I've Gone And Done It Again...

[Akasha72]

please accept my apologies if I offended Kaidonni. I did not know that you suffer with OCD (although I did wonder if that was the issue) I think a lot of us would admit to having OCD tendencies if we were honest but I'm fully aware that OCD is an illness with no cure.
 
I too suffer from an illness with no cure (fibromyalgia, m,e and hypermobility) and so I fully understand the frustration. All the best, and again, I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn x

 

[Kaidonni]

 

 


You really need to stop worrying about this, buddy.

As long as your not dunking actual soapy hands in your tank, there's nothing to worry about, honestly

 
I know I need to stop worrying - I was tying myself in knots yesterday, debating whether to do a water change or not.
 

 
 
No need to ever get worked up about a water change or not... there's very few times that a proper water change will cause you (or your fish) any problems.  So, the next time you are having this internal debate, stop and just do the water change.   Its much easier on you and the fish won't mind a bit.
 


 
Unfortunately, it isn't that simple with OCD. It doesn't matter that a water change wouldn't harm the fish, the point is whether it truly is necessary in a particular instance or not. The internal debate comes from worrying whether or not I have put the fish at serious risk - not necessarily based on any hard evidence, just preconceived notions of what constitutes a threat - and to respond to that worry can serve to make things worse; my brain simply doesn't know what is and isn't a legitimate threat, it processes everything the same. If I had performed a large water change Sunday night, it would only have been in response to my panicking, and I would have only worn myself out late in the evening when I had to get up for work the next morning. It looks like the fish are just fine without the change, although my brain has been nagging at me for not performing one (but it can keep nagging). I have to learn the hard way when a change truly is necessary to avoid harm to the fish, otherwise I'll only respond to smaller and smaller inciting incidents.
 

 

 
Thank you to everyone who has replied. Maybe it wasn't ideal that I posted since it's not really how to deal with OCD, but I was rather wound up and did it partly to take a jab at myself for my idiocy. It'll definitely teach me to not mess around so much with the tank to remove a brine shrimp or two that the fish didn't eat...
 

 
If you suffer from OCD, then it's not idiocy, it's just how your brain functions, and any reasonable person will take that into account. Believe it or not, there are one or two reasonable people on this site. (Somewhere....) Please be reassured by the sheer numbers of people, all saying the same thing, that your fish will be fine, and keep telling yourself. Hopefully, you'll succeed in convincing yourself.
 

 
Actually, I was referring to messing around to remove the brine shrimp rather than my worrying after that. I just knew I should have left things alone because nothing else was wrong, but I had to ignore myself and poke and prod. I'll be more mindful next time.

 

[Kaidonni]

Hopefully I can post this time (the forum only allows so many quotes in a single post, and it didn't seem to want to allow me to make another post).
 

please accept my apologies if I offended Kaidonni. I did not know that you suffer with OCD (although I did wonder if that was the issue) I think a lot of us would admit to having OCD tendencies if we were honest but I'm fully aware that OCD is an illness with no cure.
 
I too suffer from an illness with no cure (fibromyalgia, m,e and hypermobility) and so I fully understand the frustration. All the best, and again, I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn x

 
Oh no, you didn't talk out of turn, and you haven't offended me. No need to apologise.

 

[Akasha72]

good, I'm glad I didn't offend

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

 

 

You really need to stop worrying about this, buddy.

As long as your not dunking actual soapy hands in your tank, there's nothing to worry about, honestly

 
I know I need to stop worrying - I was tying myself in knots yesterday, debating whether to do a water change or not.
 

 
 
No need to ever get worked up about a water change or not... there's very few times that a proper water change will cause you (or your fish) any problems.  So, the next time you are having this internal debate, stop and just do the water change.   Its much easier on you and the fish won't mind a bit.
 

 
Unfortunately, it isn't that simple with OCD. It doesn't matter that a water change wouldn't harm the fish, the point is whether it truly is necessary in a particular instance or not. The internal debate comes from worrying whether or not I have put the fish at serious risk - not necessarily based on any hard evidence, just preconceived notions of what constitutes a threat - and to respond to that worry can serve to make things worse; my brain simply doesn't know what is and isn't a legitimate threat, it processes everything the same. If I had performed a large water change Sunday night, it would only have been in response to my panicking, and I would have only worn myself out late in the evening when I had to get up for work the next morning. It looks like the fish are just fine without the change, although my brain has been nagging at me for not performing one (but it can keep nagging). I have to learn the hard way when a change truly is necessary to avoid harm to the fish, otherwise I'll only respond to smaller and smaller inciting incidents.
 
I have never dealt with OCD, so this really helps me to understand it better.