I am a clean guy. I like my room to be tidy, my hallway to be swept, and my kitchen to be insect-free. But there are those that would accuse me of “being OCD”. This acronym, which once stood for “obsessive-compulsive disorder”, is now a simple stand-in for cleanliness, perpetrated by the denizens of filth, sloth, and ignorance.
As humans, we are surrounded by obsessions and by compulsions. We are compelled to eat. Some of us are a little obsessed with vaginas, others with penises, a rare few with little boys. Some people are obsessed with heroin, and compulsively inject it into their veins. And minor obsessions with specific numbers, or even/odd numbers are very common. But you wouldn’t call any of these people “OCD”. They’re just people!
OCD is, as a matter of fact, a medically diagnosable anxiety disorder in which a person, overcome by anxiety and thoughts, compulsively behaves in a way that is disruptive to his life or the lives of others. Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets” was a fine demonstration of OCD. Obsessions with numbers and germs, hoarding, checking and rechecking things, repeated hand-washing, can be OCD behaviors. Even obsessions with specific thoughts, which disrupt easy functioning, might be diagnosed as OCD.
But sweeping your floors now and then, wiping up after you’ve been cooking, putting away your dishes and organizing your books are NOT demonstrations of obsessive-compulsive disorder unless they interfere with, that is, DISORDER, one’s life.
Thank you. Please leave me alone now forever.
