I just finished reading Thomas Lynch's workbook about Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT). There is a lot of interesting information about nonverbal communication.

Studies indicate that nonverbal communication (e.g. tone of voice, facial expression) has a much larger impact on social interactions than the content of what we say. I became much more mindful of my nonverbal communication when I learned to manage OCPD, and have found it very helpful.

This information has been added to: "How Self Control and Inhibited Expression Hurt Relationships," my favorite article by Gary Trosclair.

In How To Be Enough (2024), Ellen Hendriksen states, “Research shows that hanging out with someone whose expression doesn’t vary—whether they’re all smiles or all business—makes us anxious and uncomfortable. It literally increases our blood pressure. And because it’s stressful to interact with someone we can’t read, we’re more likely to avoid them in the future.” (245) 

A large body of research shows that body language (e.g. tone of voice, facial expression) has a much larger impact on social interactions than what we say.

Our brains are hardwired by evolution to view ambiguous stimuli—such as a blank facial expression or an unfamiliar sound—as potential threats. Studies have found that people become anxious when interacting with a non-expressive person, and they prefer not to spend time with them. (“Emotional Regulation: Affective, Cognitive, and Social Consequences,” Gross, 2002; “The Social Consequences of Expressive Suppression,” Butler et al., 2003)

People with disorders characterized by overcontrol, such as OCPD, have heightened threat sensitivity. They tend to interpret neutral and ambiguous situations as threatening. They are highly aware of small details, which results in being more likely to notice small changes in someone’s facial expression that are interpreted as rejection. Studies have shown that experiencing physical pain and perceived social rejection results in similar brain activity. (“Why Rejection Hurts: A Common Neural Alarm System For Physical and Social Pain,” Eisenberger and Lieberman, 2004)

My psychiatrist recently “diagnosed” me with OCD and put me on fluvoxamine. Honestly, I really don’t resonate at all with OCD and I strongly feel like it is OCPD. I am diagnosed with ADHD. The reason I say she “diagnosed” me with OCD, is because after like 5 minutes of talking she said it “seems” like OCD. I mentioned that I’ve heard of OCPD and I thought that it could be that and she paid it no mind and I know OCPD is extremely understudied. I feel like I shouldn’t even say anything because I know there’s no meds for OCPD so maybe this is the only way I can really get help for it. The only reason I even want help is because I spend several hours a day trying to “optimize” things before starting the actual task. I’ll spend hours highlighting, using a nicer font, fixing headings, text sizing, etc. I’ll organize my room and declutter. It’s gotten to the point I have gotten rid of over 85% of my clothes and things because I see it as clutter. I have spent multiple 12 hour night shifts (where I have lots of free time to work on homework and studying) on making to-do lists, schedules, checklists, or just “organizing” my life. I’ve spent several 12 hr shifts planning the next 10 years of my education (as I’m going for my CRNA and there are many years to go until I finish) and I’ve planned out individual steps and phases for each of the years until I finish all of my schooling. These tasks literally consume my life and I can’t stop because as much as they distract me I know that they’re things that kind of need to be done or that do sometimes end up benefiting me. I just don’t know what to do really because I am wondering if these OCD meds will make me lazier and not do my little tasks or be okay with being lazy and skipping them and then they just don’t get done. If anyone has some words of wisdom for me please do let me know.