The film “As Good as It Gets” features a character, Melvin Udall, thought to be suffering from an anxiety disorder commonly known as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This disorder is depicted in his actions and how he relates with others. Melvin is a writer of 62 women romance novels and lives in an apartment where he dislikes all his neighbors. The film starts with Melvin hurling into a garbage channel a little dog that belongs to his neighbor, Simon. He observes a strict routine of taking his meals from a single restaurant where he always carries his own cutlery for fear of contamination and has a specific waitress, Carol who serves him (Brooks et al., 1997). The waiter is always there to serve him, despite her disliking his arrogance and insensitivity. In fact, in one instance, he makes a ridiculing remark about Carol’s asthmatic son and she swears not to serve him again unless he withdrew the remark and apologized. Out of fear that it was the only restaurant he took his meals from and Carol was the only waitress who must serve him, he backs down. Moreover, one day when Carol takes off work to tend to her sick son, Melvin gets very anxious due to the disruption of his routine. When his neighbor, Simon, who is a gay artist is mugged and robbed, Melvin reluctantly helps him and he is tasked with caring for the neighbor’s little dog that is rescued from the garbage. Despite his hatred for the neighbor and dog, he is coerced into caring for the dog and later, turns out to love the little pet. Finally, Melvin is connected to Carol and most of his anxieties seem to diminish.
Anxiety disorders are caused by nervousness or fearfulness due to an anticipated problem. This apprehension is manifested through physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. These include indicators such as increased heart rate, trembling, preoccupation, cogitation, fear, and terror among others. In the course of the film “As Good as It Gets”, Melvin portrays a variety of compulsions and obsessions.
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First, Melvin is obsessed with the fear of contamination. This fear is depicted through his obsession for personal cleanliness whereby he always uses steaming hot water and a new piece of soap for his hand wash (Brooks et al., 1997). After every few seconds of use of the piece of soap, he throws it away and opens another brand new one. When taking his shower, he always uses steaming hot water and takes longer than normal in the shower. Whenever he is out of his apartment, he is always in gloves for fear of touching unclean things and discards the gloves after use for fear of contamination. He also dislikes touching other people or people touching him as he is controlled by the fear of contamination. Lastly, he carries his own utensils to use at the restaurant because he thinks those at the restaurant are unclean.
Secondly, Melvin portrays his compulsion of the doubt. He is obsessed with locking his door several times in order to ensure it is locked (Brooks et al., 1997). Also, he always doubts other people. For instance, when he goes out with Carol for dinner in another restaurant, he makes inquiries from more than one person if the restaurant served hard shell crabs despite getting affirmative responses from the first respondents. Locking his door only once and asking a single person about the restaurant’s menu of hard shell crabs would make him more anxious. His obsession with doubt can also be connected to his conscious efforts not to step on cracks as he walks on brick pathways, sidewalks, or tile floors. One can easily speculate that something bad might have taken place earlier in his life when he stepped on a crack, hence his compulsion of doubt about his safety.
Thirdly, Melvin is obsessed with organization and control. He consciously takes time to organize his apartment. He also observes a standardized and routine day. For instance, when Carol is off duty to serve him, he becomes anxious and feels his routine has been ruined. Upon a request to accompany Simon to Baltimore to visit his parents, Melvin becomes reluctant for fears that his daily routine would be interrupted (Brooks et al., 1997). Also, the high number of books Melvin has written may be attributed to his obsession with routine and organization because it is not normal for a single writer to author so many books as 62. Writing a given number of pages in a day might be part of his daily routine.
The accuracy of the symptoms portrayed in the film is unquestionable for a character with the anxiety disorder particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder, however, the procedure employed in depressing the symptoms is not standard of a normal treatment for such an individual with OCD. According to Smith and Seagul (2018), OCD is best treated through repeated, intense exposure to the source of obsession and response prevention (Smith & Segal, 2018). In the film, Melvin mentions that his doctor prescribed him some medication, which is not a typical means of dealing with the disorder. The doctor also advised him to break his routine but did not describe the specific instructions to follow. An appropriate therapy should consider exposing the patient to his obsessions and preventing the performance of compulsions.
In the film, it is through a personal connection that Melvin’s OCD is diminished. The connection with Carol works out clinically to suddenly and intensely expose Melvin to the sources of his obsessions thereby eliminating his fear of contamination. This is portrayed when Melvin allows Carol to kiss him repeatedly, and not allowing himself to brush his teeth. In addition, Melvin would now pat Simon on his shoulder without the fear that he would be contaminated. Also, Melvin seems preoccupied with thoughts about Carol that he forgets locking his door. Another form of intense exposure is seen when Melvin is forced to walk with Carol on cracks because he feels it would be silly to walk some distance away from Carol.
References
Brooks, J. L., Johnson, B., & Zea, K. (1997, December 23). As good as it gets [Video file].
Smith, M., & Segal, J. (2018, June). Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Symptoms, treatment, and self-help. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm
