11/22/63

[PhilpsonFan07]

I'm reading one of the newer books by Stephen King. It's a good book, but unfortunately there is a very negative portrayal of OCD. The character is an abusive husband with all the "typical" cases of OCD to the point that another character correctly guesses all their symptoms. It would be naive to think that there are no bad people who have OCD (though most seem to have a strict moral code) and I would not expect works of fiction to express this, but I was concerned about the stereotypical aspect of how OCD is presented. It perpetrates the idea that OCD equals hand washing, counting, checking doors and color coding. Unfortunately, people who read this and other depictions of OCD are going to have the wrong impression of OCD. It's the reason many of us without the "typical" obsessions are unaware we have OCD.

I also wish that media portrayals of OCD would show how painful this disorder is for sufferers. It's typically seen as a quirky almost comical disorder when it is much the opposite. The only movie I can recall that showed a more accurate portrayal was the Aviator.

I hope Hollywood and the book industry starts getting OCD right some day.

[whitebeam]

i thought some of the behaviour in 'As Good as it Gets' portrayed OCD well - though again it was the contamination aspect shown. Having said that, it's years since I saw it and don't know how it would stand up now.