(This is in reponse to another post, trying to describe how my OCD is)

I don't think dying or getting sick is the real obsession. I'm not really exactly sure how to describe the obsession apart from saying I feel "dirty". Not consciencely dirty, like your soul is spoiled from doing something bad, but phyisically dirty, even though we are all dirty all the time. It's more along the lines of, "There is dirt on my hands. Get it off now. If I don't, I won't feel right," that sort of thing. I like said before, it's very hard to explain, and for someone else, it is hard to comprehend and analyze. I think all my compulsions are due to one obsession: feeing "right". I count things to feel right, I follow an exact routine to feel right, I try to do my work perfectly to feel right.
I know it's hard to understand, so I'm going to attempt to use another analogy.

You are in school. Your algebra teacher writes a problem on the board. He says that you absolutley cannot use a caculator. You try to solve the problem, but you just can't. Your class is done, and you don't need to figure out the problem anymore, but you keep thinking about it. So, you solve the problem using a calculator, and, sure enough, you get the answer. Ah, you think, I solved it. I don't have to worry about it, because I know the answer. Well, as luck would have it, in your next class, your History teacher decides she now loves math, so she puts an equation on the board, and she also says you can't use a calculator. This problem is equally as hard to solve. You just can't do it. Class gets out, but that problem keeps zooming around in your thoughts, like a bacteria. You race to get your caluclator and solve the problem. The calculator solves it, you're done. You have the answer. Your mind is at rest. Suddenly, you find your English professer writing yet another equation on the blackboard. This sort of thing repeats over, and over, and over. You can't get rid of it. All day, everyday, one of your teachers writes an equation and you have to solve it wihout using a calculator. And everyday, you can't solve it. And every day, you finally feel a sigh of relief because you solved your equation.

That's what I feel like. I'm in class, and someone brushed my hand. Uh oh, my hand is dirty. Well, I very well can't leave it dirty. It's dirty! Hmm, what could I do? I could wash it, but I would leave the classroom and miss the lesson. But then my hand would still be dirty. My hand needs to be clean, or I won't feel right. However, I can't leave the class. I don't like the smell of my hand sanitizer, but I absolutley cannot leave my hand dirty. I'll be dirty. I guess I'll leave the class and wash my hand. I walk to the restroom and give both my hands a good, through, wash. Ah, my hands are clean. Yea, I'm happy. I'm realived. I feel right.