouth and I would be mortified if I left the house without brushing and flossing first.
Going along with this theme, I chew gum after every meal.
- I take a lot of medications (mostly for non-psychiatric conditions) and I always take them in a specific order starting with the biggest pills.
- I get dressed in a specific order too after taking a shower. It always has to be in the exact same order. Underwear, then bra, then pants, then shirt (but deodorant and allergy-sensitive perfume/cologne before shirt. I have hyperhidrosis and I feel vulnerable without odor protection although I do have skin allergies and eczema.)
- The only thing I am ever 100% in the mood to eat is spicy food. And I mean super spicy. If I don't have any spicy food in my house I will just stand there looking at the fridge for a while until I find a worthy substitute.
I don't intentionally follow any specific diet but my diet is disproportionately made up of red meat, protein, seafood, and dairy.
I won't eat most things without condiments.
- I have to listen to music while I clean my house. If I have music on while I'm cleaning, I deep-clean everything obsessively and it takes less than two hours to do the entire house.
- The books on my bookshelf are all in a very specific order and if I'm missing a book I notice it immediately and it will annoy me until I find it and put it back.
- I have multiple pairs of glasses and I don't like to wear the same ones every day so I alternate them. I also won't drive, watch TV or use the computer without glasses.
- The clothes in my closet are color-coded and organized by style (short sleeve, long sleeve, button-down, collared, hoodies, jeans, pajamas, different types of coats, etc.)
- I think I may have posted about this in a special interest thread but I don't think I've ever posted a picture. I collect sneakers. I have at least 60+ pairs of sneakers, and yes, I do wear all of them, and they have to match my outfit. I have had some of them for over 10 years and they're still in near-perfect condition.
- I have a hard time sitting still when I'm on the phone (which isn't very often, since there are only a handful of people I will actually do voice calls with.) I pace around the house while I'm talking on the phone.
- I have over 2,000 songs and counting in my iTunes library. Some I have had since I was 9 or 10 years old. I do end up listening to all of them eventually but it takes a while. I kind of cycle through different ones at different times.
I did not pay for every single song but I wonder how much money I've sunk into this collection over the past 20 years.
Phobias:
- Airplanes... which surprises everyone considering how often I travel long distance and internationally. But I have a deep hatred of air travel and it terrifies me to the point that I have to take a sedative first. On overnight flights, I don't sleep.
I have a mild phobia of driving and public transit too, but I'm more likely to die if a plane crashes than if a car or a bus does.
- Taxidermy. Definitely a quirky and unusual phobia although I think I recall seeing a couple of other posts about that on here. I have no logical explanation for why it bothers me but it causes a panic spiral.
Last summer, I went to Maine (I go every summer), and I went into a hunting and fishing store on my way to my cabin to get dog supplies. I should've figured there would be taxidermy animals in there, but I almost backed up into a huge taxidermy grizzly bear and I think my life flashed before my eyes. It took the rest of the drive for me to calm down.
- Swimming. Especially in the ocean. I have a disability that makes me not a very strong swimmer, and people frequently laugh at me for wearing a life vest in the pool. They can laugh all they want, I would prefer not to drown.
- Large and aggressive wildlife, like bears, coyotes, mountain lions, fisher cats, etc. I don't think this requires much of an explanation.
- This one isn't really quirky or funny but I'm a survivor of abuse, bullying, torture, being held captive, and sexual assault, so I obviously have a paranoid fear of it happening again, or being shot, kidnapped, robbed, or murdered. My dogs being abused, killed, or stolen is a big fear too.
- The dark, and going outside at night.
- Not sure if this counts as a "phobia" but if I get food poisoning at a restaurant I will never eat there again, no matter how many years it's been. I can't even look at a Burger King without feeling icky.
- Being pulled over while driving or being arrested. No need to elaborate on that one.
- My house or belongings being set on fire. The latter has actually happened to me before and the former has been threatened.
- People close to me, or my dogs, dying. I have lost more pets, friends, and family member than most people my age have, but I'm still gutted every time it happens.
- Suddenly developing allergies to foods that I was not previously allergic to.
- Surgery. I recently had surgery and I think it was my 11th surgery total. It's not something I enjoy or want though and I have refused surgeries before, and have actually had some done under local anesthesia while I was awake.
That was a longer list than I expected it to be, but there you go.
