# Inanimate Object Disorder?



## bubblepop15 (Jan 25, 2006)

Well, I'm looking up online to see what other disorders I might have. 

I don't know if they have a name, but I obviously have Social Anxiety Disorder, some minor symptoms of OCD, having the feeling that both sides of my body have to be equal (both shoes tied equally tight, but that is kind of normal), and having the feeling that if I concentrate on a certain body part, I feel uncomfortable if I don't move it.

Well, I've always felt horrible insulting or having opinions on inanimate objects.

For some reason, I feel badly when I have a bowl of French Fries, and I am full, but I can't neglect the last few fries because I'd feel bad.

And I can't insult any type of manufactured item like a camera. It just seems ungrateful to me I guess, but I feel so horrible dissing cars, and anything.

I am so weird I just realized haha.


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## ndircukm (Jan 2, 2006)

You're my kinda dude Thats funny stuff. Its cool to laugh about stuff like that. I think i'm gonna do that


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## Eraserhead (Sep 23, 2006)

I often relate to objects the same way I relate to people. So if I'm 'mean' to something, I feel bad :b 

Yep, I'm a weirdo.


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## bubblepop15 (Jan 25, 2006)

Nicolay said:


> I often relate to objects the same way I relate to people. So if I'm 'mean' to something, I feel bad :b
> 
> Yep, I'm a weirdo.


WOO! I thought I was alone on this one.

Phew.


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## IndigoGirl (Aug 13, 2006)

I tend to do these things myself. I forgot about it until I saw this thread, but I can relate.


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## socialbutterfly (Feb 17, 2006)

Hey funny thing... I was looking around on the internet for other disorders I might have as well..... lmao I make it seem like such a casual thing.

I think we're in the same boat. I remember back when I didn't even know about any disorders and I just thought it was normal to feel the way I did. Since then, through the help of the internet, I have self diagnosed myself with half a dozen different disorders. They all seem to somehow relate to each other. I honestly think if I fixed one disorder, the rest would go away.

You mentioned you have minor symptoms of OCD. I think I do too. What kind of minor symptoms do you have?

I was also looking up inferiority complex and I think I have that. I stumbled across narcissim. I found it really interesting. To imagine there


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## bubblepop15 (Jan 25, 2006)

What exactly is inferiority complex?

I think I might have a few minor symptons of OCD but it's nothing to see the doctor about at all.

Like, I can't go to bed if I turn off the light before I turn off the TV, it has to be the other way around. 

I also have a horrible time checking that everything I need is in my backpack before going to school or to my next class. It used to be so severe that I would check at least 3 or 4 times even though I KNEW it was there.

I think those are kind of OCD. I have a few other symptons, but I can't really think of them now.


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## James of Maine (Sep 8, 2005)

I do tend to personify inanimate objects and get all sentimental about them too, especially when I'm feeling depressed or insecure. I worry about something "feeling" neglected, lonely, abused, etc, even though I _know_ it's totally irrational. I had it really bad with toys in human or animal form, especially when I was younger, but still somewhat, especiallywith my son's toys now. (and seeing movies like Toy Story 1 an 2--especially 2--didnt help the matter!)


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

ahaha yes i am like that too. or i used to be a lot more. i would feel bad about inanimate objects as if they were consious and have the ability to feel "neglected" or "hurt". i remember as a kid i used to make sure all my toys/stuffed animals were treated equally, haha. i'm not as sensitive now so i don't care for objects as much, which is good!


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

James of Maine said:


> I do tend to personify inanimate objects and get all sentimental about them too, especially when I'm feeling depressed or insecure. I worry about something "feeling" neglected, lonely, abused, etc, even though I _know_ it's totally irrational. I had it really bad with toys in human or animal form, especially when I was younger, but still somewhat, especiallywith my son's toys now. (and seeing movies like Toy Story 1 an 2--especially 2--didnt help the matter!)


That movie made me cry! :cry No joke!
Also....Silicon Graphics Inc. computers designed it anfd I work(ed) on them....the company has been under Chapter 11 since May .

