In every literate society, numbers are an aspect from which we cannot escape. They are everywhere: on the doors of houses, on car license plates, when filing your income tax return…
But they are not only written. They are also in our minds, in the form of favorite numbers, which make us afraid or a preference when doing things such as, for example, making sure twice that the house door is closed.
All of this is part of many people’s daily lives. However, there are those who seem to have taken control of their lives and wonder: Is it normal to be obsessed with numbers?. Let’s try to answer this question.
Is it normal to be obsessed with numbers, or is it a problem?
Numbers are a fundamental aspect of our lives, no matter how much aversion to mathematics we may have. They are everywhere, like letters forming words. Regardless of what our profession is or what hobbies we have, at some point during the day we have to see numbers, whether to make a call, count money, pay, file the tax return or any other activity in which we have to deal with numerical aspects.
But They are not only written, but they are also in our minds. We all have some type of behavior and thinking related to numbers. A classic example is having to check the door two or three times to make sure it is properly closed. Another could be having to buy four packs of tuna at the supermarket, not one more and not one less.
These behaviors can be easily justified. Double checking if the door has been closed makes sense, checking that the door is indeed closed. The tuna packs may simply be because it is thought to be the exact amount to last the week or until the next purchase. But let’s be honest, on many occasions it is because we have a certain preference for those amounts. The problem is when we don’t talk about two or three, but rather 50, 60, 130…
It can also happen that we are obsessed with the number itself, that is, the symbol and what it represents. In a way it is normal that we have a favorite number and another that we associate with bad luck, in the same way that there are those who have a favorite color. Culture has a very strong weight behind this choice. For example, in Spain and other European countries 13 is the unlucky number, while 7, 9 or 11 are seen as good luck.
Having a favorite or unlucky number is not a very important thing, until it becomes an obsession. Avoiding at all costs going through a door with the number 13 or wanting our telephone number to have, yes or yes, a 7 are aspects that, no matter how slight they may seem, limit the life of those who suffer from this obsession. What happens if we are invited to a house with the number 13? Shall we not enter? What do we say to those who invited us?
Seeing these small introductory examples, it is not difficult to get the idea that, although thinking in numbers, both as a symbol or doing X number of actions, is normal but with certain limits. If we go too far, if thinking about numbers becomes an obsession that greatly limits our lives, we have a problem. It is normal to check the door twice, it is not normal if we check everything 10 times before leaving the house. This is called arithmomania, closely related to OCD.
OCD and arithmomania
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive, recurrent and persistent thoughts that cause worry, apprehension, fear and restlessness, as well as repetitive behaviors. Among the main characteristics of OCD we usually find aspects such as anxiety about hygiene, order and symmetry, closing the door twice… aspects that can be included in obsessions or compulsions.
Between the most common obsessions associated with OCD we have: fear of contamination, fear of causing harm to others or that, whether through action or inaction, harm will be done to loved ones, obsessions of sexual content, concern for health, need for order and symmetry, excessive religiosity… .
Regarding compulsions, we can find repetitive behaviors such as washing hands or brushing teeth, opening or closing doors, touching an object with our hands, tapping the floor with our feet, placing objects in a specific order or checking if the Things are as they should (closed doors, unplugged electrical appliances…). Also in compulsions we find repetitive thoughts such as praying, counting numbers or repeating words silently, over and over again.
Obsession with numbers is called arithmomania and it is, in essence, obsessive-compulsive disorder but with a special obsession with numbers. People who suffer from this disorder have the enormous need to count their actions or the objects in their environment, making sure that they have counted them or done the behavior a certain number of times. It may also happen that the patient develops a complex mental system in which he assigns values or numbers to people, objects and events, compulsively seeking a relationship between them to make them coherent.
People who suffer from this disorder can carry out a count that can be done loudly or quietly and can even carry out more than one simultaneous count (for example, counting street lamps, red cars and dogs). This count gives them security and, if they do not do it, they may begin to think that something bad will happen. along the same lines as the rest of OCD.
