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Bibliography
This is a bibliography of every work featured in the OCD in Media database (accessible here). They are sorted by type of media and, in the case of TV and books, divided into categories for “fiction” and “nonfiction.” Secondary sources are featured in the last section, and includes any article that contributed to the research for this project.
Table of Contents
Fiction TV
Breckman, Andy; Hoberman, David, co-creators. Monk. Starring Tony Shalhoub, Bitty Schram, Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine, and Traylor Howard. Aired July 12, 2002. Watch Monk Season 5 | Prime Video (amazon.com). Monk is a very controversial representation, with some heralding it as a great example of OCD in media, and others using it as a prime example of misinformation. Nonetheless, it is undeniably an influential depiction of OCD.
East, Jon; Clarkson, S.J.; Evans, David; Clark, Richard; Strickland, John; Nettheim, Daniel, directors. Whitechapel. Created and written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip, performed by Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, and Steve Pemberton. Aired February 2, 2009. Accessed on Hulu.
Karia, Aneil; Macdonald, Alicia. Pure. Starring Charly Clive. Aired January 30, 2019. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure/dp/B07WPLLX7Q. Accessed December 4, 2023.
Kroll, Nick. Big Mouth. Starring John Mulaney as Andrew. Aired September 29, 2017. Watch Big Mouth | Netflix Official Site. Accessed December 4, 2023.
Murphy, Ryan; Falchuk, Brad; Brennan, Ian, creators. Glee. Starring Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury Schuester. Aired May 19, 2009. Accessed on Disney+. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/glee/5h5XCwlaqNBK
Peretz, Jesse, director. Girls, season two, episode eight: “It’s Back,” starring and written by Lena Dunham, also starring Allison Williams and Zosia Mamet. Aired Mar 3, 2013. Accessed on HBO. “It’s Back” has been featured by the International OCD Foundation as a positive example of OCD representation in media. Lena Dunham herself, the creator, writer, and actress for the main character (who is featured as having OCD) has also talked about having OCD herself and referencing the International OCD Foundation in the depiction of OCD in this episode.
Schur, Michael. The Good Place. Starring William Jackson Harper. Aired September 19, 2016. Accessed on Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/watch/80191852. Many audience members resonated with Chidi Anagonye, who is seen as a very realistic representation of moral scrupulosity obsessions.
Spiller, Michael, director. Scrubs, season three, episode 12: “The Catalyst,” Written by Bill Lawrence, starring Michael J. Fox. Aired Feb 10, 2004. Accessed on Hulu. “The Catalyst” has been pointed to by many as an example of positive OCD representation. Although it follows similar tropes to other TV shows that are often played for laughs, it also shows the difficult reality of how the compulsion doesn’t end once the bit is over. Dr. Kevin Casey, played by Michael Fox, is stuck washing his hands two hours after the surgery has ended, knowing it’s irrational and still being unable to stop.
Nonfiction TV
Bolicki, Jason; Sergi, Chris, producers. My Strange Addiction. Aired December 29, 2010. https://www.hulu.com/series/my-strange-addiction-6a75430f-8588-42f9-baac-9a83e6fe8163. The ethics of this show are very questionable, and there have been suspicions that much of the backstories are exaggerated or outright fabricated, and very little of the show makes any pretense that it’s about providing psychological help. The majority of the show uses these people as freak show attractions rather than people in need of help. Regardless, some of the people featured on this show are likely examples of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Zasio, Robin, psychologist. Hoarders. Starring Robin Zasio, Matt Paxton, and Cory Chalmers. Aired August 17, 2009. https://www.netflix.com/title/70157400. Recent studies and information has led to the recategorization of hoarding as a subset of OCD. Although the ethics of Hoarders and how it exploits this are important, it is still a portrayal of a subset of OCD.
Movies
Brooks, James, director. As Good As It Gets. Sony Pictures Releasing, 1997. 2 hr. 19 min. https://www.netflix.com/title/1181488. Accessed September 10, 2023. Although very well-received by audiences and critics, winning several awards for its acting and being nominated for lead picture, As Good As It Gets was not similarly received within the OCD community. The movie is criticized for treating OCD as something that is linked to the main character’s egotistical, rude attitude, and for the fact that the OCD seems to go away as he grows as a person, creating a narrative that is not reflective of reality.
