A Friend in West Virginia, Part Five

 Likely you've heard of "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder," often rendered simply as "OCD." My friend mentioned several times that he has "OCD," and in his case, according to what he said, it has to do with cleaning and his truck, and how clean he kept things. I know on a couple of occasions he told me he had cleaned the house so thoroughly (and once he put it in the context of his truck), that he was worn out, exhausted. Now, whether he ever had a diagnosis of OCD, I don't know, although the mention of it several times made me wonder if, indeed, he had been diagnosed with the disorder, as he said it in such a matter of fact way. He is also a heavy smoker, which he told me helped to calm his nerves. When on a couple of occasions I mentioned how smoking is not good for his health, he got testy about it, but I've known many smokers in my life like that. As I have written in the previous articles about my friend, each of these things by themselves does not prove a troubled mind, but rather it is the combination of these things.

OCD is a disorder where a person repeatedly does things, sometimes, but not always, involving cleanliness. For instance, some people find it virtually impossible to stop constantly washing their hands within short periods of time. I knew a guy 20 years ago who was obsessed with cleanliness, and if you went to his apartment, I think you could have literally "eaten off of the floor," he kept it so clean. If someone touched his table, he would wipe it off within minutes. Now, this man had been severely beaten earlier in his life, and almost died. He suffered severe head injuries. Whether the injuries contributed to his condition, I don't know. Or whether the traumatic event of the beating he took caused anxiety that contributed to the condition is another possibility, or perhaps something of both. Since I did not know him before he was beaten, I can't say if he had such problems beforehand. I just offer this man's behavior as something of an example.

Word History:
Obsess-This word, related to "session," and more distantly to "sit," is a compound formed by "ob" and "sess." The prefix "ob" goes back to to Indo European "epi," with the broad notion of "near, toward, against." This gave Latin "ob," and the notion of "near, against, opposite," provided the further meaning, "before" (when people or objects are against/opposite one another, they stand "before" them). The "sess" part of the word goes back to Indo European "sed," which meant "to sit." This gave Latin "sedere," which meant, "to sit, to remain seated, to preside." The two parts gave Latin "obsidere," which meant, "besiege, remain opposite/before a place, occupy a place." Its participle form gave Latin "obsessus," which meant, "besieged, occupied." English borrowed the word as "obsess," meaning, "possess by a demon or spirit," in the very late 1400s. This meaning altered some over time to become, "focus one's thoughts on something to the extreme" (sort of "have one's mind be besieged or possessed by a thought").