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  3. Do all programmers suffer from OCD?

Do all programmers suffer from OCD?

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  • P Paul Brower

    Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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    Simon P Stevens
    wrote on last edited by
    #30

    I check that the cooker & all the plugs are turned off before going to bed. I frequently have to do this more than once to satisfy myself it's done. I am not good at sitting still. I constantly jiggle a leg, or tap a foot while sitting at my desk. I do this a lot, at a restaurant, in the pub, in meetings etc. My wife often has to remind me to stop. I don't think it's OCD. Programming attracts a particular type of mind. So I think it's only natural you'll see lots of similar traits among programmers. I bet a lot of people here can see themselves in a lot of the traits mentioned in this[^] article.

    Simon

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    • P Paul Brower

      Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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      PTJA
      wrote on last edited by
      #31

      I always have to wash my hands _before_ eating :-) -- Jarek

      -- Jarek Andrzejewski

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      • L Lost User

        Everybody who answered "NO" is not a real programmer. ;P :laugh:

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        John M Drescher
        wrote on last edited by
        #32

        I am a real programmer at least I believe so. I have written over 500K lines of MFC code at my day job in the last 11.5 years.

        John

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        • P Paul Brower

          Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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          jchigg2000
          wrote on last edited by
          #33

          I certainly do. Here is some code from a recent program of mine. if(a==b){ if(a==b){ if(a==b){ doSomething; } } } Just kidding!

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          • R realJSOP

            Word!

            "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
            -----
            "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

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            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #34

            Excel!

            Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.

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            • P Paul Brower

              Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #35

              It's a sliding scale so at what point does negligent become careful then obsessive?

              Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.

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              • J John M Drescher

                I am a real programmer at least I believe so. I have written over 500K lines of MFC code at my day job in the last 11.5 years.

                John

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                Dave Sexton
                wrote on last edited by
                #36

                John M. Drescher wrote:

                I have written over 500K lines of MFC code at my day job in the last 11.5 years.

                Pah! Noob. ;P

                But fortunately we have the nanny-state politicians who can step in to protect us poor stupid consumers, most of whom would not know a JVM from a frozen chicken. Bruce Pierson
                Because programming is an art, not a science. Marc Clifton
                I gave up when I couldn't spell "egg". Justine Allen

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                • L Lost User

                  Not OCD, but ADHD definitely! I forget to do a lot of things and have trouble listening when people are talking to me, because I expect them to say boring things all the time, and they usually do. :-D On the other hand, when I'm playing a computer game or checking out some interesting CP article, all those troubles magically disappear. :) Oh, wait... I do have OCD behavior. When people say boring things or when I have to wait for something I also repeatedly count to 4 in my head. Sometimes I use my fingers for the same purpose.

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                  SilimSayo
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #37

                  Me too. I have a hard time listening to other people because they seem to be saying unintelligent things. I need constant stimulation else I get bored quickly. I say things that other don't immediately understand; some people will understand what I said after a week or so. I am a control freak too. I have to check everything. Many times I'm not sure that I did something, so I do again, and again.... just to really be sure.... Not good for relationships but very good for picking up errors in code and typos in resumes.

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                  • P Paul Brower

                    Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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                    hairy_hats
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #38

                    Can't respond...cleaning keyboard....cleaning...cleaning...all these germs...dirty...dirty germs...dirty...must clean keyboard...

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                    • J John M Drescher

                      I am a real programmer at least I believe so. I have written over 500K lines of MFC code at my day job in the last 11.5 years.

                      John

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                      SilimSayo
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #39

                      You definately have OCD!

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                      • S SilimSayo

                        You definately have OCD!

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                        John M Drescher
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #40

                        I don't count my lines. Since I work by myself on most projects PLC (Project Line Counter) tells me how many lines I have written. Every once and a while I check this..

                        John

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                        • J jchigg2000

                          I certainly do. Here is some code from a recent program of mine. if(a==b){ if(a==b){ if(a==b){ doSomething; } } } Just kidding!

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                          Harvey Saayman
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #41

                          jchigg2000 wrote:

                          if(a==b){ if(a==b){ if(a==b){ doSomething; } } }

                          it seems to me that JAVA has corrupted your mind :rolleyes:

                          Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL you.suck = (you.Passion != Programming & you.Occupation == jobTitles.Programmer) 1000100 1101111 1100101 1110011 100000 1110100 1101000 1101001 1110011 100000 1101101 1100101 1100001 1101110 100000 1101001 1101101 100000 1100001 100000 1100111 1100101 1100101 1101011 111111

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                          • P Pete OHanlon

                            Switch the radio off then.

                            Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.

