Routine is my bf!

[Mamafear]

I get very uncomfortable with changes in my routine and with being away from home for too long, and find it extremely stressful knowing that there is an upcoming event I have to attend, especially after midday. Are you a stickler for routine or do you go with the flow? I'm guessing we're all routine junkies....

[catlynn]

Yes, I am like that too. I especially hate last minutes in change. I need to know ahead of time or it sets off the anxiety. If I have an upcoming event I always worry
that someone will get sick while I am there. Once there sometimes I can't wait to leave! Partially because I am not good socially and of course the emet too.

[rileysmom]

I am the opposite because if i try to plan something I'm afraid illness will screw it up. I have little daily routines but they are more habits without thinking.

[Jessmonkey]

I'm a mixture. Part routine part last minute. I don't like to plan to far ahead in case Im ill. But at the same time I like to know what I'm doing. I don't like surprises but will make last minute decisions to travel for 2 hours by public transport to see my mum. I use to be very OCD about routine but nothing is perfect so I stopped trying to stick to it.

[scaredsick]

I am very routine! Partly because being a single working mom I have to be, but also because changes throw me off and make me crazy! I am not good at spontaneous things as they make me very nervous!

[ricci]

Routine is my bf too, i used to feel anxiety when i have to commit a change but now i have anxiety 24hrs a day even if I'm in my comfort zone, so its very hard for me to break that routine since i cant do anything now and always tired!
I wish u the best and hope u get to break this routine, find fun stuff to do before u become like me lol
Gd luck!

[jennjt]

Hmmm, I have been thinking about this and am just not sure! I'm very routine with certain things, like my food, for example, or my work outs. I freak out, though, planning things in advance, because like others have said, fear of me or my family being sick or letting someone down if I'm having a "panicky" moment. Plus, if I commit to something, I totally stress about it beforehand-- when it comes to social things, I suppose I'm better being spontaneous. I start feeling restless and "unfulfilled" when I find myself in a Groundhog Day situation... Like, I'm just going through the motions? Interesting question, though. I'm going to have to reflect on it a bit more

[Mamafear]

I've just figured out where the OCD stuff comes from! Our son recently had some bad news re his health, and within days I was more anxious, and if I look back, some compulsive habits turned up around then. When my Mum got sick, I immediately adopted a new routine, which was actually a bunch of new compulsions, and when my daughter fell ill two days ago, I was actually aware of doing it, it was a question of making a new set of rules (added to the compulsions I have.) to keep us all safe. Crazy really! I wonder how much of each day is taken up with these routines...I hadn't eve realized what they were until I came on here!

[socitycourty]

I'm kind of both....I do suffer from panic disorder/agoraphobia so I really have trouble going far/long from home, I have certain places where I go and that's really it.

Now that I'm not working and just watching the baby all day my days are very different, sometimes it's so repetitive and then I just started having obsessive thoughts and things get worse

[Mamafear]

Socitycourty do you actually enjoy cleaning and making things shiny and ordered? Every time something stressful happens in my life, (anything from a child looking paler than usual to a jet liner landing on our house, I step up my cleaning routine which makes me feel really good because we're safer. All the wee compulsive things I feel I need to do are good, (although time consuming) because they feel like little 'good luck charms'.

[socitycourty]

Socitycourty do you actually enjoy cleaning and making things shiny and ordered? Every time something stressful happens in my life, (anything from a child looking paler than usual to a jet liner landing on our house, I step up my cleaning routine which makes me feel really good because we're safer. All the wee compulsive things I feel I need to do are good, (although time consuming) because they feel like little 'good luck charms'.

yesssssssss.......me too

[hershegal]

I just began the feeling of not wanting to go out of my home. It is terrible. I have never had this before a trauma I had last year. I understand the not wanting to go far from home and break in the routine. This is the first time in my 49 years that I have had severe panic and emetophobia that is disabling me. I am happy that I found this site. I was beginning to feel isolated.

[jennjt]

Mamafear, I love making things clean and shiny and orderly... I have decided that my mind feels calmer when my surroundings are in order . And hershegal, I can totally empathize. I was like that in December and January and the early part of Feb. Basically agoraphobic for the first time in 31 years. It was awful. I figured out that a new medicine was contributing to it, as well as the "sickness season" and holidays. I rode it out with the support of family and here, on the boards. I also changed Meds, which has helped a lot. I'm going out & about again and living "normally," but still following my rituals...

[wiscomommy]

For those of you that like to make things clean and shiny...oh, please come to my house. Hahahaha!!!! I get OCD about stuff being in order, but I rarely have time to clean. With four children, a full-time job, being in recovery, and JUST DAILY LIFE, I strive for routine, although usually feels like I'm chasing my tail in circles! LOL!