Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder in a Prolific Scholar

I was surprised that I couldn't find examples of research on Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder in high-achieving adults. I looked specifically for work done by transactional analysts, since that's who I'm the most familiar with. I suspect that TA figures like Eric Berne and Claude Steiner exhibited these symptoms, but they likely did not perceive these as problematic. In TA, conditions such as OCPD are only a problem if they are seen that way by the person exhibiting them. And what's the problem with publishing seven books and 30 articles in ten years? It wasn't a problem until it was. 

Let's have a look. 

Here is a list of the symptoms paraphrased from DSM-5tr:

1. Preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost [For me, I am preoccupied with how many words a chapter, article, or book needs to be. But this symptom isn't a problem for me. For now it just seems responsible.] X
2. Shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion. [I've decided not to publish books because I decided I wasn't proud of them, and I didn't want to rework them. Again, this isn't a huge problem for me.] X
3. Is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure and friendship. [Ding, ding, ding.] O 
4. Is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values. [I have only recently discovered this problem in me. I get swept into what has been called methodolatry with writing, teaching, research, and training. I decide there is one method to rule all others, then I devote myself to it completely. This is a problem because it prevents me from assessing whether something is working well or poorly. It is an impediment to objectivity. For example, for years I decided that nondirective teaching was the only way to organize courses and lead committees. But I was committed to it the way one commits to religion. I was blind to alternatives.] O 
5. Is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value. [We keep a clean house, but you should see my file folders on my laptop. Scores of unfinished essays, short stories, novels, etc. Again, not a huge problem day to day, but I think I hang onto worn-out and worthless ideas about teaching and research.] O 
6. Is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with other unless they submit to exactly his/her way of doing things. [Mmhmm. I have trouble collaborating with others, because I know best. I have never hired a coach for running, because I know best. It is with great reluctance that I follow reviewer recommendations, because ... etc.] O 
7. Adopts a miserly spending style. [Not so much financially. Well, maybe a little. I want to have enough saved to retire when I'm 50. But I'm oh so miserly with my time. I guard it like Gollum and his ring. But if I fail to do something productive and worthwhile--something measurable, usually, then I will become depressed.] O 
8. Shows rigidity and stubbornness. [Si] O 

When I explained to my wife yesterday that I thought I had OCPD, she told me that we had just looked at the list of symptoms three months ago. I swore to her that I'd never heard of the diagnosis before. 

I guess something changed between then and now. That something, I think, was the recognition that my compulsions, which had served me so well during my career-building years, were starting to do more harm for me than good.

Last year I was promoted to full professor. This meant that there were no more professorial promotions for me to work towards. My compulsive habit of churning out articles and books lost its promise of certain reward. And so I had a mini midlife crisis. 

Since then I've struggled to find a new writing practice. Whenever I start a project, I shut everything else out and focus on finishing. But then I get burned out before I'm done and spent a month wondering why I'm still writing. I need to give it up entirely or develop a new process--a process that allows me to enjoy writing for its own sake.

Still, I didn't see the compulsive side of my writing until I discovered it in my running, because compulsive running has resulted in medical problems.

To understand how the compulsions occur--to learn why I repeatedly fall into them--I must perform what TA scholars call a "structural analysis" of the problem.