Dear Sofioula:

You are welcome. I too was diagnosed with OCD. The diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is different from the diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (that “stereotypical super agitated perfectionist” that you mentioned). These are two separate diagnoses.

Both diagnoses as well as most mental diagnoses have this in common: anxiety= an over-stimulation, or over arousal of our nerve cells/ connections. Each diagnosis is about grouping the many expressions/ symptoms of anxiety into groups, and calling this group X and the other group Y, and so on.

It is not that you were born with OCD. We are not born with any one of the hundreds of diagnoses available in such a book as the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders (DSM), we suffer from anxiety in our childhood and we develop this symptom and then the  other symptom, and over time we end up with a group of symptoms. When you see a doctor or a therapist, he or she makes a list of our existing symptoms and decides which group of symptoms aka diagnosis fits you.

Feel free to post again anytime!

anita