*hugs to all who have posted*
It sounds like a lot of the cleanliness routines are a pain for you all. Not everyone has extreme OCD, but it's classed in 5 different ways:
Subclinical
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Extreme
Although I don't think self-diagnosis is a good idea (a mental health professional must come into the equation) the standard testing for OCD is known as the
Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. It tests for how many hours spent thinking on your obsessions and how distressing it is for you, and also how many hours spent carrying out your compulsions and how distressing it is if they are not done. It might help if you want to pin-point where you are on the scale, but it's ALWAYS best to talk to a doctor.
http://www.brainphysics.com/ybocs.php
One of the most dangerous problems is that I count mouthfuls and have a very tight system in order to function. My allowances for the day must be kept, or I panic and need to counter the balance - by subtracting the next day's and self harming. This makes recovery from eating problems very difficult, for although I can manage for a while, if I have a few days out of sync then everything gets turned upside down!! I'm terrified of contamination in food and make my mum check most of my things. Recently I've been able to eat out of my house more which is a plus.
I've been trying to get on the NHS psychology list for a long time, but the last time I say my Psychiatrist he said I had a "few obsessive ruminations". This is after knowing me for 20 minutes!!! I'm demanding a time to talk with another doctor (at LEAST an hour) to fully get them to understand the length and breadth of what goes on inside. My eating and food problems is the most damaging, but my thought patterns are very controlling and distressing. I miss my old psychiatrist from the Youth mental health - I find that there is no time for me in adult mental health :(