# Scrubs 2/10 and OCD **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647 "2004-02-11T13:36:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/21 "2004-02-11T20:16:00Z")
I’ve only seen _Scrubs_ a few times, including this one, but I’ve enjoyed it. Very good show. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it more. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/22 "2004-02-11T20:23:12Z")
> [@Wintermute](#): > > Although my sister, who works at the county mental health center, and who has a mild case of OCD herself says he couldn’t have touched the lightswitch directly. She won’t touch doorhandles or lightswitches herself - they are “dirty”. Just a minor nitpick. I was under the impression that there are no standard quirks with OCD - one person can touch items A, B and C, another can’t go near them, etc. ---
**Author:** ![HughManatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HughManatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HughManatee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/23 "2004-02-11T20:56:08Z")
> [@The Controvert](#): > > A question just occured to me. Couldn’t he hire someone to turn his lights off, wash things for him, wash his hands, etc.? Hey, I wonder if this would work… since he’s a well paid doctor and all, he could afford this. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/24 "2004-02-11T21:40:35Z")
I don’t think hiring someone would work. As I understand it, OCD means that _you_ must do these things, you cannot trust someone else to do them for you. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/25 "2004-02-11T21:47:20Z")
> [@HughManatee](#): > > Hey, I wonder if this would work… since he’s a well paid doctor and all, he could afford this. I wonder if they would do it “right” though. I thought that was a large part of the OCD. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/26 "2004-02-11T22:22:42Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Dr. Casey let out a scream of frustration as once again he turned on the faucet. … > [@rimshotgdansk](#): > > … I wondered if he was chanelling the pain of dealing with Parkinson’s into the scene. His pain and frustration were palpable Maybe he was. That scream was probably the only real scream of agony I’ve heard on any fictional show. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/27 "2004-02-11T22:30:01Z")
> [@elf6c](#): > > I wonder if they would do it “right” though. I thought that was a large part of the OCD. No, they wouldn’t do it right. No one can do it right except for the OCD. Even then, it’s never EXACTLY right, which is why they have to do it over and over. Hoestly, if you don’t understand why you have to go back into a totally dark room to make sure the lights are turned completely and absolutely off, then you really can’t imagine it. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/28 "2004-02-11T22:49:10Z")
I liked the bit at the end when he went to get a beer with JD and was putting the cardboard coasters on top of his beer, a new one after each sip. Then when he dropped one, he said he was going to need a whole new beer. Michael J. Fox will be on again next week. Anyone know if _Scrubs_ is moved to Tuesdays permanently? I liked it on Thursdays. I hate that they’re moving it around, and not even having it on for weeks at a time. It’s a great show, and not getting the attention it deserves. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/29 "2004-02-11T22:53:37Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I don’t think hiring someone would work. As I understand it, OCD means that _you_ must do these things, you cannot trust someone else to do them for you. I had moderate OCD when I was a kid. I don’t think they even had a name for it then. It’s not so much that you couldn’t have someone else turn the light switch on and off; it’s that your brain is _constantly_ coming up with things to obsess about. Basically, the part of your brain that tells you “I need to do this”, is over-active, and doesn’t shut off after you’ve already done it. You might be able to get over individual hurdles like a light switch, but the problem is that you’d just substitute something _else_ to obsess about. And what you said is right, too - you might _still_ feel that you had to turn the light switch on even if someone else had done it for you. If I didn’t do what my brain was telling me to do, I would feel intensely uncomfortable, and wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else until I did it. But the obsessions are pretty random; it doesn’t really have anything to do with the light switch or the hand-washing or whatever in and of itself. I think a lot of people don’t understand that they aren’t _rational_ thoughts; people with OCD intellectually realize that they don’t _need_ to do that stuff; it’s just that the compulsion is too strong to ignore. You can’t really understand it unless you’ve experienced it. I’m sorry I missed the Scrubs episode. I love _Monk_, although it’s sometimes painful to watch, because it reminds me of myself to a lesser degree when I was a kid. On the last episode, he fails a test because he becomes obsessed with marking his answer perfectly on the first question, and runs out of time. I actually got placed in a remedial math class in school because I spent too much time on the questions in the placement test. About 2 weeks into the semester, the teacher realized that I didn’t belong there and transferred me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/30 "2004-02-11T22:56:58Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > No, they wouldn’t do it right. No one can do it right except for the OCD. Even then, it’s never EXACTLY right, which is why they have to do it over and over. > > Hoestly, if you don’t understand why you have to go back into a totally dark room to make sure the lights are turned completely and absolutely off, then you really can’t imagine it. I don’t think MJF’s character runs into a room after someone else turns off the lights and flips the switch. That’s “outside” of his mental model of what needs to be corrected. Therefore, an assistant that hangs around in the room and waits for MJF to leave can turn out the lights, thereby circumventing the process, right? Or is this too ridiculous to consider? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![HughManatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HughManatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HughManatee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/31 "2004-02-11T23:16:36Z")
