This Week’s Psychobabble: Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder
Psychobabble, Why We Watch, Lists, Seriously March 24th, 2008
Tuesday, Lafayette, Indiana
The popularity of the television hit Monk has brought to light the problem of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Most people know this challenge from the observable behavior of its sufferers who are constantly, and ritualistically focused on order and cleanliness. While it is played for laughs on television, it is the cause of great suffering and social difficulty for the individuals who cannot relax until all things in their surroundings are in perfect order. They obsess about whether they turned off the faucet or the oven and repeatedly return to make sure.
In the language of the DSM-IV, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder involves a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
1. Is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
- You created a spreadsheet outlining the minute by minute schedule of you daughter’s prom.
2. Shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
- As a result of indecision you have never been able to order from a menu.
3. Is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
- Your overtime pay tripled your regular salary.
4. Is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
- At least three fellow employees have lost their jobs as a result of your negative reports on their personal behavior.
5. Is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
- You rent three thousand square feet of space at a local storage facility.
Relief for sufferers includes new medications along with supportive psychotherapy.
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