hat feel compelled to do things a "right" number of times. This may serve to protect them from some imagined danger, or prevent possible harm to themselves. Repeaters generally fear that if they do not do things the "right" number of times, something bad will happen, although some may just have to do things "just right" for no apparent reason. Orderers have to have things organized absolutely "the right way". An orderer might be reluctant to let anyone touch their possessions, lest they be misarranged. Orderers might spend hours just aligning a piece of paper on a desktop, or straightening a bookshelf. The last type is the Pure Obsessive, which is also the most difficult OC to treat. These OC's suffer from obsessive thoughts of a disturbing nature, generally. An example might be a person who constantly obsesses over whether they will hurt their child, even though they know they wouldn't...they can't stop worrying that they might. Case Study:Subjects Name: Ian FossAge: 13Ian appears as a very intelligent young man to me. He just can't seem to keep on task. He doesn't appear to be lazy in the least. He tells me that his reason for his inability to stay focused is because his mind keeps telling him he has to do all kinds of crazy things such as; how he has to count how many breaths he takes, or how many steps he has taken lately. Also that he has to hold his breath every time he passes a locker when the number on the front of it is divisible by five. He complains that he is terrified by doorknobs, water faucets, light switches, or air vents because of the germs they may possess. If he touches a doorknob, water faucet, or light switch, he immediately has to wash his hands seven times; he claims seven is his magic number. He says he feels better everytime he washes his hands, but he is not totally satisfied because there are so many germs out there. A big fear he has is the one that he may catch AIDS just by making contact with one...
