obsession with cleanliness of streets

[vlrs1936]

hi everyone!

I have a very annoying form of OCD. My obsession is related to the cleanliness of streets and buildings. Whenever I go out for a walk in the city center, I always pay close to attention to dirt on the street to the point that I can’t really enjoy the overall aesthetics of the town. My obsession is particularly severe in public transport where increased human traffic naturally causes the degree of dirtiness to be higher. In addition, here in Switzerland people have a habit of throwing their chewing gums on the ground which end up accumulating in enormous quantities. Because of my OCD I have a particularly strong fixation on these chewing gums. I have difficulty to identify a compulsion that accompanies my obsession and I’m inclined to characterize my condition as one of pure-O. 90% of the problem is my anxiety. However, I do have a tendency to either excessively analyze the dirt and waste on the streets, trying to find some kind of order and perfection within them, or to try to avoid looking at the dirt at all. My “compulsion” (if it can be called so) sort of oscillates between these two extremes. Any thoughts on how to deal with this?

[gettingbetterihope]

Be grateful you are where you are (where are you??). Sounds like you don't live in places that would drive you mad... SE Asia there is trash everywhere, it's burned on the street, stray animals everywhere.... Albania they turn abandoned lots into improptu landfills because locals are too lazy to walk to a dumpster, and even in the middle of nowhere there is trash blowing around somehow (I mean abandoned fields with no housing anywhere nearby, and there is still trash everywhere). To say nothing of the dog shit on the streets, beach covered in trash, etc.

[Hidden]

I grew up in suburban Washington, DC. in the 1950s and early 1960s. When we traveled to the New York City area to visit relatives I really noticed the amount of trash along the roadsides. Now I see the same amount of trash along the roads here in Maryland. People seem to treat the world as their tip. It annoys me greatly. I will clean up a roadside and a few days later more trash litters the area. Why can't people take trash home with them? It certainly would not be any more effort than tossing it out as they drive.