Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: exhausted
  • Music: Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger."

A small footnote about dealing with people with OCD.

...or at least, dealing with person with OCD.

It's no secret around here that I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; I manage it on a daily basis, and I do a pretty good job. It's why I can accomplish as much as I do, given how little time I have. But it does mean that some things are non-negotiable for me, even as I politely tell people that they don't have to do them.

One of those things is responding to comments.

Sometimes, when I get overwhelmed, kind and concerned and loving people try to grant me comment amnesty. "You don't have to answer this." BUT I DO. I answer comments because I have to answer comments, or I literally cannot forget that I have left them unanswered. It may take me a long time. I may answer so far in the future that you've forgotten commenting. But unless I was the one who said "comment amnesty" (and sometimes not even then), I can't leave the majority of comments unacknowledged.

(This came about, ironically, because someone got very very very angry at me for not answering comments, and left me with a terror of being screamed at again.)

So please, don't tell me I don't have to answer you. That will just stress me out more, and move answering your comment to tell you that I do so have to answer higher up my priority list.

This has been another day of Seanan, living with OCD. Have a cookie.

ETA: Because I apparently wasn't clear: I love comments. I enjoy answering them. What stresses me out is other people trying to declare comment amnesty on my behalf. I can't process that, and so it just makes me unaccountably tense and unpleasant. So please, comment as normal. Just don't try to tell me I don't have to answer you, 'cause really, I do.
Tags: from mars, medical fu, shameless plea
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  • 86 comments

drakemonger

March 14 2012, 19:36:57 UTC 5 years ago

So what happens if I leave a hundred comments?

I mean, I'd be an ass to do such a thing, and I'm not going to be an ass, in that particular way, at this time. But the fact that the question lies at the intersection of psychology, security hacking, and being a smart-aleck means I pretty much *have to ask*. (Doing the experiment would in some ways be better, except for that 'being an ass' part.)

seanan_mcguire

March 14 2012, 19:51:45 UTC 5 years ago

I ask if you meant to do that, if they're all identical, in response to #1. I delete #2 through #100.

I call you a troll and ban you from my journal, if they're all different, in response to #1. I delete #2 through #100.

drakemonger

March 14 2012, 20:25:01 UTC 5 years ago

Sounds both fair and sane.