Ocd in as Good as It Gets

As Good as It Gets

In the movie As Good as It Gets Jack Nicholson’s character, Melvin Udall, suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, known as OCD for short, is a type of anxiety disorder.

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 displays rituals such as tapping his toes all around his slippers before putting them on.

One of Melvin’s main obsessions is with cleanliness and sanitation. He was a complete germaphobe. Besides how he washes his hands with brand new bars of soap, he also takes extremely long showers. When he goes to a restaurant, he brings his own set of plastic ware instead of using the silverware provided at the restaurant. He even puts on plastic gloves before picking up a dog. Another obsession he has is not being touched by other people. In fact, he doesn’t like being around other people much at all in the beginning of the movie. One person that he is really fond of is Carol, the waitress

that waits on him everyday when he goes to the same restaurant and sits at the same table. He always orders the same thing and throws a fit if something is not the way he wants it. He insists on having Carol be he server everyday.

Melvin’s behaviors sometimes limit his abilities to function. For example, he doesn’t eat when Carol missed a day of work and he showed up at her house asking her to come back to work so she could serve him and he could eat. This limits him so much that he takes extreme measures to get Carol back at work. The reason she has to miss work is because she has a very sick son that she needed to stay home and take care of. Melvin pulls some strings and gets a very good doctor to try and cure Carol’s son. Even though the doctor costs him a lot of money, he does it because he cannot eat at the restaurant without Carol as his server. Another way that Melvin’s OCD has got in the way of normal functions was when he needed to buy a suit. The store had very small tiles and Melvin had no way avoiding stepping on any cracks. He could only just stand outside of the store and just asked for a suit to be brought out to him.

I think that the movie did a good job of accurately portraying Melvin’s OCD. According to the DSM-IV, the first criterion is having either obsessions or compulsions. Melvin has both obsessions and compulsions and he fits perfectly with one of the definitions of compulsions. “Compulsions are defined as repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly” (462). Melvin definitely fits with the first criteria, he has many compulsions as I have previously mentioned. The next part of the criteria is

“B. At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable” (462). Melvin realizes his obsessions and compulsions are unreasonable, for example he makes attempts to not lock the door five times because he knows it’s unreasonable but he just cannot control it. The next criteria, criteria C states that, “The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships” (463). Melvin fits this criterion as I have previously discussed how his OCD gets in the way of his everyday functions. The fourth Criteria, D states that, “If another Axis I disorder is present, the content of the obsessions or compulsions is not restricted to it (e.g., preoccupation with food in the presence of an Eating Disorder; hair pulling in presence of Trichotillomania; concern with appearance in the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder; preoccupation with drugs in the presence of a Substance Use Disorder; Preoccupation with having a serious illness in the presence of Hypochondriasis; preoccupation with sexual urges or fantasies in the presence of a Paraphilia; or guilty ruminations in the presence of Major Depressive Disorder)” (463). This criterion is saying that if another Axis I disorder is present and as far as we know there aren’t any other disorders present, but Melvin still fits the criteria