urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2012-03-14T17:39:33Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:431607 2012-03-14T15:15:57Z 2012-03-14T17:39:33Z Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger." ...or at least, dealing with person with OCD.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />One of those things is responding to comments.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />(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.)<br /><br />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.<br /><br />This has been another day of Seanan, living with OCD. Have a cookie.<br /><br /><b>ETA:</b> Because I apparently wasn't clear: I <i>love</i> comments. I <i>enjoy</i> answering them. What stresses me out is <i>other people</i> 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.