Case Analysis: Felix Unger, the Odd Couple By: Shirl Smith South College Abnormal Psychology Dr. Robinson Abstract Felix Unger is a fictional character in the TV series The Odd Couple that first aired from 1970 to 1975 on ABC. This series was just resurrected again in 2015 airing Wednesday nights on CBS and seems to be going strong. I have only watched it a few times but the evidence of obsessive compulsive disorder in Felix Unger played by Actor Thomas Lennon is unmistakable. Felix is clearly a control freak with tendencies to get upset easily when things don’t work out the way he feels they should or when things are unorganized and messy. Felix is currently living with his recently divorced old college buddy …show more content…
Unger’s obsessive compulsive disorder which has led to depression and attempted suicide. People with obsessive compulsive disorder suffer from unwanted and often intrusive thoughts that they can’t get out of their heads. They are often compelled to repeatedly do tasks in a ritualistic way in an attempt to eliminate their anxiety. They are most often aware that their obsessions or compulsions are irrational; however, they are still powerless to stop them and may spend countless hours doing these tasks over and over. This can and often does interfere with a person’s normal live and may make them less productive and successful at work, school, socially and even with family. If left untreated OCD will eventually interfere with all aspects of a person’s life …show more content…
Unger’s has a fighting chance at leading somewhat of a normal live going forward no matter the road his marriage ends up taking. With his continued therapy and regular taking of his anti-depressant drugs he will be able to lead a high functioning lifestyle. References: Pfizer (2015, January 1). Zoloft, Drug Facts. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from https://www.drugs.com/zolft. Psychguide (2016). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms, Causes and Effects. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from http://psychguides.com Mayo Clinic (1998-2016). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Retrieved August 26, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org). Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2010-2016). Obsessive Compulsive Foundation OCD Support. Retrieved on August 20, 2016, from https://www.adaa.org/search/node?keys=obsessive+compulsive International OCD Foundation (Oct. 2009-2015). About OCD. Retrieved August 26, 2016 from
Smith, Melinda, and Jeanne Segal. "Anorexia Nervosa." Signs, Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment. Help Guide, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can come in many different forms. It can control how people live their everyday lives, and it is extremely difficult to get rid of it. It can take months to years of behavioral therapy to stop it. Even then it is not gone for
The protagonist in the film As Good As It Gets, Melvin Udall is a successful romantic novelist who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. From the onset of the film, Melvin displays ritualistic behavior that aligns with the diagnostic criteria for OCD, specifically the presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both. This paper focuses on Melvin’s particular psychopathology, analyzing the character’s current symptoms and diagnoses, the etiology of the disorder, and the key elements of his treatment.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a disease that afflicts up to six million Americans, however all its characteristics are yet to be fully understood. Its causes, triggers, attributes, and variations are still unknown although effective medicines exist to treat the symptoms. OCD is a very peculiar disease as Rapoport discusses it comes in many different forms and have different symptoms yet have many similarities. One sure aspect is that it appears, or at least its symptoms do, out of the blue and is triggered either by stressful experiences or, most of the time, just appears out of nowhere. One example is a boy who's father was hard on him for being affected by the worlds "modern ways", the boy at a high school party tries LSD ( a hallucinatory drug), after that thoughts of whether his mind was dangerously affected by the drug. What seemed like completely appropriate worrying and anxiety turned into attacks of anxiety, he couldn't shake the thoughts that something was wrong with his mind. Essentially he had "his mind on his mind" constantly and that haunted his days his thought were as follows: " did the lsd do anything to my mind? The thought never went away ; instead it got more and more complicated. There must be something wrong with my mind if i am spending so much time worrying about it. Is there something wrong with my mind? Was this from the lsd? Will it ever get better?" (The boy who, J. L. Rapoport 125,126) Dr. Rapoport promptly put him on Anafranil (an anti-depressant, used for OCD, not marketed in the U.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder which causes people to develop an anxiety when certain obsessions or compulsions are not fulfilled. OCD can affect both children and adults with more than half of all adults with OCD stating that they experienced signs as a child. People living with OCD display many obvious signs such as opening and closing a door fifty times because they have to do it “just right”. Others exhibit extreme cleanliness and will wash their hands or take showers as often as they can because they constantly feel dirty. OCD devastates people’s social lives as they are fixated and obsessed with perfection that can take forever to achieve. However people living with OCD are often found to have an above average intelligence and typically excel at school due to their detail oriented mindset, cautious planning and patience. OCD can be caused by many different factors such as genetics or the ever changing world a...
