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Arithmomania - Not often mentioned here - Am I the only one diagnosed with it?

Ben

I have a diagnosis of ASC, OCD and Arithmomania. 

I've discussed ASC at some length on the threads here, but Arithmomania has only come up a few times - and quite some time ago.

Am I the only one here who compulsively counts? When I'm stressed I need to count the number of letters in words, especially the longer ones. I count them forwards and then backwards.  It's a damned nuisance but just has to be done.... over and over again.  When stressed, I will repeatedly count up to a hundred and back again to zero. I never do actual arithmetic, just counting.

Am I alone?

Ben

Parents

  • I had a panic attack on a bus when I was 19 and for approximately 3 years after I struggled to breath on buses, trains even in lifts. I learned to control it by counting up in increments of a random number which distracts me a little. I do it to this day if I feel I might panic. I can count up well into the thousands.

    Never thought of it as anything other than one of my many coping mechanisms.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Amerantin,  I think that counts (no pun intended), so you now know it has a name and is a 'thing'.

    Sometimes, if I've been counting forwards and backwards for a while, I will have a crack at it in French or German... where upwards is usually OK, but backwards can be tricky.

    I guess it's comfort through repetition... or mental stimming, maybe.

    Ben

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  • in reply to Deleted User

    Amerantin,  I think that counts (no pun intended), so you now know it has a name and is a 'thing'.

    Sometimes, if I've been counting forwards and backwards for a while, I will have a crack at it in French or German... where upwards is usually OK, but backwards can be tricky.

    I guess it's comfort through repetition... or mental stimming, maybe.

    Ben

Children