I guess I have that, too. Like "don't call my car a pregnant rollerskate - it gets good mileage."

Bubblepop15, you might have some OCD there - I had the same problem. When I was put on lithium (doc thought I was bipolar - it's like eating a battery :lol), the OCD got really bad. I would check 10-15 times. .


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## njodis (Nov 8, 2006)

-


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## itsmemaggi (Sep 26, 2005)

bubblepop15 said:


> Well, I've always felt horrible insulting or having opinions on inanimate objects.


When I was little, I didn't play or cuddle with my stuffed animals very much (I had, and still have to this day, a security blanket). So I'd get very upset with myself for "neglecting" them....

Of course, the Toy Story movies didn't help things... :roll

xoxo
Maggi


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## bubblepop15 (Jan 25, 2006)

Njodis said:


> Well, according to this anti-drug ad from the 70's, hot dogs will actually talk to you if you drop acid and go for a stroll through town. The sad thing is that this particular hot dog has a lot more going for him in life than I do.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


lol

Well I don't know what the proper name is for it. Is it even a disorder? Inanimate Object Disorder is good enough for me heh.


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## odd_one_out (Aug 22, 2006)

This is the first time I've heard about someone else having this.

I often find myself sympathising with inanimate objects. Sometimes, I'll get the urge to leave a piece of food and "spare" it from destruction (especially grapes). Same goes for chucking away old bits of rubbish, so I'll hoard them.

C**p, this sounds so messed up! :rofl


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## Tungsten (Dec 11, 2005)

Wow, I've had a similar issue as well. For years I had this thing where if there were two bananas left (or any other type of food for that matter) I wouldn't be able to take one because I'd feel guilty about leaving the other one by itself. I'd have to wait for someone else to take one and then I could eat the other one. I suppose it wasn't so much about sparing it from destruction, I just felt bad about the banana (or whatever) getting lonely. 

I've pretty much gotten over this but once in awhile the old patterns return and I find myself doing it again. It's pretty weird.


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## katelyn (Jul 11, 2006)

Wow, I seriously have this "Inanimate Object Disorder"! It makes it difficult when people ask for my opinions on things. I never like to insult them! (The things, that is, not the people). For some reason with other people I am fine insulting them, I just do not care. 

I am wondering if this comes from when I was little, and my mum used to make me finish my food by telling me it would be lonely if I left a bit...


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## inquisitive1973 (Nov 11, 2003)

That's comforting to hear that other people have this to. I used to have it really bad - I used to feel guilty wearing certain shirts or sweaters more than others - I used to have 4 sweaters and I made sure I wore them each equal amounts so I wouldn't "hurt the feelings of any of the sweaters"! I remember one was terribly itchy and I'd dread the day when I had to wear it - but I always wore it anyway!

I sometimes feel like that with food also. For me, I think it's caused by OCD. Now, to practice getting over it, I'll throw some food out, or use an old worn out shirt that I'm attached to to clean the grease off my bike chain - I think it helps in the long run.

Even just seeing that this is my 888 post, my initial urge is to assume that this post is special (since 8 is considered a lucky number in China). I think that is OCD


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## Farren (Jan 5, 2006)

Y'all are a funny bunch. I don't think I have too many overbearing OCD tendencies, but I am fairly strict about putting the right socks on the right feet. Like, if I've taken them off, when I put them back on I can see the foot-shape and they must go on the correct foot, and the little seams perfectly straight above my toes. That's about it. Oh, and when I was a kid I had a pet pinecone.

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## jenleewd (Dec 30, 2010)

*Social Anxiety Disorder*

I am amazed at the different OCD and other disorders going on. I have to admit, I really laughed at the wording of some of it, and I had to show my daughter. We both had a laugh. You cannot laugh at someone else, if at first you cannot laugh at yourself.

I have a little disorder myself whereby I have to go back into the house when I am trying to leave for the day...I have to unlock the door and make sure the coffee machine is off and the hair straightener is off, God forbid I burn the house down. Just saying that seems like a JINX. I found great solace with God and learning how to lean on him.

