people then adopt a strategy of compulsive behavior which brings them some relief from the anxiety of the obsessions.
These ritualistic behaviors are designed to create a sense of safety and security for the individual. These behaviors are ritual attempts to dispel "evil" thoughts and protect the individual, and others, from the danger of those thoughts. The confusion for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder is in believing that thoughts have reality and can actually harm them or other people. The difficulty is in separating out thought from action and realizing that thinking something does not mean that the individual must, or will, act on the thought (Dupont et al., 1998).
The National Institute of Mental Health (1999) indicated that OCD is potentially disabling and can affect people throughout their entire lives. The patterns that people with OCD develop are difficult to reverse, although they are reversible with much effort. NIMH estimated that OCD impacts more than 2 percent of the population, even more than panic disorder or schizophrenia. According to NIMH, it affects people of all ethnic groups, and males and females are about equally affected.
In looking at Jack Nicholson, it appears as though he has a severe problem with OCD. He has isolated himself, and even though he works, he works at home by himself. He seems to have periodic insight into his problem, but was not completely willing to work on the problem until he began his relationship with Helen Hunt. As the NIMH (1999) discussion noted, many people avoid professional help because of shame and secrecy, learning how to work their lives around and through the rituals. This makes it more difficult to break through and change the situation. In looking at the DSM-IV criteria, Nicholson's character seems
to fit, since those require the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions which are severe enough to cause marked distress, are time-consuming at ...