What movies & TV shows get wrong about OCD

Schmidt in the TV show New Girl is one of the most accurate portrayals of OCD on television. From the outside, his life looks “normal,” but he constantly seeks reassurance. In one episode, he experiences a real event where he saves someone’s life. Later, he visits this person in the hospital to ask whether he is a good person. The person replies that they don’t know him well enough to judge, so they can’t say if he is good or not — and this uncertainty drives him crazy.

Inaccurate portrayals of OCD in the media are so insanely frustrating. I saw a clip from the show Emily Owen’s MD (season 1, episode 2) that really got on my nerves over how it was portrayed. But, lately, I’ve seen more people speaking up about OCD and their lived experiences, and what OCD is really like, and I hope people find those stories too.

Pure (UK) is a great series that portrays the experience of having sexual intrusive thoughts

Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory. Some of the portrayals (but not all) of OCD are spot on. The one that sticks out most is the episode where Leonard and Sheldon find and old box. There’s a VHS tape in the box that Leonard told Sheldon he would return to blockbuster, but he forgot to. There’s an itchy red sweater that Leonard’s aunt gave him that was also in the box. Sheldon tells Leonard that he would NOT make a big deal out of him not returning the VHS tape if he wears the itchy sweater until he finds the owner of the now-closed blockbuster and gives the tape back. Leonard agrees. A few days later, Leonard broke out in a hive-like rash from itchy his body through the sweater and Sheldon tells Leonard that Leonard outwardly now knows how Sheldon feels mentally. When I saw that, I was like That’s how I feel a lot when there’s uncertainty

Monica from friends being a beyond clean-freak. That’s most of what you see just clean and contamination freaks portrayed and they never show the intense fear they really have beyond just being annoyed