OCD Action

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I've been writing on Dan's thread on Monk about humour. I have a dilemma over humour and incorporating it in the book I am writing about OCD. I have asked family and friends and, so far, it's 8 to 1 in favour of adding humour. By that I mean my being able to see a humorous side to an event which at the time was distressing and far from amusing. My husband is the one who opposes any lighter moments, others feel the book will be too heavy without them.

As I have offended a few people on OCD forums in the past, by making light of a situation I found myself in, I thought I'd ask if anyone else feels strongly either way about humour and OCD. Can it be offensive, are the two incompatible?

I asked the question initially, because I worried that by seeing the lighter side, albeit at a later date, it might detract from the extremely serious nature of the condition. The book is an honest account of severe OCD. I don't want it to be too dark and yet obviously it is no barrel of laughs either.

Mon Jul 27 2009 15:15:23 #
lioness
Member

Hi Tricia,

Its hard to tell really. My ocd has not ever been very severe but is not mild either, I find it hard to see the funny side of it alot of the time and maybe only sometimes can I make a joke about it. Sometimes humour could be seen as making light of a very serious and debilitating condition but on the other hand, sometimes humour is one of the only way I myself can pull myself through. It might sound as if I'm sitting on the fence with this one but it really is hard to say. I mean when ocd is very bad its hard to see anything funny about it but when my ocd is milder I almost make jokes to myself about it and it actually helps. I still do panic when my ocd spikes but I try really hard to prevent that going further as much as I can by thinking "Yeh thats me, I'm going to go completely stark raving mad" and sometimes it takes the power from it. Sometimes makes it worse though so I have to be careful. All I'm saying is that humour can sometimes be an aid in helping ocd but not all the time and not in all cases.

Hope you are ok xx

Mon Jul 27 2009 22:08:59 #
brennie
Member

I spent some time in a hospital for my severe OCD , it was a unit for obsessional compulsives where we all had different types of OCD.
The only way 10 of us got consolation from each other was to talk and yes sometimes laugh at each others bizare personalities, to be honest making a little light of our severe debilitating illness was to laugh at ourselves to each other, if we had,nt have done this we would have gone mad because our therapies were so intence, we all laughed as much as we cried.

love Brennie x

Tue Jul 28 2009 3:18:27 #
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Thank you Lioness and Bren, It looks as if you and I are both sitting on the fence, Lioness! Bren, you know I can joke about situations that have put me through hell, and I know it's the same for you. The problem is, will those with no experience of the torture think that if we can joke about it, it can't be that bad? That's how Derek sees it. Although his sense of humour is different from mine and he's amazed, and often annoyed, that I can laugh about any of my OCD. He feels Monk is an insult to our suffering.

Bren I do understand how it must have been for you at the Bethlem. I would also have been laughing with you all, had I been there. I suppose it is a comment by a member of an OCD forum, which is bothering me the most. He told me I could not be affected very badly, otherwise I wouldn't see any humour in it. You and I know that's not true, Bren. But, if a fellow sufferer can view it that way, what about those without OCD?

I suppose it's a dilemma which has no answer. As human beings we react so differently. What one person would laugh at another would find unamusing, or even offensive. I no longer find some of the scenes in Monk comical, when I did previously. So, even the one individual can have a different perspective on the same thing, depending on their mood.

Love, Tricia x

Tue Jul 28 2009 14:18:40 #
traimai
Member

I think you would be right to include humour, possibly with a note at the start of the book explaining the reasons, I believe being able to laugh at some of the things we do is important, I know for a fact that if I was serious about the hell of ocd I'd feel even worse, whose to judge how anyone should cope? lets be honest it takes our lives over enough, so humour can only help lighten the load, I do understand that some things are no laughing matter, but possibly with a little humour might be somewhat bearable?

Wed Jul 29 2009 7:47:22 #
lambertsimnel
Member

My therapist thinks humour is extremely important in managing OCD.

Sometimes when I've read some of the threads on here I've actually smiled - not laughing at the people but the thoughts are so ridiculous that its the spontaneous reaction. For example, on the Late Show in Ireland I think OCD sufferer said he used to get up at night and open the fridge door to check the light was off, the spontaneous reaction of the audience was laughter. Not laughing at the man himself or his sufferings ... but laughing at the silliness of it.

I find it gives me perspective though I'm not trying to be flippant about the real pain that OCD can cause.

Tue Aug 11 2009 16:23:15 #
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Yes, Lambert and Traimai, you are right, my sense of humour just abandoned me for a few days. I think it was the realization of how much I have lost to this illness and I sank into a deep depression. My husband has never had a sense of humour so he's not the best person to guide me on this anyway!

I've been writing about a dear friend of mine who recently died of MS. She was almost blind and in constant pain. I called her a while back and she told me that the previous day she had fallen out of her wheelchair and had been lying on the floor in pain for two hours waiting for a carer to arrive to pick her up. The carer asked what she was doing down there (I guess we all ask foolish questions at times!). My friend, who had never been able to see the carpet because of her failing eyesight, replied in her usual jovial manner "You know I never could make out the pattern on the new carpet, so I came down for a closer look!"

I suppose with any situation we have to laugh when we can, or go under completely.

Thank you to everyone for your advice here, it has helped me make the decision to include humour in the book.

Tricia x

Wed Aug 12 2009 15:14:35 #
Rikki_bristol
Member

Tricia,

After some thought on both sides of the argument I too agree that you should include the humour. We can't please everyone at the same time and ofcourse some people are likely to take varying degrees of offence to it, maybe because at that point in time they maybe be having a rough patch or are too consumed in thought to see the funny side. I'm sure that when you're finished, most who read it will find it a great comfort, as much as we do when we share experiences. For those who don't find the humour side comforting at first, over time will be able to see it and enjoy it when they are in a better state of mind.

I'm sure that your book will have the impact you desire and I think many of us will look forward to reading it hopefully.

Rikki x

Thu Aug 13 2009 1:47:07 #
Unregistered

Thank you, Rikki. Tricia x

Fri Aug 14 2009 13:16:02 #