ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – “As Good As It Gets” Essay, Research Paper

Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior: .As Good As It Gets.

.Melvin Udall is the most dysfunctional of men, an acid tongued romance novelist who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Never one to avoid confrontations, he takes pride in his ability to affront, repulse, offend and wound – as he has been. His targets are random; his aim reckless. Leave an elevator in which he stands; cross a street on which he walks. He is to be avoided at all costs, but some victims just cannot escape. Carol Connelly is the only waitress at the local caf. that is willing to stand up to the sarcastic tirades of Melvin. Simon Nye has the distinct misfortune of living across the hall from Melvin in their West Village apartment building in downtown Manhattan. These three New Yorkers – non of whom appears to have a chance in Hell of finding real happiness – discover their fates intertwined because of the fourth complicated character in the piece, an ugly, tiny dog named Verdell..

This is the description you can find on almost any website dedicated to the film .As Good As It Gets., and it is a good description of what you see when you view the movie. However, we shall take a closer look at one particular aspect – obsessive compulsive disorder. Anxiety about thoughts or rituals over which you feel you have little control is typical of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD can take so many different forms. Let’s try to make sense of it. Obsessions are thoughts, often intrusive and upsetting. Obsessions are to be distinguished from ruminations or worries about routine life issues such as finances, children or job security. Some examples of obsessions in OCD may be thoughts or mental images of an upsetting nature like violence, vulgarities, harm to self or harm to others. Obsessions may be of special numbers, colors, or single words or phrases . . . sometimes even melodies. Examples of what kind of things a person can be obsessed with are; germs, dirt, doubt, order, symmetry, repugnant sexual thoughts, repugnant religious thoughts, repugnant images, horrific images, violent images, the fear of forgetting, and the fear that a mistake will harm a loved one. People with OCD show a range of insight into the senselessness of their obsessions, and often especially when they are not actually having an obsession, they can recognize that their obsessions and compulsions are unrealistic. At other times they may be unsure about their fears or even believe strongly in their validity. Most people with OCD struggle to banish their unwanted, obsessive thoughts and to prevent themselves from engaging in compulsive behaviors. Many are able to keep their obsessive-compulsive symptoms under control during the hours when they are at work or attending school. But over the months or years, resistance may weaken, and when this happens, OCD may become so severe that time-consuming rituals take over the sufferers’ lives, making it impossible for them to continue activities outside the home.

Could you imagine to constantly be thinking over and over about something, such as keeping your hands clean from germs. Now imagine yourself washing your hands repeatedly for an obscene amount of time because you want relief from these nagging thoughts. At the same time you realize, “Gosh, what am I doing.” These are the symptoms of an individual with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD is an anxiety disorder which carries a person’s ordinary concerns to an extreme. The disorder is characterized by a series of obsessions, which are reoccurring thoughts, or fears, that constantly persist throughout a single day and which inevitably drives an individual crazy. Compulsions are actions, or thoughts, that the individual performs to briefly relieve their obsessions. Two other characteristics of OCB are the recognition of these symptoms as being unreasonable and the consumption of time due to the routines.

A compulsion is a repetitive behavior in response to an urge. It is difficult to stop this behavior. Obsessions provoke compulsions. Examples include washing the hands too many times, showering too frequently or washing things about the home like clothes or floors or even groceries. How much is too much. Many experts agree that engaging in more than an hour a day raises suspicions of OCD. Compulsions are often performed repetitively and in some stereotyped or ritualistic fashion. You may be bothered by urges to perform rituals like repeatedly turning off and on a light switch until it ‘feels right’.

Some of the compulsions (doing it repeatedly) a person with OCD might have are among others: washing hands, shower, check locks, check stoves, touch things, count items, order things, clean things, and perform silly rituals until it .feels. right.

We can see some of these examples in the film; when Melvin turns on/off the light switches five times every time he wants to turn on or off the light; when he always washes his hands with two bars of soap ; when he brings his own plastic eating utensils to the local caf.; he always has to sit at the same table at the caf. – and even scares away people that are in his spot when he arrives (it upsets his routine).

Often the obsession comes first and the compulsion seems to be a response to the obsession. For example, a person may have an obsessive fear of ingesting or absorbing