Hmm, I would think an assistant could help in this scenario. It wouldn’t be 100%, but if the assistant learned many of the habits that take the longest time and did those for the doctor, the doc would have more time for other things. If those other activities are also affected by OCD, at least he’d have some measure of choice over it. (He even stated that OCD had helped his surgery skills due to the repetition and practice) After time, the doctor would simply not bother turning off the lights out of habit since either his assistant will handle it, or it will just stay on (no big deal). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/32 "2004-02-11T23:23:52Z")
How is OCD treated? Dr. Casey mentioned he was taking Zoloft. What about behavioural measures? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/33 "2004-02-11T23:25:01Z")
I’ve only seen an episode or two of _Scrubs_, 'cause I can never find the damned thing. Everytime I’ve seen it, I’ve thought, “Oh hey, it’s this show! I thought they cancelled this!” Anyway, saw the Michael J. Fox episode, from about half-way through. Wonderfully done. Is Fox going to be a regular cast member now, or was this a one off guest appearance, or something in between? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/34 "2004-02-11T23:35:47Z")
I think it’s just a guest appearance, like when they had Brendan Fraser on for a couple of episodes as Dr. Cox’s ex BIL. I’ve missed a couple of episodes…are Dr. Cox and his bitchy ex-wife remarried, now that she’s had the baby? Or are they just living together. (Minor trivia, IRL, John McGinley(?) has a son with Down’s Syndrome.) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/35 "2004-02-11T23:49:29Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I think it’s just a guest appearance, like when they had Brendan Fraser on for a couple of episodes as Dr. Cox’s ex BIL. > > I’ve missed a couple of episodes…are Dr. Cox and his bitchy ex-wife remarried, now that she’s had the baby? Or are they just living together. (Minor trivia, IRL, John McGinley(?) has a son with Down’s Syndrome.) MJF will be on again next week. More minor trivia: John Ritter played JD’s dad. Guess we won’t be seeing him again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/36 "2004-02-12T00:12:35Z")
Damn, **Biblio** , quit watching my shows!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/37 "2004-02-12T01:04:09Z")
OCd is generally treated by a mix of meds and cognitive behavioural therapy. Some people do really well on meds alone but the CBT is the best treatment in terms of longterm outcome. My kid developed OCD at 5 and was spending 5 hours a day washing his hands and screaming when it went wrong. It was a nightmare to be around. Meds have helped tremendously. Those of you asking about paying an assistant to perform the rituals don’t get it – the rituals serve to relieve anxiety so paying other people to do it, doesn’t help. The sufferer may hook other family members into performing rituals but it just ends up being a source of further anxiety as the sufferer then has more to worry about. Horrible, horrible syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/38 "2004-02-12T02:21:50Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I was under the impression that there are no standard quirks with OCD - one person can touch items A, B and C, another can’t go near them, etc. Exactly. I don’t happen to have germ phobia, which is good otherwise I could never work in a hospital lab, but I do have to order things, check light switches, the oven knob, door locks, alarm clocks, etc. Sometimes I can’t stop counting-I really hate that. Another thing about OCD is that the routines are not always consistent for the sufferer either. I have to keep things much neater at work than I do at home for instance. A pile of magazines on the floor of my living room might be there a week but a pile of papers at work must be dealt with. It’s odd. I can’t bring myself to watch Monk, although my brother and mother really love it. I do watch Scrubs though and was really impressed by this episode. One thing that I really related to was Michael J Fox’s character’s skills-he was so very good at his job because his OCD forced him to so much repetition, not because he **wanted** to be that good necessarily. I catch more mistakes at work than anyone else simply because I have to check and recheck things more than others would do voluntarily. I’m also faster, partly because I have to be so highly organized and partly because I make myself go faster due to worry about my rituals slowing things down. I’ve never been sure how to feel about this. I’m a good tech but it’s because I’m defective so how can I be proud of that? I’m also never quite sure if my perceptions are tinted by the OCD so I’m really familiar with the loop that Eats\_Crayons’ friend was talking about. And this is starting to give me headache so I think I’ll quit now. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/39 "2004-02-12T04:13:18Z")
I love Scrubs big time. The only show on NBC worth watching. (Which is why they are trying to kill it.) But the 2/10 episode was just too painful. I could barely make it thru the show. MJF’s Parkinsons was just so apparent and the pain he was going thru to try and control just broke the show apart. It wasn’t a show about JD and the gang. It was a show about whether MJFs next line would be audible. Using the OCD gimmick failed completely. It was also a bad episode script wise. Eliot and Carla were barely in it while Ted was in it a lot. WTF? Cox and his semi-wife sit down at the same table with his old rival and he doesn’t introduce the lady? MJF isn’t told who this person is sitting opposite him? WTF[sup]2[/sup]? MJF needs to hang up such appearances. Do voiceovers/animated or _play himself as he is_. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647/40 "2004-02-12T13:04:10Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Damn, **Biblio** , quit watching my shows!! 🙂 Maybe you need to quit watching **MY** shows. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-2-10-and-ocd/228647.md?page=3)