Stop, Look, and Listen

OCD in the Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Updated 23-Jan-2016

Arts

• "Artist Suffering From Anxiety Illustrates Mental Illnesses As Real Monsters" - Toby Allen's amazing illustrations show various mental disorders as monsters. Here's OCD: "The obsessive-compulsive monster is a cruel and manipulative puppeteer that uses fear to control its victims." (More of his illustrations.)
• Nelli Miller's I Am: An Exploration into Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - (This site is now gone. The links are to archived pages in the Wayback Machine; some of the artwork, poetry, and real-life stories are still available for viewing.) Art and poetry "by sufferers, for other sufferers". The site also features real-life stories and a CD of OCD-related "music, readings and interviews". This is a beautiful site with one drawback: the poetry and stories are in individual PDF files, making them awkward to download and read.
• OCD: an exhibition at the Boston Center for the Arts (Wayback Machine) - "OCD delves into the phenomena with eight artists for whom obsession and compulsion are both the subject and the method of their work ..." (March 19 through May 7, 2004)
• OCD PROJECT - is a blog documenting various OCD projects by Lil Yates when she was a Product Design Student in her final year at Grays School of Art. Some really great stuff!
• Kirk Stacey's pure-ocd: Taking a look into the world of OCD - is an interesting and unusual site that uses fictional short stories, scripts, and photographs to promote awareness of OCD, its different manifestations, and how it affects the lives of sufferers. (Other art by Kirk.)

Magic

• Steven Diamond - is a Las Vegas magician who suffered from OCD. His web site features his autobiography, video clips of a Jane Pauley interview, and an audio course he's developed for overcoming anxiety disorders.

Movies

• Internet Movie Database - "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" - search results. As of this writing, there were 106 titles listed under keyword matches; scattered throughout the list were films dealing with OCD.

• As Good As It Gets (1997, IMDB) - Jack Nicholson as Melvin and Helen Hunt as Carol. (Quotes and sound bites from the movie.) Melvin:

  Some of us have great stories. Pretty stories, that take place at lakes, with boats and friends, and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.

• The Aviator (2004, IMDB) - Leonardo DiCaprio as the young, famous Howard Hughes. Some of the Quotes reveal his fear of germs, an obsession that would overtake him later in life. Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz was the medical consultant for the OCD and is well-known for his PET scans of OCD patients' brains. I saw him give a talk on TV claiming that they did the same PET scans on Leonardo DiCaprio after he performed the OCD scenes in the movie and DiCaprio's brain showed the same highlighted areas in the brain, the implication being that if a normal person can turn OCD on, an OCD sufferer can surely turn it off. That's Dr. Schwartz's two-cents worth.

• Dirty Filthy Love (Wayback Machine) (2004, IMDB) - "an offbeat romantic comedy ... [about] a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourette's [sic] Syndrome negotiating his way through divorce and redundancy." From Roger Darlington (Wayback Machine): "The piece was co-written by actor Ian Puleston-Davies who suffers from OCD himself."

• Housekeeping (1987, IMDB) - is the story of two sisters raised by their Aunt Sylvie, a hoarder. The movie is based on the novel Housekeeping (Wikipedia) by Marilynne Robinson (Wikipedia).

• Matchstick Men (2003, IMDB) - stars Nicolas Cage as a con man, Roy, who suffers from OCD, Tourette's, and other anxiety disorders. The plot has an interesting twist at the end. The OCD seems a little contrived and is inconsistent in places, but how can you not like Cage!

• The Tic Code (1999, IMDB) - is about a 10-year-old aspiring jazz musician with Tourette's. I haven't seen the movie yet.

• Unstrung Heroes (1995, IMDB) - is based on Franz Lidz's memoir of his family. I haven't seen the movie yet, but the two uncles apparently suffer from OCD. (A review of another Lidz book says Uncle Arthur was a hoarder.)

