This youtube video is about a woman, Elizabeth Macondall, who is suffering from Obsession Compulsive Disorder. Elizabeth sometimes scrubs her hands up to one hundred times a day. She uses her feet to open doors, turn on and off lights, etc. Take a look at her hands- they are so discolored from constantly washing them. Elizabeth is very scared of coming into contact with germs and does all of these rituals to keep away from the germs. Elizabeth becomes so frustrated and anxious with her disorder, that she sometimes kicks and punches things such as the wall to let out her anger. With this we see a connection with something we learned last chapter. Elizabeth is using one of the ego defense mechanisms, displacement, by taking out impulses on a less threatening object such as punching the wall. Elizabeth also puts clothing 'off limits' because she thinks they are full of germs. For example, she said that she couldn't wear a certain pair of pants because "they are contaminated from vacation." I think it is amazing how Elizabeth is now the national spokesperson for OCD. This is a type of therapy for her because she is trying to help people in the same situation as her. I think it is so cool how Elizabeth takes her disorder and uses it in a way that she can help people and more importantly help herself.
Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn1OYlYzgm8
wow!
ReplyDeleteThat blog made me so sad!
That poor woman!
This actually made me think of something that i have always wondered about. You know how very often people who are mentors and people who try to help those with "issues" used to have problems themselves. In fact, part of the process of the healing treatment in Alcohol Anonymous for example, is that after a certain given time you become a mentor to those who are just starting out and are at a worse stage than you. I always wondered why thats helpful. Is is perhaps because when you see that people who go through the same thing you do are worse of than you?