Scorsese, Martin, director. The Aviator. Miramax Films, 2004. 2 hr. 50 min. https://www.netflix.com/title/70011213. Accessed September 10, 2023. The Aviator is a biographical film portraying Howard Hughes, who did have OCD, primarily focused on contamination. The production consulted with psychiatrists for the portrayal, and Leonardo di Caprio, who played Howard Hughes, met with people who had OCD and used their compulsive behaviors as the basis for his performance. Overall, the film seems to have been well-received generally and by the OCD community.
Oz, Frank, director. What About Bob?. Touchstone Picture, 1991. 1 hr. 39 min. https://www.amazon.com/What-About-Bob-Bill-Murray. Accessed December 4, 2023.
Puleston-Davies, Ian, writer. Dirty Filthy Love. ITV, 2004. 1 hr. 33 min.
Scott, Ridley, director. Matchstick Men. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004. 1 hr. 56 min.
Songs
alt-J. “Interlude 1.” Track 2 on An Awesome Wave. Infectious Music Ltd., 2012, Spotify audio. “Interlude 1” is a very straightforward example of perfectionism OCD and the way that it can dictate a person’s life and behavior.
Bilmuri. “Brain Lock.” Track 4 on Jaguar Shark. Bilmuri, 2016, Spotify audio. The lyrics of “Brain Lock,” such as “controlled by some things that are never real,” and “my mind tells my brain it’s bullshit” align with ways of thinking associated with OCD. A person with OCD can be fully aware that their behavior is irrational, and consciously tell other people it doesn’t make sense and believe that, but that will not stop the intrusive thoughts from having control of their behavior regardless.
Diamandis, Marina. “Obsessions.” Track 6 on The Family Jewels. 679 Recordings Ltd., 2010, Spotify audio. “Obsessions” displays instances of relationship obsessions, as well as some implications of harm obsessions, though not explicitly stated. The second verse also represents perfectionism OCD, and the debilitating effect it can have on daily life.
girl in red. “Serotonin.” Track 1 on if i could make it go quiet. AWAL Recordings Ltd., 2021, Spotify audio. “Serotonin” heavily features harm obsessions, both to herself and others. She discusses the draining effects of experiencing these thoughts on a day to day basis.
Kahan, Noah. “Catastrophize.” Track 2 on Hurt Somebody. Republic Records, 2018, Spotify audio. “Catastrophize” mostly displays generalized anxiety, with some themes of obsessive and compulsive behavior, such as avoiding loving anything that he can lose, wanting every photograph to only be taken from his bad side to reduce people’s expectations, and general catastrophizing, hence the name.
“Leave Me Alone.” Track 2 on The Search. NF Real Music, LLC, 2019, Spotify audio. NF explicitly discusses his OCD diagnosis and the way it can cause him to spiral, as well as the influence it has on his art.
Rapp, Reneé. “Talk Too Much.” Track 1 on Snow Angel. Interscope Records, 2023, Spotify audio. “Talk Too Much” is the clearest example of relationship obsessions and compulsions among the songs. The lyrics “I’m takin’ everything I see as a sign, and, I know it’s crazy, but what if it’s right?” transparently represent the pattern of caving into irrational behaviors and ways of thinking despite being aware they’re irrational just in case they really are true this time. She closes her eyes while driving to avoid seeing blue cars which, to her, would mean they would have to break up. Similarly, rain means that they’ll be over by May. These are both examples of intrusive thoughts that create irrational rules that dictate behavior. The monologue near the end of the song is also a great example of reassurance and/or confession, which is a pattern of behavior where a person is constantly checking with other people for reassurance, specifically related to intrusive thoughts. It can also take the form of confession of ego-dystonic intrusive thoughts. Notably, this reassurance is never capable of breaking the cycle, and is usually an example of a compulsion that actually gives the intrusive thought validity and thus allows it to grow in strength and presence in their life.
Rhett & Link. “My OCD.” Single. Mythical Entertainment, 2014, Spotify audio.
