# Obsessed

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 9, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215 "2009-06-09T16:21:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Clovernook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Clovernook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clovernook)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215/1 "2009-06-09T16:21:57Z")

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Is anyone watching this program on A&E? It’s about people with obsessive-compulsive disorder who then get treated.

The one that was on last night was pretty sad. The guy had to exercise multiple times a day and had to always turn clockwise when he rounded a corner. The lady avoided fruits and vegetables because she didn’t want to have a bowel movement. When the inevitable happened, she would then take a 3 hour long shower, complete with an enema and inserting a toothbrush up her anus to clean her rectum. :eek:

My worry for these folks is that, after the televised therapy ends, they’ll go back to their compulsions. Very sad.

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215/2 "2009-06-09T16:34:54Z")

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:eek:

What kind of therapy did they get?

I can’t imagine how one would get over an aversion to poop, when it’s taken to that extreme. Was there any insight on how it started? Traumatic toilet training? Did she fall into a portapotty?

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**Author:** ![Clovernook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Clovernook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clovernook)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215/3 "2009-06-09T16:42:23Z")

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I think it was cognitive behavioral therapy. First they made her go outside of the house, not wash her hands before eating (that was another compulsion), and eat fruit and vegetables. Then, they let her use the bathroom but limited her to a 10 minute shower.

You should have seen her reluctantly throwing away her “tools” (the enema and the toothbrush). It was very sad.

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**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215/4 "2009-06-10T06:25:10Z")

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I almost couldn’t watch the first (maybe) one with the girl who couldn’t bear her mother’s “k” sound or a “soft” touch on anything. Brutal!

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsessed/499215/5 "2009-06-16T04:10:02Z")

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Tonight’s episode features a hoarder. That’s a fascinating obsession. I haven’t watched yet, but I remembered to set the DVR.