I got baptized this year, July 5th and my husband did it several months after me. Since then I have gotten over my compulsion to do the things I do in the same way...like when I give my horse his hay, before or after I feed the chickens and stupid things like that. I know I will not Jinx anything by changing it up. I decided to do things that make sense instead of doing it for the sake of staying in the same order. DUH. I could not manage it on my own, I had to pray. It is working.

I do enjoy reading what everyone says. Just keep talking about it and maybe you can lighten up and don't take it so seriously. Try to realize that you are doing it, and take account of what you are checking so that you are not rechecking to the point of maddness. ha

What really erks me is when I DON'T check and for heaven's sake, something got left on!!! DRAT! I try so hard to avoid that. Once I left the hose on in the pool, I remembered it and called a neighbor, and I was lucky, he turned it off, but water was everywhere. Crap happens. It dried up and there was no damage. Thank goodness.

Don't be mean to your objects...ha ha...what is the true name for this disorder with the inanimate objects? Someone had it on Boston Legal TV show once, it was very hysterical.

Thank you all for sharing


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## jenleewd (Dec 30, 2010)

*OCD and SAD and Inanimate Object Disorder if there is one...*

This was very well written and I had to read it twice. I am new here to this forum, I studied psychology a little and loved it.

I did not post my first response properly...I really wanted to address you. My post is toward the bottom a bit, posted today 12-29-2010

Just keep up your good heart - it shows in your writing that you are a good person.

Jennifer

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bubblepop15 said:


> Well, I'm looking up online to see what other disorders I might have.
> 
> I don't know if they have a name, but I obviously have Social Anxiety Disorder, some minor symptoms of OCD, having the feeling that both sides of my body have to be equal (both shoes tied equally tight, but that is kind of normal), and having the feeling that if I concentrate on a certain body part, I feel uncomfortable if I don't move it.
> 
> ...


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## jenleewd (Dec 30, 2010)

The pet pinecone was helarious...but I am the same with socks - they sure bug me. I'll bet you are just crazy about the idea of walking on your socks first thing in the morning, and they are upsidedown from sleeping...that really bugs me and I have to stop in my tracks and straighten it/them up. Then walk. Tread lightly, Jennifer

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Farren said:


> Y'all are a funny bunch. I don't think I have too many overbearing OCD tendencies, but I am fairly strict about putting the right socks on the right feet. Like, if I've taken them off, when I put them back on I can see the foot-shape and they must go on the correct foot, and the little seams perfectly straight above my toes. That's about it. Oh, and when I was a kid I had a pet pinecone.
> 
> [/img]


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## lionlioncatcat (Dec 29, 2010)

If you will excuse the nerd bomb, I fly rc airplanes, and i (and others) get very very attached to them. They hve personalities and i feel bad if i fly one and not another one. Also if you crash its like losing a best friend, and sometimes iget angry with them to. i know its a bit freaky but hey. If its related I also have a fe ocd tendancies, must to a lot of things 7 times, sometimes i count to 7 in my head for no real reason other than that it feels right. I also ABSOLUTELY CANT STAND thing rocking when i put them down, a silly example is the butter dish, i put the luid down and it goes rock, rock, rock , cluncking evrytime. I just have to slam my hand down on it to stop it right there and put it up right. People spinning coins on their rims drives me insane aswll.


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## silvercobra101 (Mar 25, 2010)

Hey, I have this too! I feel bad about slamming doors, and felt bad when I had to send my last car to the junkyard. I go the other way, too. If I bang my head on something, I react as though the object had intended to hurt me. I often hit back, and then feel bad for overreacting and hurting the poor thing. I have apologized on occasion.


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## lionlioncatcat (Dec 29, 2010)

silvercobra101 said:


> Hey, I have this too! I feel bad about slamming doors, and felt bad when I had to send my last car to the junkyard. I go the other way, too. If I bang my head on something, I react as though the object had intended to hurt me. I often hit back, and then feel bad for overreacting and hurting the poor thing. I have apologized on occasion.


I am completely with you on getting angry with inanimate objects when they "hit me", I have even been liable to retaliate and even shout and swear at the object, not because im hurt. Interestingly I almost never shout at people and have pretty much never had a fight ever.


