Trina is afraid she’ll murder someone. Nidia has a phobia about her bowel movements. Rick can’t stop compulsively exercising, adding up the numbers on license plates, or turning clockwise at regular intervals. He wants to stay healthy forever and ward off old age.
Like 3.3 million other Americans, they have obsessive compulsive disorder. A&E’s series Obsessed follows them as they work with cognitive behavioral therapists who try to get them to examine the thinking behind their obsessions so that they can replace those beliefs — and the compulsive acts performed on their behalf — with healthier ones. To find out more about OCD and to watch a clip from Obsessed, read more
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is one of those psychological disorders with an (almost) self-explanatory name. A person with OCD suffers from extreme anxiety based on a phobia about something — germs, a messy room, worry they’ll harm someone. The sufferer, as a result, feels compelled to do something time-consuming and often physically punishing to ward off the fear.
In the case of Nidia in the video here, she had such a fear of her bowel movements that she would shower up to three hours after going to the bathroom, using enemas and toothbrushes with such force that she had to have two blood transfusions from cleaning herself too vigorously. By the end of her CBT treatment, she began to see improvement. Rick, however, did not, making a statement that lends some insight into the disorder: “I have mixed feelings about giving up my compulsions because then I’ll be forced to analyze my compulsions and that person may suck."
Elemis
Morgan
Jasmine Di Milo
Omg, the woman who is afraid of getting dirty and having bowel movements totally freaked me out. After having a bowel movement she would scrub her anus with a tooth brush until she bled. I had to change the channel.
1Me too! I almost puked on the coffee table!! I liked Rick though... I understand that his problems are serious and have greatly affected his life, but I still think spinning in a circle to make left turns is kind of a fun idea
2I hate when people say "oh I'm so OCD" when they, well, aren't (youa aren't "OCD" because you like your desk clean). I'm certainly not as "bad" as these people, but it takes me a while to go to bed because I have to check and recheck constantly that the doors are locked, that the oven and stove are off, etc. It's hard when it really interferes with your life
3I didn't know counting numbers and adding up license plate numbers can be considered an 'OCD' behavior (since I love doing that and have been doing that for a few years).
Hmm. I didn't watch the show.
Runningesq, you sound like my mom, she is constantly checking the doors, oven and stove (even when she's visiting at our house and I've told her, yes, the door is locked and yes the stove and oven are off)
4I always just thought she's being cautious.
I'm paranoid about the stove and baseboard heaters, but I've never really considered it a problem... If it saves you from burning your house down it can't be all bad
My parents used to get frustrated with me as a kid because I refused to go to sleep until I had personally inspected everyone's bedroom heaters to make sure nothing flammable was anywhere near them, but they obliged anyways (probably because they knew if there ever was a fire and I hadn't checked, I'd blame them for life lol)
5I sort of suffered with borderline OCD. A doctor said I had obsessions, but not too many compulsions. It was weird. It didn't last very long, but I had a thing about door locks, stoves, never leaving any plugs in the wall, etc. I checked nearly all the time. I remember one morning, I sat in an hours worth of traffic on a snowy day to get to my college campus. I started freaking out in the car and drove over an hour back just to check if I had done everything I "needed" to. It happened a lot, the whole action of going back home from somewhere just to check. Thankfully, I no longer do this. It was hard to stop, though.
6Runningesq,u sound like me! not to mention sometimes i have to do stuff a certain number of times...its horrible sometimes! ..all the counting..and recounting..its not as bad as these people at all but its seriously frustruates the sh!t out of me
7I have a mild form, but it's still no fun. Besides being a germaphobe, i also have an issue with counting. I have to count my steps and cannot step on any crack or lines in parking lots or sidewalks. If it touches one foot, i have to have the same touch in the other foot. Like it can't be one touch, it has to be equal, one on each side in the same place, or else it feels like it's there forever. My sister always gets frustrated at the way i walk when i'm with her, and i try not to do it, but it's so hard to make yourself stop.
8runningesq- i am the same way! I always constantly have to check to make sure I locked and unplugged everything before I leave the house- I mean I'm def not on the level these ppl are on, and I guess it's not a bad thing to be careful, but sometimes it is so annoying! I started taking pics on my cell phone if I'm in a hurry so I can prove to myself "yes i unplugged that" lol... oh well. i took a psych class in undergrad and my prof said that most everyone has a few "ocd" behaviors in them, it's not uncommon.
9...according to wikipedia, david beckham has ocd as well. just so u know, lol i donno
10Apparently a whole bunch of people have "OCD". Pretty much anybody can get a diagnosis of OCD nowadays. It is used to explain the quirky little traits that some people have which absolutely do not interefere with your daily life.
It is not "OCD" to tie your shoes a certain way, or wash your vegetables before preparing them. It IS OCD to spend hours and hours cleaning something that other people will TELL you is clean but which you cannot believe for yourself. It IS OCD to be housebound because of delibitating phobias which keep you indoors, phobias which you cannot explain yourself.
The examples above are good examples of typical OCD behaviour. I used to work as part of an OCD support group and some examples in my experience of OCD:
- somebody who would recite lists over and over and over. These lists would circulate in his head around 60 times a day (they were long lists and there were many of them) on a stressful day and around 30 on an average day.
- somebody who would remain in her house cleaning until her hands were red raw because she wanted it to be "spotless".
- somebody who had such an intense phobia of contracting HIV that she would remain in the house on stressful days. This manifested in a fear of touching needles and being raped.
These are just a couple of examples. It was a long time ago when I worked with these people and I truly hope they have sought to overcome their OCD but I do fear the worst for some of them.
Personally I was diagnosed with OCD at 16, 18, 21 and 24 so mine hasn't gone away entirely. It made me miss a whole year of school and remain housebound between the ages of 17 and 20 for reasons I still cannot discuss.
OCD is a horrible disorder and the more awareness about it, the better.
11Uggh, I forgot to Tivo this!
My brother and I both had moderate OCD when we were kids. I guess its genetics, or just the terrible Jersey water. I remember always having to tap things and count things and make sure that things are "symmetrical" and grouped together in rows. "Clusters" of things made me shiver. To this day, I can't take clusters and clutter, but for the most part, I grew out of my OCD. Things like sharing food, dirty dishes and germs freak me out, but its so mild, it doesn't interfere with my everyday life as it used to.
12They say you have to confront your ocd to heal. My husband was addicted to porn, he would hide it, I would find it, he lied to me for 7 years, I became oc by doing routine searches to see if he was still lying to me. It got to the point where I have anxiety attacks when I am around females, or if there are any attractive women on TV or when I am out in public I always wonder if he is obsessing. It has totally ruined my self-esteem, HELP!!!
13I am totally over my OCD. I cured myself. I used to have to do everything right, check doors, windows, crack stepping, counting, checking the clock every few minutes, hair pulling, you name it. I am 51 and have been doing these things all of my life. This was because i thought something bad would happen if I did not do these things over, and over, so one day I thought? What would REALLY happen if I did not do one thing, would something bad happen. SO, I stopped checking the windows, and nothing happened, I waited for days and nothing bad happened, then I stopped checking the doors, I waited and nothing bad happened. So, on and so forth. Now I am OCD free, and so much happier. I do get up sometimes and walk to the window, as old habits die hard, but do not take another step closer. If the window is not locked, nothing bad will happen, believe me, I also stopped pulling out my hair...Now my hair is long and shiny, and a whole lot of it....
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