As Good As It Gets Udall

In the movie, As Good as it Gets, Melvin Udall shows many signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), that includes his germaphobia, the strict routine he follows, his aggressive thoughts on life, and his superstitions. Melvin Udall always kept his place clean, never wanted to touch another human, brought his own plastic silverware to restaurants, and wears gloves. Furthermore, his worst sign of germaphobia is his multi-step cleanse after being out of his apartment. The routine including washing his hands with burning hot water, opening a new bar of soap and starts scrubbing away, and repeats this process until he has gone through several bars of soap. However, the obsession of a routine is what highlights the problems in the movie overall.

Melvin goes to the same diner for breakfast every day and is waited by a waiter named Carol, and when Carol is not there, due to her child having a fever, Melvin will do anything to get Carol to give him breakfast. Melvin's obsession with routine is shown in his reluctance to take Simon to Baltimore because the only way he would go is by bringing Carol with him. Melvin's obsession of doubt and superstition is a big factor in his personality as well. In the movie, he always locks the door five times along with turning on and off the lights, as well as asking the restaurant if they had hard-shell crabs and his fear of stepping on cracks on the sidewalk. These obsessions and compulsions are shown as the challenges Melvin Udall has to conquer; furthermore, the movie shows how Carol, the waitress, is what "inspires him to be a better man."
Melvin Udall's relationships are quite complicated because his personality is vivid in ways of his aggressiveness, his inability to think clearly in times of stress, and how he values his obsessions over people at times.

At the beginning of the movie, Melvin ruins two relationships abruptly by throwing Simon's dog down the garbage shoot because of his obsession with being clean was triggered when the dog was looking for a place to urinate. Ironically, the dog is an imperative part of the story in which shows how Melvin's love for his dog helps him destress over his obsessions, which causes him to be happier and makes him start to realize what love is. Not only is the relationship with the dog an important relationship, but also his relationship with Carol is what the movie encompasses. At first, Carol was a waitress that fulfilled his daily obsession of a routine, where sometimes she viewed it as Melvin obsessing over her. Consequently, she was very reluctant to serve him, and because of that Melvin's aggressive personality began to erupt and caused Carol to have a wrong interpretation of him. However, Carol begins to complain about her son's fever and breathing problems, and this causes Melvin to have compassion for her. However, the compassion and obsession of routine conflict with each other when he shows up to Carol's house unannounced and begins to tell her child how to act. This event caused Carol to have a desire to never see Melvin again. However, his obsession to

fulfill his daily routine does not stop, but neither does his compassion for Carol's sick child. He orders a professional home physician to treat Spencer and Melvin takes it upon himself to pay all the expense. Carol, wants to refuse because she feels he is doing this so that he can date her, even though it was not about his obsession at all. The glimpses of compassion Melvin feels later develop how Carol changes his life and allows him to control his OCD more effectively.
When Carol finally agrees to go to Baltimore with him and Simon, Melvin is given the opportunity to tell Carol about how his relationship has grown out of obsession and into a passion for love. This is hard for Carol to comprehend because she thought he obsessed over her and when Melvin failed several times to compliment her due to certain compulsions that occurred during these stressful times. Eventually, Melvin is able to utter the beautiful concept that she inspired him to take his pills for OCD again, even though they are ineffective because she provides extrinsic motivation for him to control his OCD. In a way, his relationship with her is a better treatment than the pill itself because she points out his obsessions, she inspires him to confront his obsessions, and she helps him conquer them. At the beginning of the movie Carol touches him and he does not go ballistic, which eventually foreshadows this therapeutic relationship.
Overall, Carol helps Melvin get over his feelings of doubt and perfection by involuntarily showing her unperfect and chaotic world while still having a positive outlook on life.

Carol's disruption of his routine is what triggered his OCD, but she was able to point out the problems of his OCD and still be able to show him, love, unlike others who made fun of him. What Carol did was effective because she triggered his feelings of doubt and desire for perfection, then intervened and gave her life story to him to show that her life was not always perfect either. Her hope and positivity on life are what eventually inspires Melvin to confront his OCD, and become a better man so he can have a relationship with

Carol.
In an overview, Melvin Udall can be diagnosed as having OCD because of his obsessions with routine and other superstitions. The disorder is actually well-depicted by not just showing obsessions, but also the common motor and verbal ticks a person with OCD can have. However, most doctor's do not give only medicine to those with OCD. However, most doctor's model Carol's actions of exploiting the problem (but more professionally) and then helping find ways to better control the situation because nothing will completely vanquish OCD, but there are ways to adapt to it.