OCD.

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I don't think I have OCD anymore. I may have CDO. Haha. That's OCD in alphabetical order....

Why do I think I no longer habe OCD when I know I used to have these symptoms? Well. Over the years, and it takes a very long time to achieve, I have trained myself out of habbits. I have completely overcome them with Gods help.
I am having to monitor myself almost daily to ensure I don't find myself picking up any new OCD style habits as I maybe a bit more vunerable to picking them up then most other people are, but I can be strong enough willed to overcome if I notice such a habbit forming.

I used to have quite a few such habbits which really used to plague my life. They took me 20 or 30 years to conquor. I believe I am now free of all bad habbits... Er... I think! (I am not talking about addictions here like drinking or smoking. I never started smoking and am very very careful not to drink much at all, as if I get a taste for alcohol it could soo easily take over... So I never give it a chance!)

But what is OCD anyway? Am I mistaking it for what I believe it to be when it is something completely different? Did I once have it?
Have I overcome and banished all traces of OCD from my life?

I do not know. I am not sure I have the right idea of what OCD really is anyway, as sometimes the stereotypical concept I may have maybe totally different from what the condition actually is. (Like I discovered between what I thought autism is and what it actually is!)

There are what in computer programming could be called software "loops". The brain may formulate such patterns by exposure to pleasurable stimulation. For example a person may form a sexual fetish if they come to associate a particular item with sexual pleasure. After a period of reinforcement, even the contemplation of the item starts a process of arousal.

It is possible that instead of pleasure, a similar loop might be formed in an attempt to avoid discomfort, such as associated with anxiety. A person may find a particular activity provides a feeling of control and hold at bay feelings of discomfort such that the repeat the action to obtain the relief from anxiety.

There might be medications and even supplements that bear on the feelings of pleasure or anxiety such that a degree of influence can be obtained, however, it is unlikely that such remedies would offer complete relief.

One might speculate that a conditions such as Aspergers with greater neurological sensitivity, speed, or complexity could find great occurrence and severity.

The advantage of Aspergers is that with a more pronounced interior mental life, there is a greater chance that one can reprogram disadvantageous processing.

I certainly have some OCD like features, my therapist said a lot of autistic people do. My thoughts are often circular and obsessive and anxious.

Do some ocd tendencies only show up when you are anxious?

I'd say they're all linked to anxiety. I suppose it might be somewhat difficult to differentiate between autistic stimming and OCD behaviour. Much of the rituals I associate with being OCD-like are repetitive phrases that I say in my head or under my breath.

I think OCD is usually harder to give up than the kind of obsessions that often come with ASD. At least in my case, I often feel I want things a certain way but it doesn't usually give me any great anxiety if they aren't that certain way. I used to have a worse time with that but I started to notice that a lot of it was down to rigid thinking and that my ideas were open to being re-thought. I find it difficult to interrupt a procedure I'm performing, but I think a tendency to continue without interruption is sensible under a lot of circumstances, because interrupt-and-resume isn't always good for the way we work.