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## mysterioussoul (Jul 17, 2010)

my car just got smashed and i'm going through "grief". i feel like i lost a part of myself.

i separate my underwear. i have "good" and "bad" ones and sometimes i'd feel guilty for separating them. oh, by good and bad i don't mean sexy or kinky underwear. some are just good and some are bad.


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## heyJude (Aug 1, 2009)

bubblepop15 said:


> For some reason, I feel badly when I have a bowl of French Fries, and I am full, but I can't neglect the last few fries because I'd feel bad.


haha, I do this too! If I have a serving of canned corn on my plate, I have to finish every last kernel. I feel that any leftover kernels would feel lonely in the trashcan...I'm weird too, so you're not alone.


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## sas111 (Oct 20, 2010)




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## zomgz (Aug 17, 2009)

Vanilllabb said:


>


Poor lamp! 

Yeah I feel like you guys and I'm especially attached to some of my stuffed animals. It hurts me to see people abusing them!


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## Kennnie (Oct 21, 2010)

bubblepop15 said:


> Well, I'm looking up online to see what other disorders I might have.
> 
> I don't know if they have a name, but I obviously have Social Anxiety Disorder, some minor symptoms of OCD, having the feeling that both sides of my body have to be equal (both shoes tied equally tight, but that is kind of normal), and having the feeling that if I concentrate on a certain body part, I feel uncomfortable if I don't move it.
> 
> ...


 u sound like my type of person lol


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## WetPaint (Nov 1, 2010)

For as long as I can possibly remember, I've always been very emotional about objects. If I was in a store and held something long enough, I felt really bad if it turned out I couldn't get it because I felt like I had "bonded" with the item, and didn't want to hurt it's feelings. I still have feelings like this but they're not as bad as they used to be... unless it's a stuffed animal. 

I have a billion stuffed animals, and I will absolutely never ever throw any of them away. I don't even care about the irony that I'm a very petite woman with a childlike personality as it is, with a billion toys in her room. Nor do I care about the fact that every guy I have ever been has felt more and more like a pedophile with each passing day that I apologize to any of my stuffed animals that I accidentally bump out of place. It's not just particularly stuffed animals, but it seems to be mostly anything with a face in general.

One time at a toy store, my ex jokingly punched a stuffed animal in the face. I teared up. He laughed and thought it was funny. Later, we were in another toy store with his friend and his friend's girlfriend, and he was reminded of it and told them about how I was about to cry just because he punched a stuffed animal. I was just about to feel really embarrassed until I looked at the other girl and she gave me this sad "I know EXACTLY how you felt!" look and nodded. It's a great day when a woman can feel comfortable with having the mentality of a 4 year old. 

If it means anything I'm also a compulsive hoarder so I think we get pretty emotional about our things anyway, although this always felt like something separate.


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## scriabin221 (Nov 16, 2008)

I don't really think it's a disorder, I think that's fairly normal. I do that all the time, but I really trying to work on it.

Still, I could never throw away a stuffed animal. Objects with eyes just look to much like something alive. I used to get kind of sad when I was little when I thought about my stuffed animals being inanimate objects. I actually had that feeling over Christmas when I got my new keyboard. I went into my room and kind of nodded at my old one and thought about still playing it once in a while so it doesn't feel left out. But then I realized how silly that actually is.


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## snoopysimaginaryfriend (Jan 1, 2011)

James of Maine said:


> I do tend to personify inanimate objects and get all sentimental about them too, especially when I'm feeling depressed or insecure. I worry about something "feeling" neglected, lonely, abused, etc, even though I _know_ it's totally irrational. I had it really bad with toys in human or animal form, especially when I was younger, but still somewhat, especiallywith my son's toys now. (and seeing movies like Toy Story 1 an 2--especially 2--didnt help the matter!)


At last! Someone else who felt this way about toys! I remember trying to explain the feeling to someone when I was a teenager and, of course, their response was just to stare at the floor in disbelief.

And yes, I have become a bit of a hoarder as I've grown up. I even keep clothesI dont wear because I feel guilty that no one else will want them and they'll be destroyed.


