As Good As It Gets Essay

Compulsions are repeated, purposeless, and elaborately time-consuming behaviors that are usually performed in response to an obsession. The behaviors are an attempt to neutralize or prevent a dreadful event from happening. Some common compulsions include excessive hand washing, showering, checking, counting, and hoarding. Compulsions can be thoughts or physical behaviors that may or may not be set to some self-imposed rules.

In Jeh MacDonald’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, Jeh indicates that Mrs. Strangeworth is a nit picking perfectionist that seems to show signs of O.C.D. Specifically, when people ask for one of her luscious red roses Mrs. Strangeworth thinks to herself that, “[these] roses belong on pleasant street... [and] to [even] think of people wanting to carry them away” (1,2). It indicates that it’ just too hard for her to even think of something being out of place. Somebody with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder might also experience thoughts and feelings similar to that exact same thought. Not only did she not like things out of place, “Miss Strangeworth hated sloppiness” (3). Even if it was just Mrs.Chandler’s ratty messy hair.

This essay will introduce some similarities and differences between both symptoms and experiences of six different authors who have been personally affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Since OCD is not very well understood by many members of the public ("Escape"), I hope that the experiences of the authors that I researched will be able to paint a vivid picture of what life with OCD is like.

Melvin Udall suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Melvin sticks to the same routine every day in order to not upset himself, if one thing goes wrong in that daily routine, Melvin’s entire day seems to be ruined to the point where he cannot function well. Melvin is afraid of the germs that are all around him. He does not enjoy being touched in any way, or by anyone, whether it is a stranger walking down the street or a friend, of which Melvin does not have many. Melvin always enters his house and turns around to lock the door, which he counts as he does, turning the lock five times before he is certain that he will avoid any danger that might come if he does not fulfill these rituals; he has the same

In this movie, Melvin displayed many compulsions. When he comes back to his apartment he locks his door 5 times and turns on and off the lights 5 times. He also washes his hands with 2 new bars of soap each time he washes his hands. When he walks, he avoids stepping on any cracks. He also sometimes repeats words quietly after someone has said something. Instead of trusting one, his has two clocks side by side near his bed for an alarm. These are just a few examples of the many compulsions Melvin has. He always

The anxiety (nervousness) of this disorder causes the individual to feel the urgent need to perform certain routines or rituals (compulsion) (Chakraburtty, 2009). For example, a person who has an unreasonable germ fear constantly washes their hands (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent or make the obsessive thoughts go away (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals that are performed are temporarily the person will perform the rituals again once his or her obsessive thoughts return (Chakraburtty, 2009).

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or acts that are aimed at reducing anxiety, usually caused by the obsessions, but not always (Beidel, Frueh, & Hersen, 2014).

At the beginning of the film Mr.Udall encounters his neighbor dog who ends up releasing his fluids all over Mr.Udall. In this situation his discomfort leads him to act rather peculiar. As he enters his apartment room he clicks the locks five times and then runs his hands over scorching hot water. Mr.Udall even yelps “Hot!” and yet doesn’t remove his hands from the sink at all. These are clear visual signs of OCD. Individuals with OCD use their compulsions as a way to relieve stress/neutralize their unwanted thoughts. This is why during Mr.Udall’s most stressful moments his OCD was also extreme; one example being when the waitress confronted him after what he said about her son he began to zone out and whisper numbers as he taps his fingers on the table. He was indeed blocking out what she was saying and resorted to tapping fingers to calm down his emotions. OCD files under as an anxiety disorder. This is because anxiety is elevated by an over estimated problem, in which, causes both physical (sweating,dry mouth, increase heart rate,choking sensations), cognitive (inability to concentrate, clear

In the film As Good as It Gets, Jack Nicholson plays the role of Melvin Udall, a successful writer, who is arrogant, rude and is diagnosed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Throughout the film, he engages in repetitive behavior, such as hand washing, checking, repeating, and counting which he uses to neutralize his obsessive thoughts. The film represents the psychopathology of obsessive-compulsive disorder accurately, displaying Melvin’s struggle with his fear of contamination, obsession with being clean, having everything organized and his fear of doubt. However, the film does not focus on the form of treatment that helps Melvin with his obsessive-compulsive disorder.

One obsession that he suffers from is a fear of contamination. Melvin displays this obsession through the act of cleaning himself compulsively. He washes with very hot water and a brand new bar of soap every time he washes his hands. He uses the bar of soap for only a couple seconds, tosses it, and then opens a new bar of soap to use. When he showers, Melvin again uses very hot water and stays in the shower for an excessive amount of time. Another way

Marvin Udall displays typical behaviors that many functioning obsessive compulsives have in common. Mr. Udall has obsessions which are, “persistent thoughts, urges that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted, whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession (American Psychiatric Association., 2013).” Very early in the film we see Mr. Udall struggles with contamination-related obsessions and participates in ritualistic activities which serve to lessen his obsessional anxiety. We see him engage in hand washing rituals with extremely hot water and several bars of soap which is only intrusive to him, to later in the film where he must take a shower before dinner and has the character Carol waiting on him for what seemed like hours. Mr. Udall has a ritual to eat at a certain restaurant everyday for breakfast, where he also must bring his own plastic silverware for fear of germs.

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

Social anxiety disorder is a common mental health disorder that will cause the person to evade what others consider as normal behavior but makes that person very uneasy. A person with this disorder goes beyond shyness to a point where they feel immense stress in social situations and is too much for them to handle. Anyone dealing with social anxiety disorder can experience it in different daily situations. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects people from all walks of life. Obsessions are unwanted thoughts or urges while compulsions are behaviors that a person feels compelled to perform to ease the anxiety they experience. Some obsessions include concerns about contamination, hygiene, or the need for regularity, while compulsions include the need to check things more than once, continual need to clean things, and even organizing items repeatedly. Someone who lives with OCD will often experience an assortment of obsessions and compulsions. Sheldon Cooper effectively portrays a person who lives with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

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.

1) In the movie as Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson plays a character by the name of Melvin Udall, Single, maybe in his 50s lives alone, never married but a successful love novelist. Melvin demonstrated from the get-go traits of being homophobic, racist, self-centered, lacking empathy and social skills and unusual behaviors. As time goes on he witnesses the hardship of his neighbor Simon an artist and who falls into a depression, Carol a hopeless romantic with a sick son who he slowly starts feeling empathetic for. The “abnormal” behaviors that stuck out the most were his unusual Obsessions and Compulsions. Melvin had an obsession with being contaminated; he wore gloves to avoid touching things or people, or couldn’t wear a used coat and tie. There was a part in the movie were Melvin was using a pair of gloves and he threw them out, washed his hands with hot water, opened 3 new bars of soap to only wash his hands for 10 seconds at the most with each bar. In another scene Melvin was walking through a crowd of people and it looked like he was dancing but he was really trying to avoid all the cracks on the street. I saw hope in Melvin though when he was at the restaurant and a group of children were gathered around Verdell. Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) mentioned “Aren’t you afraid he might get stolen”? Melvin moved from his usual table to move closer to keep an eye on verdell which was something out of his comfort zone which lead me to believe this was the first step in the