It’s not news that a lot of people misuse the term “OCD” when they don’t actually mean the debilitating disorder. Plenty of people (myself included) have written about why this is harmful (delays diagnosis of people who actually have OCD, increases stigma, etc.) and how to approach starting a conversation. I’ve gotten a lot better at being open to talking without being angry and confrontational.
What I’ve heard is helpful is providing examples of alternative words. So, here are 25 other words someone could use. As a perk, most of the words are way more specific than using “OCD.” Why not improve your vocabulary as a bonus?
- Particular
- Clean
- Neat
- Tidy
- Orderly
- Organized
- Anal
- Anal-retentive
- Precise
- Perfectionistic
- Pedantic
- Exact
- Systematic
- Meticulous
- Fussy
- Fastidious
- Finicky
- Overscrupulous
- Specific
- Detailed
- Thorough
- Exhaustive
- Careful
- Accurate
- Detailed
Morgan
My OCD Voice 
Genius.
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Very concise and nicely written. Mom
Sent from my iPhone
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Clearly this lovely list should have been alphabetised…
=)
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I intentionally did not alphabetize them because I fear that would perpetuate false stereotypes about OCD.
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This is great, thank you.
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This is great! I don’t personally like being called OCD, especially, when my super-organizational, clean-freak behavior is not the result of actual OCD. Thanks for sharing your list with us!
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Yes!!
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