As Good As It Gets Analysis

OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the unwanted recurrent thoughts, actions, or impulses and repetitive behaviors and actions that a person feels driven to perform (Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous World Services, 1999). People suffering from OCD perform a variation of strange rituals everyday uncontrollably. There are different types of compulsive behavior people with OCD display. For example, hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away or give anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don not need or use. These victims of OCD can become obsessed with not only performing actions, but with keeping objects and possessions.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a pattern of recurring obsessions and compulsions that are severe enough to be time consuming and interfere with a person’s daily functioning. They must cause marked distress (such as pain or physical harm to the person) or significant impairment. Usually, they take more than

The following is an overview about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), one of the most difficult psychiatric illness to be understood. The way of doing certain behaviors, thoughts or routines repeatedly is the essential condition of a person with OCD. In general, it is known and described by someone who is extremely perfectionist and meticulous. Unfortunately, they do realize those habits and be able to stop doing it. Common behaviors are such as checking locks, doors, stove bottoms, and lights, hand washing, counting things, or having recurrent intrusive thoughts of hurting oneself or somebody else.

Adam Cap. (2017). The Portrayal of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in “As Good as It Gets”. [online] Available at: https://adamcap.com/schoolwork/the-portrayal-of-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-in-as-good-as-it-gets/ [Accessed 22 May 2017].

The characters within As Good as It Gets demonstrate many common, core communication problems. The main character, Melvin Udall, is shown to be extremely vulgar, uninterested, and suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. He is the main source of conflict within the film. It is hard for others, like other main characters Carol and Simon, to understand Mr. Udall’s routines and style of communication, and they typically seem angry after encounters with Jack Nicholson’s character. The movie also shows the evolution of Mr. Udall’s communication and ways that people viewing the movie could possibly improve their own ways of communication.

In the movie As Good as It Gets Jack Nicholson's character, Melvin Udall, suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, known as OCD for short, is a type of anxiety disorder.

Cognitive Behavioral approach perceives obsessive compulsive disorder as an intrusive condition characterized by unwanted repetitive and anxiety-producing thoughts accompanied by the compulsive act of rituals that the individual believes will shield them from the imagined catastrophe (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Obsessions are thoughts or impulses over which the individual has no control and only briefly subside after the victim has been compelled to and completes a certain ritual over and over until the anxiety lessens (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

"OCD patients have a pattern of distressing and senseless thoughts or ideas- obsessions- that repeatedly well up in their minds. To quell the distressing thoughts, specific patterns of odd behaviors- compulsions- develop." (Gee & Telew, 1999)

The movie As Good As It Gets sets in New York City where the main character Melvin Udall (Nicholson) finds his life turned upside down when he is left with the responsibility of taking care of his neighbour Simon’s dog while he is being hospitilized. Melvin is a cranky, rude, bigoted obsessive writer that suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He eats breakfast at the same table in the same reestaurant everyday and brings along his own platsic utensils due to his fear of germs and takes interest in his waitress Carol (Hunt) who appears to be the only person that tolerated his behaviors. Despite disliking the dog Verdell at the beginning, Melvin becomes emotionally attached to him and vuce versa. Melvin offers to pay Carol

The film As Good As It Gets, reflects on the psychopathologies of three main characters. Marvin Udall is an obsessive-compulsive writer who maintains poor boundaries with those who encounter him. Simon Bishop is a homosexual artist who struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) about his estranged relationship with his parents and following an attack in his home. Carol Connelly is a waitress who suffers from anxiety, due to her son having an extreme case of asthma causing him to have constant medical attention. These random characters’ lives intersect in such a way, that in the end they become their greatest support network.

A compulsion is brought on by the person obsession. The compulsion is reinforcing to the person with OCD because the compulsion is the behavior or though that the person feel they have to do in order to prevent distress or anxiety or dreaded event. The compulsion doesn’t give the person with OCD pleasure but it a direct response to the obsession. The obsession is considered a intrusive, persistent and uncontrollable thought or urges. “The Obsessions are recurring thoughts, beliefs, or ideas that dominate a person’s mental content. They persist despite the fact that the person may believe they are unrealistic and tries to resist them” (Morrison, 2014). Compulsions are acts (either physical or mental) performed repeatedly in a way that the person

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a common psychological disorder that is often associated with misconstrued stereotypes. OCD is considered an anxiety disorder consisting of obsessions that are often combined with compulsions. These obsessions are usually recurrent and persistent specific thoughts and be urges. Compulsions make up the second part of OCD. They are repetitive behaviors performed according to rigid rules that are completed in an attempt to help prevent obsessions from becoming true. The compulsions are maintained by negative reinforcement meaning that the patient continues to perform the compulsions because the obsessions are prevented. This idea forces the patient to continue the vicious cycle of performing compulsions to prevent

It has some features to recognize. OCD is the phenomenon when obsession occurs by the penetration of thoughts into the patients that increase anxiety, and the compulsion happens by doing repetitive actions to reduce anxiety (Stein, 2002). One of the symptoms of people with OCD is worrying about harming themselves and others (Stein, 2002). Some obsessions and compulsion are identified as sexual, religious, somatic, and musical symptoms (Stein, 2002). Symptoms of OCD can change a little over time (Stein, 2002).

Obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind of a person with OCD. These are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. A sufferer will almost always obsess over something which he or she is most afraid of. Common ideas include persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable concern with becoming contaminated, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated -- I must wash them" or "I may have left the gas on" or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts tend to be intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Sometimes the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness. People with OCD who obsess over hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to by themselves. With these reoccurring obsessions continuously being played in the sufferers mind, they start performing repetitive acts that reassure them that their hands aren’t dirty, or the gas for the stove is turned of. This response to their obsession is called a compulsion.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD, is a disorder that affects about two to three percent of the population (UOCD). Knowing what OCD is and who it affects is just step one in understanding the psychology of this disorder. The psychological symptoms of OCD can be quite varied which can make it difficult to diagnose. Understanding the therapy techniques and how people with OCD live their daily lives is one of the most vital part in the psychology of OCD. While the roots of the disorder may be complex, understanding the disorder in everyday life is quite simple.