The Japanese House. “Marika is Sleeping.” Track 10 on Good At Falling. Dirty Hit Limited, 2019, Spotify audio. I included “Marika is Sleeping” due to the lyrics, which align with the cyclical overthinking aligned with OCD, as well as the repetition of the same lyrics, which feels like a metatextual representation of that pattern in action. The singer, Amber Bain, has also openly discussed that multiple songs from this album are about her experience with obsessive compulsive disorder.
The Japanese House. “You Seemed so Happy.” Track 5 on Good At Falling. Dirty Hit Limited, 2019, Spotify audio. “You Seemed so Happy,” similarly to “Marika Is Sleeping”, shows a repetition that is representative of a pattern of behavior associated with obsessive compulsive disorder. Amber Bain has also openly discussed this song as being about her OCD.
Wilco. “Hate It Here.” Track 8 on Sky Blue Sky. Nonesuch Records, Inc., 2007, Spotify audio. “Hate It Here” could arguably be associated with relationship obsessions, due to the fixation on his relationship, but it also feels connected to perfectionism obsessions and compulsions, where good or bad things happening is determined by the cleanliness of his surroundings and how well he maintains his space.
Fiction Books
Alkaf, Hanna. The Weight Of Our Sky. New York, NY: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021. Kirkus Reviews clearly outlines the obsessions and compulsions that face Melati Ahmad, the main character of the story. Set in 1960s Malaysia, Mel is forced to confront systems and conflicts beyond her control while also battling her own OCD and its control over her life.
Cantwell, Christopher. She Could Fly, vol. 1. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2018. Author has OCD (Pure-O) and wrote from his experiences. Not the same person as the neo-nazi that comes up when you search his name!
Davis, Dana L.. Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now. Toronto, Ontario: Harlequin Teen, 2018.
Gornall, Louise: Under Rose-Tainted Skies. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2018.
Green, John. Turtles All The Way Down. New York, NY: Dutton Books, 2017. Among general forums and more academic reviews, Turtles All The Way Down is the first result that comes up when searching for novels associated with OCD. A review from the New York Times describes the novel’s powerful depiction of the obsessive compulsive disorder that the main character suffers from, which is itself written by John Green, who has OCD as well. The book is a compelling exploration of how to understand your identity when your thoughts are not your own.
Harrar, George. Not As Crazy As I Seem. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2004. Not As Crazy As I Seem is a more typical depiction of OCD, with perfectionism and contamination obsessions being the primary focus. According to Kirkus Reviews, the book shows its age with its depiction of OCD with analogies that don’t always follow through. They say that “The reader is supposed to see a connection between Devon’s obsessions and the trouble he gets into, but the correlation is weak, and despite the intriguing topic, the protagonist never becomes more than a sum of his neuroses.” Despite this, it is still a novel that focuses entirely on obsessive compulsive themes.
Hesser, Terry. Kissing Doorknobs. New York, NY: Laurel Leaf, 1999. According to a summary from Book Rags, Kissing Doorknobs follows a protagonist that is afflicted with intrusive thoughts centering around several obsessions and compulsions that evolve as she grows up, which is a realistic depiction of how OCD can behave. She struggles to articulate why she needs the things that she does, and has difficulty maintaining relationships because of this. She finally has a breakthrough when a friend of her father introduces her to the concept of OCD, leading to her going to therapy and learning how to manage her OCD.
Hyde, Spencer. Waiting For Fitz. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain, 2019.
McCarthy, Tom. Remainder. New York, NY: Vintage, 2007.
Silvera, Adam. History Is All You Left Me. New York, NY: Soho Teen, 2018.
Stone, Tamara. Every Last Word. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017. Super Summary explains that Every Last Word follows the story of a girl in junior high with OCD that’s struggling with her desire to feel normal while stuck in an unhealthy social group that exacerbates her symptoms. She finds a club where she’s able to be herself and learns how to acknowledge her OCD as a part of her, something that doesn’t define her but is nonetheless a part of her life.
Toten, Teresa: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B. Portland, OR: Ember, 2018.
Vaughn, Lauren Roedy. OCD, The Dude, And Me. New York, NY: Dial Books, 2013.
Nonfiction Books
Adam, David. The Man Who Couldn’t Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought. Gordonsville, VA: Picador, 2016.
Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Fun Home is a graphic novel and autobiography of the author, Alison Bechdel. Not only does the book itself discuss obsessive compulsive themes, as discussed by Graphic Medicine, but Bechdel has also discussed how her process in making the book took seven years due to her intricate rituals that are intertwined with her own OCD.
Britz, Allison. Obsessed: a Memoir of My Life with OCD. First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. New York, NY: Simon Pulse, 2017.
Colas, Emily. Just Checking : Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1999.
Foust, Traci. Nowhere Near Normal: a Memoir of OCD. 1st Gallery books hardcover ed. New York, NY: Gallery Books, 2011.
Nicely, Shala. Is Fred in the Refrigerator?: Taming OCD and Reclaiming My Life. Location Unknown: Nicely Done LLC, 2018.
Porcellino, John. The Hospital Suite. Montreal, Quebec: Drawn and Quartered, 2014.
Katzenstein, Jason Adam. Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2020.
Poems
Andrews, Nin. “Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness.” Pick Me Up Poetry. Accessed September 1st, 2023. Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness By Nin Andrews – Pick Me Up Poetry. Andrews discusses her relationship with her Grandma and the ways it was affected by the OCD that she dealt with.
Hilborn, Neil. “OCD.” Genius. Accessed September 1st, 2023. https://genius.com/Neil-hilborn-ocd-annotated. “OCD” is a biographical poem around the struggles of maintaining a romantic relationship while having OCD.
Knox, Jennifer L. “Hive Minds.” Pick Me Up Poetry. Accessed September 1st, 2023. Hive Minds By Jennifer L. Knox – Pick Me Up Poetry. “Hive Minds” centers around the narrator’s strained relationship with her mother, who suffers from OCD that makes her unable to fully care for the narrator, and leaves the narrator contemplating what it means to be in relationships with others, saying: “Suddenly I envy anything that moves itself to accommodate another: a subtle shift to the left or right, self preservation that could pass for love.”
Pedrick, Cherlene. “I’m Not Crazy.” OCD Poetry. Accessed September 1st, 2023. “I’m Not Crazy” – OCD POETRY. Pedrick’s poem depicts the difficulty for people who have OCD of describing and justifying compulsions that take up much of their life to people who don’t experience it.
St. Vincent Millay, Edna. “Inert Perfection.” Pick Me Up Poetry. Accessed September 1st, 2023. Inert Perfection By Edna St. Vincent Millay – Pick Me Up Poetry. “Inert Perfection” is a monologue attempting to understand what perfection is, if it exists at all, and, if it’s achievable, whether it’s really something worth striving towards. It is listed in a collection about poems with themes of OCD and tackles a topic that many people with OCD are forced to confront.
Short Stories
Brown, Larry. “Sleep.” from TINY LOVE: The Complete Stories. New York, NY: Algonquin Books, 2019. “Sleep” is a story from the perspective of a man whose wife is suffering from delusions causing her to wake him up each night to make sure the house is safe. Although it would be incorrect to say this is purely OCD, because OCD isn’t generally associated with the behavioral patterns she exhibited, there are observable obsessive compulsive themes.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” London: Virago, 2012. Similarly to “Sleep,” “The Yellow Wallpaper” does not show themes of only obsessive compulsive behavior, but they are there regardless. The protagonist is fixated on the yellow wallpaper in their home, and is convinced that she must remove it to prevent something bad from happening. Much of her behavior begins to be centered around the belief that something bad is going to happen, and she must remove the perceived cause.
Secondary Sources
Besiroglu, Lutfullah, Sitki Karaca, and Ibrahim Keskin. “Scrupulosity and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: The Cognitive Perspective in Islamic Sources.” Journal of Religion and Health 53, no. 1 (2014): 3–12. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24485054.
Cefalu, Paul. “What’s so Funny about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?” PMLA 124, no. 1 (2009): 44–58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25614247.
Chester, Emily. “Obsessive-Compulsive Ir/Rationality in Watt.” Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd’hui 29, no. 1 (2017): 92–103. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26552548.
Drag, Wojciech. “Compulsion to Re-Enact: Trauma and Nostalgia in Tom McCarthy’s ‘Remainder.’” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS) 21, no. 2 (2015): 377–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44790658.