• Blue Skies Are a Lie (1995, IMDB) - written and directed by Gregory Ruzzin. Screened by the IOCDF at the First Annual Mental Disorders Film Festival, the movie is about an agoraphobic who is also apparently obsessed with "keeping files on the earth's destruction" (Wayback Machine).
• Information about Compulsive Hoarding - is a video put together by Renae M. Reinardy, Psy.D., a specialist in hoarding.
• It's Not Me -- It's My OCD - a documentary about OCD. (1997, ISBN: 1-58140-338-0)
• Pure "O" - is a film by Jennifer Goodwin about Pure Obsessional OCD (Wikipedia). Watch the trailer and order (English, French PDF) the DVD (and other OCD DVDs) from the Quebec Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation. (The web site can be viewed in English or French; the film itself is in English.)
• Red Light August (1999, IMDB) - a 30-minute "story of Boothe, a reclusive young painter suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)". (OCF review)
• Speaking From Experience: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - "Speaking From Experience offers candid accounts from six people who have lived with OCD for many years. They share with you their experiences and wisdom that they have gained on their personal journeys to recovery." (Clips)
• The Surface (Wayback Machine) - a short film (2001) by Adam Bernard about a teenager with OCD. (OCF review)

Multimedia/Audio/Videos

• International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) - (formerly the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation, or OCF).
  • Facebook
  • Twitter feed
  • YouTube channel

• "Closed In" - "Experimental Narrative about OCD Shut-in". (QuickTime movie; filmed by Nathan Heartman)
• BBC Video Nation - "OCD" - Mark Boustead, a film maker, "explains what living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is like and how it manifests itself for him". (March 2004; available in RealPlayer format)
• "React - "an ocd person learns to overcome". (QuickTime movie; produced by Nathan Springer.)

• NOBODIES - podcasts from Jason and Kelli; they occasionally talk about Kelli's OCD.

• OCD Animations / Ocean of OCD - is a series of clever video animations that illustrates how OCD hems in your life and how to break free of it. To help understand the videos, read the text below each one before watching. The prose is beautiful.

• Vimeo - video search results for "obsessive compulsive disorder" and OCD".
• YouTube - video search results for "obsessive compulsive disorder" and "OCD".

People

• Famous People with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - is a lengthy list of historical figures and present-day celebrities who purportedly have OCD. Some entries actual describe the person's OCD, but other entries are just summaries of the celebrities' careers.

• 12 obsessive celebs - a life less disorder-nary - lists 12 celebrities and the nature of their OCD. The celebrities include Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, Billy Bob Thornton, David Beckham, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Gascoigne, Jane Horrocks, Natalie Appleton, Fred Durst, and Woody Allen.

• "Fiona Apple and the horrors of OCD" - the musician. "But real OCD is, as Apple herself pointed out, a debilitating problem that can ruin your life."
• "Denise Richards Is A Happy Germ Nut" - the actress.
• Howard Stern and Stuttering John (Wayback Machine) both suffer from OCD.
• Marc Summers - "The Sultan of Slime", despite his OCD!

Radio

• BBC Radio 4 - All in the Mind - Dr. Raj Persaud explored OCD in the April 10, 2002 airing of the program (available in RealAudio format). He talked with someone about First Steps to Freedom and with Dr. Isobel Heyman about OCD in children.
• "Obsesive Compulive Disorder" [sic] - "Chris [Moyles] talks to Jimmy Carr about OCD. (MP3 from The Breakfast Show, 2005-11-15)
• Ireland's RTÉ Radio 1:
  • "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" - was the subject of Olan McGowan's very interesting Outside the Box show on May 9, 2006. McGown interviews soccer superstar David Beckham and his wife, both of whom suffer from OCD, and OCD professionals Leslie Shoemaker (counseling psychologist and advisor to OCD Ireland) and Sinclair Hamilton (psychotherapist and advisor to OCD Northern Ireland).
  • On the November 1, 2006 broadcast of The Tubridy Show, Anton Savage interviews Leslie Shoemaker (see above), Dr. Martina Gibbons (cognitive psychotherapist and director of the Out and About Association), and an OCD sufferer, David Quinn. The OCD segment begins about 32 minutes into the one-hour show and lasts for about 17 minutes.
  • "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" - is a poignant and informative program (MP3) in Ella McSweeney's Mind Matters series. The OCD professionals featured on the May 11, 2007 show are Leslie Shoemaker (see above) and Paul M. Salkovskis, Ph.D. (clinical psychologist and researcher).

Theater

• The Intelligence of Jenny Chow (Wayback Machine) - a play by Rolin Jones about a teenage computer guru with OCD. (Review)