                            My blog | My articles

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                            Single Step Debugger
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #42

                            I can’t because it’s not a radio. Our office in Huston was promoted to a submarine. So they moved all the staff (ninety people) to work here in the Jersey office for several weeks. We have a crises center for such of cases, but still the office is overloaded and the voices are everywhere. P.P: Pure people :sigh:

                            The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word. Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.

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                            • P Paul Brower

                              Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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                              swjam
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #43

                              everytime i receive a complaint from the marketing department about the website, i have to reboot it three times... also whenever i have to edit whatever i'm typing, i have to delete only those letters that will not be in the new text to conserve electrons... have a good day...

                              ---------------------------------------------------------- "unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep" - my daily unix command list

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                              • P Paul Brower

                                Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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                                James R Twine
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #44

                                Not OCD, but perhaps a very slight form of autism or Asperger’s syndrome (seriously!).    There is recent(?) research that identfies autism as a form of hyper-systemizing.  Software developers are generally systemizing types -- we look at a problem and, to varying degrees, try to fit it into a model that can be controlled and/or predicted, or we try to solve the problem by building a model that has those characteristics.    I think I read an article about it and some of the other properties/traits that help identify those people that may be well suited to engineering-related.  I think it was in EE Times last year.    Just something to think about...    Peace!

                                -=- James
                                Please rate this message - let me know if I helped or not! * * * If you think it costs a lot to do it right, just wait until you find out how much it costs to do it wrong!
                                Remember that Professional Driver on Closed Course does not mean your Dumb Ass on a Public Road!
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                                • J jchigg2000

                                  I certainly do. Here is some code from a recent program of mine. if(a==b){ if(a==b){ if(a==b){ doSomething; } } } Just kidding!

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                                  leppie
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #45

                                  You forgot the try/catch around checking for equality :doh: ;P

                                  xacc.ide - now with TabsToSpaces support
                                  IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 4a out now (29 May 2008)
                                  ((lambda (x) `((lambda (x) ,x) ',x)) '`((lambda (x) ,x) ',x))

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                                  • L leckey 0

                                    It's not really diagnosed as OCD unless if affects normal life, like you miss work because you are spending hours washing your hands. Some people just like structure and normalcy so it gives you OCD traits, but your life is really "normal." For me, I was missing school, calling in sick to my part-time job because I was spending so much time brushing my teeth.

                                    Blog link to be reinstated at a later date.

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                                    MidwestLimey
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #46

                                    Another ailment on the list? I hope you're still making lemonade :rose:

                                    Bar fomos edo pariyart gedeem, agreo eo dranem abal edyero eyrem kalm kareore

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                                    • M MidwestLimey

                                      Another ailment on the list? I hope you're still making lemonade :rose:

                                      Bar fomos edo pariyart gedeem, agreo eo dranem abal edyero eyrem kalm kareore

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                                      leckey 0
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #47

                                      I was treated as a young adult. As long as I stay on my anti-anxiety medication it doesn't really manifest itself anymore. I was brushing my teeth several times a day and starting to do enamel damage. Now I am down to 2-3 times a day; I chew gum during the day if I feel anxious. I keep toothpaste and a brush in my purse, but I haven't resorted to them in awhile. Considering my current stress level that's a really good sign.

                                      Blog link to be reinstated at a later date.

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                                      • P Paul Brower

                                        Many people I know would say I suffer from some sort of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - for anyone not familiar with the term). I have never been 'diagnosed', nor have I ever sought any kind of treatment or medication, because I just consider myself to have a few behavioral quirks. An example of some of my quirks are: - I have to lock my vehicle (with remote) three times. - I check my alarm clock a few times before going to bed. - I have to get up at a certain time, be off to work at a certain time, etc, or I have a bad day. - I have to wash my hands immediately after eating at a public place. - ... you get the idea. Looking back at my life, I realized I never had 'OCD issues' before I was a programmer. Looking at other programmers around me I realize many, if not most of them, display characteristics that some would attribute to a form of OCD. Do you have OCD? Do you think it could have anything to do with writing code for so many years?

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                                        Brady Kelly
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #48

                                        I'm not happy unless both my monitors are equally spaced and angled with their vertex at the centre of my keyboard. :)

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                                        • L leppie

                                          - cant sleep without a TV on - wear a cap before I even get dressed till I go sleep

                                          xacc.ide - now with TabsToSpaces support
                                          IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 4a out now (29 May 2008)
                                          ((lambda (x) `((lambda (x) ,x) ',x)) '`((lambda (x) ,x) ',x))

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                                          Brady Kelly
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #49

                                          leppie wrote:

                                          wear a cap before I even get dressed till I go sleep

                                          You mean all the time? :laugh:

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