It is likely that you have been recently told by a spouse, friend, family member, or health-care provider that you have OCPD. What does that mean to you? You have been the same way all of your life. All of your family members have likely been this way as well. You involve yourself deeply in your work and in ensuring that your family and yourself are well provided for. Your employer seems to be happy with your hard work and perseverance. You are stable and grounded.

But someone in your life is struggling with your OCPD. They struggle to get you to change your mind once you are set on something. You have a natural tendency to correct the behavior of others if they aren’t meeting your standards and your expectations of them. You get frustrated easily if someone disagrees or has a different opinion than you.

You may be miserly and a stickler for always being on time. You may hold on to things for a long time, just in case you might need them later. After all, you worked hard and earned money to buy those nice things. You just can't see throwing them away or selling them.

What you see as positive personality traits that have gotten your family through centuries of famine and war seem to be bothering others who want to communicate with you or live with you. In order to have positive relationships with other people, there are other positive personality traits that would help assist you to maintain growth and bonding in areas like your marriage.

Many of the traits that you have likely came from your ancestors and have been passed down through generations. Your family may have been large and struggled to ensure there was always food on the table. There may have been famine, sickness, disease, or war that affected your grandparents or your great-grandparents.