Hello,
I have not suffered from this issue before 11th grade. It began last summer while I began to read for my summer homework. It has progressed to an even worse stage. I have to reread lines, look up definitions and think about sentences several times to get it through. I have never really been so strong on the reading sections on SAT nor AP reading passages. But this OCD like habit is having a negative effect on me. If i read a sentence just once, I cant seem to get enough detail about it and retain the information. I thought sleep deprivation was the issue… but even as the summer has progressed I still have trouble reading my current books for summer hw and sat passages. Even on youtube videos…I have to replay footage in order to see all the visual details and missed dialogue. How can I just read through a passage with enough confidence in myself to not forget details of a passage?
Are you diagnosed with OCD? When you feel the need to reread a passage, is it because you have some idea of what it is about but are afraid you don’t understand it or are missing details, or do you not understand the material by the end of the first time you read it? If someone was to ask you a question about the material would you be more likely to be able to come up with an answer, but doubt that it was right or not have any clue at all? Sorry for all the questions! I’m just trying to get a better idea of the problem.
The questions that @Madeline25 posed are good ones. It’s really impossible to give you advice on this long distance, but you should do some self-reflection and then probably get evaluated by a psychiatrist to see if you have OCD or possibly ADHD (or both) that are making it hard for you to concentrate. From your description it sounds a bit more ADHD - i.e., that you are unable to focus on the text or video and have to re-read it or re-watch it to understand it, rather than OCD (you feel compelled to re-read the lines even though you already read them and understand them). Depending on a diagnosis, if any, medication and/or some cognitive behavioral therapy might help you with this issue. My children have both OCD and ADHD so I am sympathetic to your plight.
No I have not been diagnosed. When I reread, I am afraid that I didnt fully understand the passage. When someone asks me a question about the plot of a book, I may be able to summarize it. I like to pay attention to little details in the book, break down the sentence structures and often get lost and forget who is saying what in the book.
Like what @pittsburghscribe said, it is impossible for anyone to give you an answer about what the problem is over the Internet. If you are concerned, you should definatly seek help. Talk to your parents or guidance counselor and they can set up an appointment for you to see a mental health professional. I hope you are able to get it all sorted out and resolved quickly!
Have you had your vision checked?
My brother has OCD, and you seem to show some similar features that my brother has. He reads over the same sentences multiple times, and if he’s reciting something from memory, he will start from the beginning until he’s satisfied with the way he’s said it. But, you could instead just have a tendency to pay attention to small details and lose track of time and what you are actually doing (but, I am not a professional in this area, so you may want to talk to an expert and see if he or she can help you out). Sometimes, I find myself doing that as well, nitpicking at incorrect grammar and syntax, reading over phrases multiple times, so what I do is take frequent small breaks between reading long passages or chapters for homework or test prep. It’s a good rest for my eyes and gives me a chance to prepare for more reading. Under time pressure, I feel inclined to read over long text at once, but it’s important to remember that in order to really understand the information, you may have to stop frequently and annotate on the side and/or take breaks.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental disorder, not an adjective. Please do not just throw the word around and use it as a synonym for detail-oriented. I understand your worry, though. I would maybe get evaluated by a psychiatrist or see a counsellor and share your worry with them. There are a number of things that could cause this behavior. The difference, though, is that OCD takes over one’s entire life, not just aspects of it. It wouldn’t just be watching a video or reading that would cause the over-analysis, but it would make you go out of your way to check and make sure the oven is off multiple times, even when you know that you’ve turned it off, or cause you to check repeatedly to make sure a text message/email/etc gets sent. Perhaps you have ADHD or ADD of some kind?
Nobody can give you a more accurate answer than a psychiatrist or a counsellor can.
Do you reread the sentences over again because you literally cannot retain the information, or is it a fear of not being to retain the orientation? If its the latter, and it is something that is taking up several hours of your day-to-day life—it’s probably OCD. Like other posters have said, you should probably make an appointment with a mental help professional.
I don’t think what you described is OCD, it seems more like ADHD. ADHD is when you can’t focus or can’t seem to digest information, causing a lack in inefficiency. OCD is when you are unecessarily obsessive over certain things. I think I know the feeling that you are describing. Often times I will read an entire sentence and not understand anything, forcing me to reread it several times. However I think it’s just because the content itself is challenging and I really need to focus, not because I have a disorder. It sounds like you may be experiencing this on a worse scale, so it could possibly count as ADHD.