Why do I count? What do I count? Is it a disease? I can answer two out of those three questions for you. The one question that will not get answered is “Why do I Count?” The only explanation that I can give you is that everything happens for a reason. Yes, I am currently seeking treatment so maybe, sooner or later, I can answer that for you.

When I count, I count mostly words that I see on my daily travels. An example would be “STOP” in a stop sign. I review the number of letters and syllables in my head. Of course, there’s four letters and one syllable.

Now, here’s when things get a little complicated. Here’s why I am seeking treatment: both the letters and syllable have to equal five or ten. Yes, I said it. Five or ten. Maybe it’s the fact its a number that is commonly used for rounding up or down. Or maybe, it’s just because I like the feeling of fullness on my fingers when I am finished counting. As if I needed all my fingers to be used in the act. Going back to my example ‘STOP’ falls just short of five letters and way short with four syllables missing. For most people this is okay, but for me, there’s an automatic voice that says “fix it.”

And so I do. I add an extra letter before ‘STOP’ and four more words to make a phrase. What letter do I add? I’ll choose “R.” It comes right before the “S” in ‘STOP.’ Now that I have fixed its letter shortage, I

can now recite its new name with the “R” before it (R-STOP). As far as the phrase, let’s go with “the right stop is red.” There we go. I now have five syllables. I have now transformed something into my counting disease.

You heard me right. Unfortunately, this is considered a disease. According to how psychological syndromes go, this one falls under Obsession Compulsion Disorder. Commonly known as OCD.

Does it affect my life? I would say no, but I can be wrong. If not for my counting, I might have made different decisions in life. But it’s hard to say if that’s for sure. And there’s no telling when I might start counting. It is, as I’ve said previously, automatic. I can not tell you what triggers me, but I might know soon. So stay posted to robisrandom.home.blog for more.