How to differentiate autism and ocd?

@ezzieorsomething all that to say me liking jpop for 30 years is me having autistic monotropic interest and me having a compulsion to "always make sure my door is locked" is OCD. however they can both look similar in certain ways. because they both can cause rigidity and immovable preferences.

@ezzieorsomething Thank you. I would say I recognise ocd in myself more than Autism. The hard thing is I have mostly mental compulsion (pure o). And I told my mental health nurse a very small part about my ocd (specifically harm) and they cannot diagnose me but they wanna hear more. I felt discouraged to though as they stated talking about how everyone has intrusive thoughts and they may think it’s just my autism. They don’t even know I have that either, they just highly suspect. But for years, since I was a little girl I have lived in fear terrified to tell intrusive thoughts until this year I came across a video explaining ocd and how you literally cannot move on to intrusive thoughts until it becomes an obsessions for weeks/months/years. I also realised years ago they distressed me and it was maybe just my anxiety getting really bad. But leaning about ocd made me feel more accepted knowing others suffer too.

@suenna367 I don't think the nurse you talked to doesn't understands autism very well. Autism has no preoccupation with harm or is really related anxiety. Autism can cause sensory overwhelm and meltdowns, which isn't the same thing at all. and autistic people can get anxiety from having to mask. When I said "everyone has intrusive thoughts' i didn't mean that as dismissal. i just meant the mechanism of OCD is that you cannot get rid of the intrusive thoughts. they feel sticky if that makes sense. the way my intrusive thoughts are for me is i can get stuck in loops for days trying to resolve a thought. i don't necessarily look for reassurance from others, wash my hands or do any overt rituals. (other than maybe checking the door to make sure i locked that but that's not a primary compulsion of mine) and that is still ocd. My ocd started around when I was 7 around existential and religious themes. so experiencing it since you are young is normal for ocd. When you are ruminating on an idea, theme, or "what-if" scenario for days months years, that can be OCD. no overt rituals need to be involved. Like sometimes my compulsion is just to repeat a thought to see if it feels "just right". obviously, I can't tell you for sure whether you are or aren't, since i'm not a clinician. What makes the nurse think it's autism? if you feel like sharing

@ezzieorsomething Well I before I had ever spoken about ocd, mental health professionals have suspected autism due to my socialising issues and finding it hard to make friends etc. it’s taken years to spot it because I’m very high masking. They’re quite certain. So when I mentioned the ocd, he wanted to mention that it could just be autism. Because of certain ‘rituals’ he said for example an autistic person might flip a light switch a certain number of times because they think something bad is going to happen (I don’t do that btw). When I mentioned the harm theme, I felt it was the most appropriate theme to mention and to be taken seriously enough. But he explained that everyone has intrusive thoughts like that, I tried to argue and say they were sudden and it repeated for a few weeks and scared me a lot. And that I constantly argue with my own mind to say it’s not true. I’d say I’m out of that theme now, as it constantly switches. And, I wouldn’t say I have many physical compulsions beside hand washing, everything is mostly mental. It started that way. It distressed me for years and I could never understand why I never felt 100% certain over my fears. I realised it’s most likely because ocd makes it hard to feel certain. I also have MANY other themes, but I’m too scared to mention them because he claims to know about ocd, but it’s hard to open up because I would rather a specialist.

@ezzieorsomething Also, he went on to say he thinks it’s a ‘neurodevelopmental’ thing? Idk wth he means. Isn’t ocd neurodivergent too? I have a family history of both autism and ocd. So I wouldn’t see why he would be discouraged to say it’s not. He only heard 5 minutes worth of my story. (Ngl it’d take daysss).

@suenna367 Yes, autism, say in the DSM V (the diagnostic manual for psychology that most clinicians reference) is listed as a 'neurodevelopmental disorder'. Whereas OCD is listed in it's own categories of OCD and related disorders (a bit seperated from anxiety related disorders because it has different neurology behind it but it used to be considered an anxiety disorder in the DSM IV). And people in neurodivergent communities debate on whether OCD is an nd or not. personally i think if you have ocd you also are neurodivergent, but i consider neurodivergencies things you can be born with, or things you can acquire like PTSD. because someone with ptsd brain works different than a neurotypical baseline if that make sense.

@ezzieorsomething oops one thing i didn't explain much is the stimming and the sensory needs. which stimming can look like ocd compulsions if include large motor movements. but you were talking about pure o which is why i didn't think about it. but like say for my sensory stuff i'm very sensitive to sound and have to wear headphones outside and certain textures cause a visceral reaction. i would say the sensory experience is key in autism. a lot of people focus on "social issues' but some people with autism don't even notice or care they have social differences and have no self-consciousness about their differences at all.

@ezzieorsomething Yes, this might sound weird but I’ll say it anyway 😂. Since I was young I used to make animal noises like cat meowing. I realised this can be an autistic vocal stim, I also crack my knuckles which can apparently be one too, I often repeat words. I unknowingly did this. I also walk on my toes which is apparently a neurodivergent thing. I didn’t think I had autism until it was pointed out by my mother and medical professionals suspected it by just having a conversation with me. I’m also sensitive to things that seem loud to me but not to others. In conclusion I think I have both. It’s just because my mental health nurse wanted to be cautious as he cannot diagnose and said that some rituals can be autism - like flicking the light a certain amount of times because something bag will happen. Though I haven’t done that, that was just an example by my mental health nurse. I’m just scared to open up as of course I know they know a bit about it but they don’t specialise.

@suenna367 Yeah, definitely! (not weird at all, lol. meowing like a cat is fun )I was evaluated for autism for those exact reasons toe walking, hand flapping. etc. i also make strange repetitive sounds or phrases (echolalia) i mostly said the intrusive worries weren't related to autism. but yeah I agree it can be both (considering i have both and adhd as well). i hope i made it clear that i was just disagreeing with possibly autism and ocd, just with that nurse you spoke to saying intrusive worries were "probably autism". to put it under your autism isn't helpful to your possible OCD.

@ezzieorsomething Thank you :) I thought this too