OCD and Me

By Adrian McCarthy

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an extreme anxiety-related condition listed by the World Health Organization as one of the ten most debilitating illnesses in the world. Roughly 3% of people in the developed world suffer from OCD. In an attempt to get an understanding of OCD, the filmmakers speak to sufferers themselves. Featuring experts in the field as well, OCD and Me gives insight into what the disease is like and how it can be managed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Mar 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781974994359

Adrian McCarthy

Adrian McCarthy, a California native, has spent more than twenty years writing software professionally, including stints at some of the most famous companies in Silicon Valley. He wasted decades dabbling with screenwriting and science fiction short stories and novels before figuring out that he liked mysteries.

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Jacob

On the first day of filming, we were immediately confronted by the nonsensical but very serious effects of the disorder. We met Jacob, an artist who has Contact Contamination OCD, a symptom of which is an overwhelming feeling of distress when one comes into physical contact with objects, individuals or substances perceived as ‘contaminants’. He agreed to share his story with us, as long as we observed his strict no-touch rule.

Asked how he felt about letting us in to his living space, he admitted, It’s difficult, noting the size of our film equipment. I mean, obviously, with the boom, the bags, it’s going to be hard to get through that without even touching anything. This is my safe zone.

We were among a very small number of people that Jacob had allowed through the gate to his apartment, an invitation he seemed to be beginning to regret. When opening doors for us, he reached for the least-touched corner, farthest from the actual doorknob. Maintaining an affable smile, he was clearly on edge. Well, I’m going to have to clean stuff anyway. That is, we’ve already failed. Resignation gave way to impatience. If you touch anything in here, I will probably get a little bit angry.

We made it through the doors to the lobby of his apartment building before he abandoned the plan. Sorry . . . I’m sorry, I can’t, I can’t take you up the stairs. I am angsty right now.

Jacob explained further. I won’t touch this or this now. I won’t touch this, and I won’t touch that, he said, pointing to the railings and stairs outside the doors, while gingerly stepping around our recent footprints. You guys are OCD dirty. Later, if I’m leaving my apartment, it could be six months down the line, and I accidentally touch the place where I know you’ve touched, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, sh*t, I accidentally touched that thing.’ It will make me feel dirty and ruin the rest of my day.

Mella

Mella Travers, Jacob’s mother, called her son very, very lonely. She told us she has never been in his apartment. When we told her our production crew had not been allowed in, she was not surprised. No, no one gets in. Can’t.

Like her son, Mella has OCD, though less severe than Jacob. Mine is here, she said, gesturing at about shoulder height, and his is here, she said, reaching far above her head. "His is more heightened than mine. He’s got this extra bit that affects my relationship with him. Not in the way that we communicate, but in the sense that I can’t touch