Counting OCD (CO-OCD*): a subtype of OCD where obsessions can be of any type; it is characterized by the nature of the compulsions, which is to count when one is distressed by their obsessions either out loud or mentally. Examples include someone who must count backwards from 333 before falling asleep, repeatedly counting to 10 excessively or for long periods of time, counting floor or ceiling tiles in a room, or needing to perform an action a certain number of times such as blinking, swithcing a light on and off, or combing hair. This is different from someone who has proactive coping strategies that involve counting (like to ground oneself during an anxiety attack) in that if the person who has CO-OCD doesn’t perform their counting compulsions they feel intense and unbearable anxiety that doesn’t subside until they count. If a counting ritual is interrupted or a mistake is made, most people with CO-OCD will feel compelled to start the process over again. With all forms of OCD there is variability with each person who has it, so counting compulsions are by no means limited to the presentations that were listed.
Colors represent the most common color-grapheme synesthesia colors for the numbers 1 and 2 (I personally think the number 1 looks yellow, but I digress).
Learn more about Counting OCD.
*CO-OCD is a shorthand to go along with other subtypes that have them.