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## bmwfan07 (Jun 3, 2007)

This is anthropomorphism, otherwise known as the pathetic fallacy (but not pathetic in the sense the word typically conveys--it has to do with "pathos" or empathy). I think people with avoidant personality disorder and/or generalized social phobia (maybe one in the same) are more inclined than the general population toward this type of behavior, because of their lack of connectedness with the rest of the world. "Fantasy" as a form of escapism is very common in people with AvPD for this reason, and maybe inherently to the personalities of avoidant/socially anxious people.

It's also probably not uncommon in people with OCD, particularly "responsibility OCD" that attaches inordinate amounts of responsibility and guilt on behalf of the sufferer to everyday--and eccentric--things and events. The particular cognitive manifestation of the pathology varies situationally and is dependent upon other psychiatric issues and personality. For instance, feeling liable for not going to dinner with my family and going with friends instead is one common source of anxiety for me (not the anticipatory social anxiety of being with friends, but the irrational fear that I'm "letting down" my family, even though they couldn't be happier that I'm out with friends and socializing). Other examples might be always catering to other people's needs and wants while sacrificing your own (this is closely related to the idea of sociotropy) out of fear of guilt for even _possessing_ your own desires. This is also common when low self-esteem is present.

Anthropomorphism is also common in autistic spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but clearly most of us have neither. It can be a non-pathological personality trait, but in many of our cases (including mine), it is likely attributable to a substitutive fantasy for real-life interaction since we feel so socially deprived.


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

Wow...Well said BMF...

I had a pair of timberland boots for eight years that I just adored

I forgot them when I left Australia


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

Haha. It's weird. I feel bad if I take my car over a bump too fast or anything else that may "hurt" my car--as if it has feelings that I have just hurt.


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

Haha yea my parents brought our VW van to impounding lot in Elementary School and I told the van that we really appreciated it and that I hope it had a good life etc etc. I guess this is a little different, but also seems to be along the same lines--- I would always think of our family cat as having a human mind on the inside, and would often think that someone I knew was in there, which would make me feel kinda self conscious at times and that I should explain my behavior to the cat. I think most of that thinking has disappeared for me, but I still have that feeling sometimes-- a little-- that theres something inside of inanimate things. I like it


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism


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## silvercobra101 (Mar 25, 2010)

I left a hat in a restaraunt once, about 12 years ago. I still feel a little bad when I think about it.

Another thing that still bothers me from childhood is when I said that I hated a set of bed sheets that had little flying bears on them. It wasn't the sheets themselves, it was just that they were new and a little scratchy. But as soon as I said I hated them, I looked at the little flying bears and was filled with guilt. To this day I feel sad when I think of how I dissed those little bears. A few months ago I came across them again in a bunch of old sheets (my family never gets rid of old material) and I said to them "I don't hate you, it's just that you were scratchy when you were new". 

I remember not long ago yelling at my car for one thing or another, and then saying "OK, you know I didn't really mean that". The GPS is another thing that's starting to affect me, too.


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## whiteXcloud (Sep 25, 2010)

sameee lol although I dont have to go through that food thing.. I feed my dog scraps =D lol and I don't eat in public so no worries there..


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## bmwfan07 (Jun 3, 2007)

silvercobra101 said:


> I left a hat in a restaraunt once, about 12 years ago. I still feel a little bad when I think about it.
> 
> Another thing that still bothers me from childhood is when I said that I hated a set of bed sheets that had little flying bears on them. It wasn't the sheets themselves, it was just that they were new and a little scratchy. But as soon as I said I hated them, I looked at the little flying bears and was filled with guilt. To this day I feel sad when I think of how I dissed those little bears. A few months ago I came across them again in a bunch of old sheets (my family never gets rid of old material) and I said to them "I don't hate you, it's just that you were scratchy when you were new".
> 
> I remember not long ago yelling at my car for one thing or another, and then saying "OK, you know I didn't really mean that". The GPS is another thing that's starting to affect me, too.


All of these are hilarious. I can definitely relate.


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