Mentioning all the cases of arithmomania, both associated with obsessions and compulsions, would give us a list as long as the number of numbers is infinite. There are obsessions with absolutely any number, transformed into all kinds of compulsions. If something characterizes OCD, it is that each person who suffers from it has different pathological thoughts and behaviors. , and being obsessed with something as extensive as numbers makes it even more different. Next we are going to see a few examples of obsession with numbers.
1. Even and odd numbers
There seems to be a special obsession with odd and even numbers, some being seen as bringing good luck while the others would bring bad omens. Usually it is pairs that bring good luck. One of the most common explanations is that, since they are pairs, they can always be divided by two and that is a very good thing, according to the logic of a person obsessed with this type of values.
2. Preference or fear of prime numbers
Prime numbers are those that can only be divided by one and themselves. Some of them are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19… Since these numbers are so unique, they can be seen as especially beneficial or, on the contrary, numbers that bring very bad luck.
3. Check things using a pattern
Within this compulsion we can find ourselves constantly checking if the doors have been closed, the lights have been closed, the alarm has been deactivated… turning it on and off several times, always following the same pattern. For example, turning on and off the faucet using the pattern 1, 2, 3, 4 (on and off; on, on and off; on, on, on and off; on, on, on, on and off), thinking that If you don’t do it, something bad will happen.
4. Anxiety activating and deactivating number
There are cases of people who associate one number with anxiety and another as a kind of “anxiolytic” for that same symptom. For example, associating the number 3 with stress and 7 with relaxation, so that when you see the first number (passing through a portal with the number 3, seeing a license plate with that number…), you have to say “seven” 7 times. ”.
5. Number that cannot be missed in everyday life
Obsession with a number so that it is in your life. For example, being obsessed with 3, requesting a hotel room with that number or a multiple, always having 3 apples…
6. Touch things with both hands a specific number of times
There are people who need to touch something the same number of times with both hands when, by chance, one of them has brushed against something. For example, walking down the street and accidentally touching a streetlight with your right hand. This forces the person to touch that streetlight three times with their left hand and two more times with their right.
7. Count the letters of the words
The obsession with numbers is not exclusively towards numbers. It is also extrapolated to letters, which are sometimes seen as the counterpart of numbers. For example, there are cases of people who hate a certain number, let’s say 4, and avoid using any word that has that number of letters, avoiding words like “love”, “alone”, “turkey”… having to replace them with “philia”, “individual” “gallinaceae”…
This can be especially problematic if the feared number is very low. (from 1 to 3) since the most used words in any language tend to be the shortest, including grammatical particles (e.g., of, the, in,…). Since the person cannot use them, his language may become very difficult to understand or he may use words and expressions that make his language very grandiose.
8. Drive at a speed ending in a specific number
This is especially dangerous. The person feels the need to drive at speeds that end with the same digit, or go at a speed above or above the speed limit X number of kilometers.
9. Count steps
Constantly count your steps. For example, counting steps from 1 to 10 ensuring that, upon reaching the destination, it is finished at step number 10 of the last count.
10. Complex mathematical operations
Some people with OCD perform truly complicated arithmetic operations, of all types that we can imagine, just because they come across certain values.
Let’s give a clear example of this: walking down the street and seeing the numbers on car license plates, adding their digits and adding another operation, for example 1+1+1+1+1, followed by the number of our number. phone and the DNI, assign a value to the letter of the DNI and multiply it by the result that has been obtained.
Conclusion
Obsessing over numbers is quite common, but in terms of health and quality of life it is not normal. It is one thing to have a favorite number or to have some kind of daily hobby, and another is to have to make X number of times in bed, to believe that thinking about the number 3 will make us have a very bad day, or to start doing arithmetic calculations just for the sake of it. of passing numbers on the street.
As Syndrome related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder , arithmomania is a disorder that should be treated by a professional. It can involve a high degree of interference in the daily life of the affected person, since they can waste a large amount of time doing compulsions to calm their anxiety. Furthermore, as the disorder worsens, the person will become more disconnected from his or her surroundings, who will not understand why he has such an obsession with numbers.
