I set four alarms each night before I go to sleep, two on my phone and 2 on my clock. My rationale is that I need to be prepared for the two worst case scenarios; failure of the device and failure to wake up. In case my phone dies, I have a backup device and in case my phone dies AND I sleep through the first alarm, that second alarm is sure to wake me up. One would think that my over-preparedness would be a comfort and allow me to rest easy, but I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and checking my alarms. Sometimes I go as far as to set all the alarms to the current time to make sure they work, reset them to the intended time, and put my phone down only to pick it up seconds later to make sure I changed the time back properly and that it matched the clock. This ritual developed after I failed to wake up on time for a test in high school. It has not happened since, and in my rational mind I know that it probably won’t again, but this does nothing to break my clock habit.

I also have an unfailing routine of jiggling the doorknob after locking due to quite an embarrassing childhood incident involving a bathroom with a betraying door. When confronted with the doorknob that unlocks with a twist, I choose to “hold it” no matter the circumstances because there is no way to assess the integrity of the lock!

My family members and roommates don’t understand my fears and have often labeled me as overly-cautious and anxious. When we discussed anxiety disorders in class, we learned that they include all disorders in which the most dominant symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety. Aside from isolated incidents, I do not have a habit of oversleeping or reoccurrences of the certain bathroom disaster I remain so terrified of. My almost ridiculous routines might be seen as excessive measures against unrealistic possibilities. Although my practices seem to fit into the definition of an anxiety disorder, it is important to remember that my slightly abnormal behavior does not become a disorder until it causes me distress, harm to myself or others, or harms my ability to function in everyday life. Everyone has similar quirks to mine in varying degrees in their lives. Apart from the inconvenience of managing four alarm clocks and the hatred radiating from my roommates every morning, my habits do not indicate that I have an anxiety disorder.