To begin, what constitutes abnormal behavior in Mr. Hughes’s case? As early as the 1930s, Hughes demonstrated signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is identified by DSM as having recurrent obsessions (persistent thoughts, ideas, impulses or images that seem to invade a person’s consciousness) or compulsions (repeated and rigid behaviors or mental acts that people feel like they must perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety) (Cormer, 2008). Close friends reported that Hughes was obsessed with the size of peas, one of his favorite foods, and used a special fork to sort them by size.
"What Is Crystal Meth Addiction - Side Effects of Meth and Long Term Crystal Methamphetamine Effects." What Is Crystal Meth Addiction - Side Effects of Meth and Long Term Crystal Methamphetamine Effects. N.p., 2006-2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to stem around certain categories. Fears, such as germs, are often a major category attacked by OCD. (Mayo, 1) These fears turn into obsessions, which can cause detrimental conflict in one’s life. Obsessions are thoughts, images, or impulses that keep reoccurring and lack control by the person obtaining them. (Ocfoundation, 2) Generally, these obsessions are unwanted by the person and are generally disturbing and confusing. Feelings of discomfort typically follow such thoughts as well as the wanting to correct the feeling of discomfort. (Ocfoundation, 3) Some of the most common obsessions today are body contamination, losing control, perfectionism, harm, or unwanted sexual thoughts. (Ocfoundation,4)
Quinn, P. (2012). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: What Is ADHD?. WebMD. Retrieved on December 3, 2013, from
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by unreasonable thoughts, fears, and obsessions that lead you to do repetitive behaviors or compulsions. Living with OCD is like remembering every little thing you need to do for that week, every second of the day, every hour of the day, every minute of the day and all at once. One to two percent of the population in The United States suffers from OCD which is roughly 1 to 2 million people. ("How Many People Have OCD?)
Jakubovski, E., Diniz, J. B., Valerio, C., Fossaluza, V., Belotto-Silva, C., Gorenstein, C., …Shavitt, R. G. (2013). Clinical predictors of long-term outcome in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 763-772. doi 10.1002/da.22013
There are several things that are included in OCD, including its symptoms, treatments and its involvement with the brain. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder recognize their symptoms to be ego-dystonic which are thoughts one would not usually have and not within one’s control but is still a product of one’s mind. The two common symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions take the form of persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts. An anonymous writer wrote about his/her images, “These images included hitting, stabbing, poisoning and shooting people, even the people I loved the most…” However, compulsions are either repetitive physical behaviors or mental thought rituals that are performed over and over again to help relieve a person’s anxiety. Over time compulsions can become more elaborate and time- consuming. Shirley Brinkerhoff mentions in her book Amanda, a high school girl facing OCD, said, “Then I started having to count my steps. Like, 387 steps to the bus stop, and if missed...
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disease that a lot of people suffer with in society especially young adults. While it is not a disease that is deadly, it does affect the victim in every day aspects of their life and can ultimately control their lives. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as, “… a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over”. The thoughts that individuals have when suffering through Obsessive Compulsive Disorder cannot be restrained and really can disturb the individual. Thoughts or actions that people may have can range from worrying about daily occurrences, such as washing their hands, to having thoughts of harming people that are close to them. People tend to have these reoccurring compulsions because they believe by doing them or thinking them, they will either prevent something bad from happening or because it eliminates stress that they have. This disease can last a lifetime and can be very detrimental and disabling to how one lives their lives. Individuals can start to see signs of OCD in either late adolescence or even early adulthood and everyone is susceptible. When it comes to classifying this incurable disease, there is much debate on whether or not it a type of anxiety (Abramowitz, Taylor, & McKay, 2009). It is important to be able to understand this mental disorder since so many people are diagnosed with it. While there are treatments for OCD, there are no cures yet. Treatments could range anywhere from taking prescribed medication to just going to therapy and counseling fo...
Obsessive compulsive disorder is a mental illness which affects a person’s thoughts and actions. It is categorized as an anxiety disorder. People with obsessive compulsive disorder are known to have reoccurring thoughts and/or engage in the same behaviors multiple times throughout the day which they feel compelled to do. Sometimes, obsessions become disturbing images or uncontrollable impulses. A person with this disorder most often tries to get rid of obsessive thoughts by pe...
OCD is known as one of the anxieties disorders (geocities). It can be a crippling condition that can persist throughout a person’s life (geocities). Someone who suffers from OCD can become trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that are senseless and distressing but very difficult to overcome (geocities). OCD is linked to a kind of “short-circuit” in the way the brain processes worry thoughts (kids health). People with OCD have obsessions and compulsions.