Television

• Hoarders (A&E) - "Each 60-minute episode of Hoarders is a fascinating look inside the lives of two different people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis."
• Hoarding: Buried Alive (TLC) - Hoarding: Buried Alive "explores the psychology behind the compulsion to accumulate and store large quantities of nonessential things ... With the help of expert therapists and organizers, the hoarders will attempt to unlock the key to their obsessions in hope of reclaiming their lives."
• How Clean Is Your House? (BBC) - "Through a horrifying yet hilarious combination of observation and science of grime, this show will revolutionize the dull world of housework." In the few episodes I've seen, the houses are cleaned, but there is no discussion of the obvious hoarding and there is no psychiatric help for the hoarder.
• Hoarders vs. Hoarding: Buried Alive - is a critique of the two series with a well-argued choice of Hoarding: Buried Alive as the better show. The article concludes by recommending you watch How Clean Is Your House? for the best of both worlds.
• Obsessed (A&E) - "Intense and highly personal, A&E's true-life docuseries Obsessed examines the lives of everyday people imprisoned by unmanageable, repetitive behaviors and sometimes debilitating fear." "Highly trained therapists use desensitatization and exposure therapy, coaching the patients through exposure to the causes of their anxiety until the feelings begin to fade."
• The OCD Project (VH1) - "Six participants diagnosed with the most severe forms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have lost their friends, put their families on the brink of collapse, and completely bankrupt [sic] their lives. Now, as a last resort, they've decided to move together and undergo intensive therapy."

• The Big Bang Theory - is a comedy revolving around four science nerds. Sheldon is arguably the smartest one of the bunch and, since the first episode, obviously has Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), which is basically OCD without the distress. In "The Engagement Reaction" (Season 4, Episode 23), Sheldon displays full-blown mysophobia (hey, I learned a new word today!), which may or may not be distinct from OCD contamination fears (i.e., it may be an obsession without compulsions).
• Haven - features former FBI agent Audrey Parker investigating mysteries in a mysterious town. "Audrey Parker's Day Off" (Season 2, Episode 6) has Parker reliving the same day over and over again, with a different friend being killed each day by a hit-and-run driver. She finally figures out that the repeating days are caused by a man who suffers from OCD, in particular, counting and checking compulsions. (In general, the supernatural mystery to be solved in each show is usually caused by the actions of an individual.) The OCD is realistically portrayed, but the ending is in poor taste.
• House - I'm a big fan of Hugh Laurie and, for the first couple of seasons, of House. (In subsequent seasons, the storylines - especially the non-medical threads - have gotten increasingly bizarre and somewhat tedious.)
  • "Open and Shut" (Season 6, Episode 19) - reveals, indirectly, that Wilson has Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD).
  • "You Must Remember This" (Season 7, Episode 12) - features a lady who supposedly has a perfect memory, plus health problems. By the end of the show, you find out that the "perfect" memory is a result of her obsessing over every incident in her life. Chase prescribes an SSRI and says that it will fix her OCD. If only ...
  • "The Dig" (Season 7, Episode 18) - features an ill teacher who, after the House crew breaks into his house, is suspected of hoarding. They eventually find out that the man's wife is the hoarder and that the hoarding began after she had 3 miscarriages (which she didn't tell her husband about).
• Monk - is a humorous TV series starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, a detective with OCD. Check out the on-line game, "Germicide. The message board includes discussions of OCD.
• Tyler Perry's House of Payne - In "Wax On, Wax Off" (Season 1, Episode 13), "Malik gets excessively consumed with taking showers" and "Ella worries that he has OCD."

And don't forget the cartoons! In one of Nickelodeon's Rugrats episodes (#59B, "Mr. Clean"), Chuckie won't play in the trash with the other babies because of his fear of germs. At the end of the show, however - realizing that life's too short, I guess - he does a little exposure therapy of his own, plunging into the trash and having fun.

And Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory! The following posting to the alt.tv.dexter-lab news group was apparently referring to Episode 35 of the second season (#48 in the series), "Pslyghtly Psycho" (Wayback Machine):

I just saw one of the most incredible segments on Dexter's Laboratory. In it, the mother is deprived of her gloves and told to relax by her kids and husband. This has to be one of the most perceptive looks into obsessive-compulsive disorders I have ever seen. The creators of this show should be proud. (thread)

Comedy Central's adult-oriented Crank Yankers puppet show includes OCD Ken (voice of Kevin Nealon):

Here's suprwmn3000's account (Wayback Machine) of Saturday Night Live's "Compulsion" commercial:

Did you ever see the SNL take-off on Calvin Klein's "Obsession"? Nora Dunn is the main character, Phil Hartman the narrator and I can't remember the rest but it is priceless! Done just like the CK commercial of the time, shot with black & white backgrounds and I remember a couple of the lines because they were sooooo funny:

"If keeping a clean house is a crime, then let me be guilty!" (Nora Dunn?)

"Somewhere between cleanliness and godliness lies Compulsion, the world's most indulgent disinfectant. From Calvin Kleen." (Phil Hartman?)