Icky and Gross

Case Study 8: A 26 year old man is very concerned about cleanliness and hygiene. He spends a significant amount of time each day washing his hands or showering, especially after touch a toilet seat, doorknob, or any other item he thinks may be dirty or contaminated. The patient explains that he is concerned about becoming infected or sick from touching these objects. He periodically acknowledges that the washing is excessive but explains that he becomes very anxious when he tries to avoid washing and eventually feels compelled to wash even more to make up for the omission.

According to DSM-IV (http://allpsych.com/disorders/anxiety/index.html), This man has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). A major indicator of this disease is an obsession to become cleaner. People with this disease will wash their hands nonstop because they are always constantly afriad of becoming infected from touching "dirty" objects. They wash their hands excessively to the point of skin irritation. Another symptom is that people with OCD feel anxious when they don't wash their hands.

One way to cure OCD is to take medication. Generally, antidepressants are used to treat OCD.

Also, Psychotherapy can be used to help control the urges to wash, cope better withs stressors, and help conquer the issues associated with obessesive thoughts.

Basically, this man is concerned with being clean all the time. He worries about getting sick if he touches any objects that he deems to be unclean, so he washes his hands obssessively. He feels anxious if he tries to resist the urges to wash, and so he makes up for the anxiety by washing even more. This devastating obsession has all the symptoms of Obssessive Compulsive Disorder.

The Bipolar Princess

Gorgeous hair, dazzling eyes, nice guns, and a hot boyfriend that flew a nice spaceship. Princess Leia seemed to have it all going for her. In reality though, the real actress of the famous star wars protagonist, Carrie Fisher, was bipolar and constantly battled manic depression. Carrie Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Beverly Hills; she attended Beverly Hills High School and then later went on to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. When she was 19, she landed her first acting role for the movie Shampoo, and two years later, the blockbuster movie, Star Wars, came out. She became an instant celebrity and later on married Paul Simon, who she divorced after less than a year. Her psychological disorders have affected her acting career and some believe that they have ultimately kept her from fulfilling her true potential as a great actress.

Carrie Fisher was diagnosed bipolar at a young age. Carrie constantly fought with manic depression, which her mother said was genetic in their family. Sometimes in the 1970s, Carrie Fisher turned to drugs as a way to battle her depression. She was reported to have used cocaine repeatedly in 1970. By 1980, she was suffering from alcoholism and had a serious drug overdose in 1985, which caused her to go into rehab. In 1997, Fisher was hospitalized because the medication she was taking for bipolarism was unbalanced. From her experiences with drugs, she was able to create two best-sellers, Postcards from the Edge and Surrender in Pink.

While it is unfortunate that Fisher had to struggle with such severe depression in her life, it was beneficial to her in some ways. Although the drug problems in her life had her Fisher in many ways, it has made her stronger as a person and an actress. Also, it is sad to see a promising actress unable to become the best she could because she struggled with such severe depression. Bipolarism is a disorder that affects thousands of Americans, and it is truly ill-fated that Carrie Fishre had to be one of them.

For more about Fisher and her life, go to these two sites: http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/carriefisher.html

http://bipolar.about.com/cs/celebs/a/carriefisher.htm