Hayward, L.C., Coles, M.E. Elucidating the Relation of Hoarding to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Impulse Control Disorders. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 31, 220–227 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-008-9106-0.
Ingle, Martin. “It’s no wonder we still think OCD is a neatness illness – it’s mainly how we see it on screen.” The Guardian. Accessed September 9, 2023. It’s no wonder we still think OCD is a neatness illness – it’s mainly how we see it on screen | Martin Ingle | The Guardian
Ingle, Martin. “OCD could be the world’s most misunderstood mental illness. It’s also one of the most treatable.” ABC News. Accessed September 10, 2023. OCD could be the world’s most misunderstood mental illness. It’s also one of the most treatable – ABC News Ingle discusses the reality of living with OCD, and the many types of intrusive thoughts that aren’t talked about and still hold a lot of stigma around them. He also explains how these thoughts are ego-dystonic, and what that means.
“Facts about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.” Beyond OCD. Accessed September 10, 2023. Facts about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | Beyond OCD
Keeler, JJ. “How OCD Is Portrayed In Movies & TV Shows.” Impulse Therapy. December 18, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. How OCD Is Portrayed In Movies & TV Shows – Impulse (impulsetherapy.com)
Kenneth King. “Obsession—Beginning with the Brontës: A Revisitation.” The Antioch Review 73, no. 2 (2015): 225–41. https://doi.org/10.7723/antiochreview.73.2.0225.
Knowles, Kelly A. and Bunmi O. Olatunji. “Intolerance of Uncertainty as a Cognitive Vulnerability for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Qualitative Review: Science and Practice.” Clinical Psychology (May 18, 2023). doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000150.
Leanne Maguire. “Decadence and Disability: Capital Degeneration in the New York of Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Edith Wharton Review 30, no. 1 (2014): 29–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/editwharrevi.30.1.0029.
Lee, Rachel L. and Shelbi R. Matlock. “Review of UNSTUCK: An OCD Kids Movie.” Families, Systems, & Health 40, no. 3 (09, 2022): 422-423. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/beloit.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/review-i-unstuck-ocd-kids-movie/docview/2712897906/se-2.
Martin, Sam, “Madness in the Media: Demystifying the Emergence of an OCD Trope in Television” (2017). All Theses. 2724. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2724.
May, Georgia. “The 10 Best Movies and TV Shows about OCD Behaviors.” November 14, 2022. Accessed September 10, 2023. The 10 Best Movies and TV Shows About OCD Behaviors – whatNerd
Morel, Nicole, and Sadenwasser, Tom. “The Yellow Wallpaper: Obsessions, Compulsions, and Psychotic Episodes (Delusions).” 21st Annual Phi Kappa Phi Student Research and Fine Arts Conference (2020). http://hdl.handle.net/10675.2/623101
ocd.app. “OCD on Screen: How is OCD Depicted on Film?” ocd.app. Accessed September 10, 2023. OCD on Screen: How is OCD Depicted on Film? – ocd.app
Richmond, Kia Jane. Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2018. https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5597794.
Ryan, Sarah. “What’s It Like To Have OCD? TV Shows With Severe Cases.” Relief Seeker. Accessed September 10, 2023. What’s It Like To Have OCD? TV Shows With Severe Cases (reliefseeker.com)
Ruscio AM, Stein DJ, Chiu WT, Kessler RC. “The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.” Mol Psychiatry. 2010 Jan 15 (1) : 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fmp.2008.94
Stanford Medicine. “About OCD – Symptoms.” Stanford Medicine. Accessed September 10, 2023. Symptoms | Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders | Stanford Medicine
Stout, Patricia A., Villegas, Jorge, Jennings, Nancy A, Images of Mental Illness in the Media: Identifying Gaps in the Research, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 30, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 543–561, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a007099.
Vieira, Karen, PhD. “How Many People Have OCD? Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Statistics and Facts.” The Recovery Village. Last Updated May 26, 2022. How Many People Have OCD? | Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Statistcs & Facts (therecoveryvillage.com)
Werner, Lily. “‘I’m so OCD!’: A Qualitative Study Examining Disclosure of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder” (2021). UWL Journal of Undergraduate Research XXIV. werner.lily.cst.pdf (uwlax.edu).