Maybe you prefer your desk to be organized with folders and files, color coded tabs, and gold themed office supplies. Maybe you LOVE Christmas, or need to be at least 10 minutes early to every appointment. Or maybe you are just plain obsessed with this that or the other. But, and I cannot stress this enough, these examples DO NOT constitute having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is staying in the house because you were supposed to leave at 7:45 and it is now 7:46. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is not being able to make a decision, complete basic daily tasks, meet that deadline at work, or keep a well balanced diet or schedule. OCD is not a choice. It's a never ending thought repeating in your head that NOTHING is good enough. Nothing is clean enough, there is never enough time, and every action is for some reason, the most important thing you'll ever do.

The obsessions are overwhelming and the worst part is knowing how ridiculous they are. Believe it or not, I don't believe that I need seven planners or eighteen phone reminders. But my OCD believes that. I don't believe that I have to arrive precisely on time for anything to count, or that I can't start that project because 14 hours isn't enough time for me to make it perfect, but my OCD does.

Unless your obsessive Christmas disorder comes complete with crippling discomfort, irrational anxiety, and haunting thoughts, what you actually have is a romanticized idea of Christmas. Unless your organizational habits keep you up at night because you remember you left the blue pen in a container of black pens and your day is subsequently ruined, you have a romanticized idea of organization. It's not cute or funny to claim a disorder that cripples the lives of others for the sake of appearing quirky or unique. Find something else. Claim something else, and take a moment to be thankful for your mental health.