The Curious Case of the Cleaning Man

Title reference: "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man" by Mark Hodder

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"There's nothing wrong with a bit of obsessiveness when it comes to house-cleaning - after all it is a never-ending task and the benefits are obvious - but there is a point beyond which the obsession is no longer healthy."

That's what the local psychologist Dave (or Know-It-All-Dave, as all the neighbours call him) told Hot-But-What's-Her-Name, when she went for an evaluation, in order to determine whether she's developed OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. What's that, you wonder? Well, from what I could gather, it's a commonly bandied-about term which is often misunderstood but for the ones who do suffer from it, it can become a truly debilitating problem.

Or so Her-Namlessness tells us, while the two of them with Lulu, Tate's girlfriend, are sitting on the couch opposite me and my (slightly gaping) buddy. She seems too shocked by the discovery, for a person who's been talking first and foremost about cleaning, ever since I've met her! Sometimes the way we perceive ourselves, and what people see (or hear!) when they look at us are two completely different thing, huh?

But, and I bet you're wondering as well, what's that disorder all about? Well, here's what "the little birdie (umm... google)" told me, when I asked: OCD refers to people who have invasive thoughts that are hard to control and who perform actions that are repetitive and ritualistic. Common thoughts and behaviour from OCD sufferers often may include an inability to stop thinking about a particular subject or an irresistible desire towards performing repetitive actions. An OCD sufferer may, for instance be unable to stop worrying whether the gas or a faucet was left on or may find themselves washing their hands every few minutes. People with OCD may recognize the futility of such thoughts and actions but are not able to stop them.

Man, that sounds... creepy! Fortunately, as it turns out, there are effective treatments for OCD, and many have found that they were able to overcome the condition through self-help methods, or through counselling. (In Hot-But-Disordered's case, I'd say she should simply quit her job as a maid and get herself a home cleaning company to do the dirty work for her!) Dealing with the problem involves first recognizing it, then redirecting the thoughts and behaviour in other directions and developing an ability to not identify with the intrusive, unwanted thoughts and urges. Medication can help as well, but often accompanying therapy and behaviour modification. 

Two common approaches for treating OCD are Cognitive Therapy and Exposure and Response Prevention therapy. Essentially, the Cognitive Therapy method helps the patient to learn ways to minimize the impact of the overwhelming thoughts and to redirect their behaviour in healthy directions. Exposure and Response prevention focuses on having the OCD sufferer confront his or her fears by stopping the accompanying behaviour patterns associated with the obsessive thoughts, which can help the person slowly lose the urge and begin to recognize that he or she doesn't need the ritual any more.

In other words, if Hotty-But-Crazy-O wants to come to terms with the problem, she should allow someone else to be in charge of the housecleaning, whether it be the normal ongoing cleaning and maintenance or whether it is time for an end of tenancy cleaning, for instance. Just like I thought, actually!

Who's the man now, huh?

Merry Christmas (err... in advance) people!