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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

??!! / TV Um....

Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 9:47 AM

a062/1244566637-scaled.toothbrushreal.jpg

Did anyone else watch last night's episode of A&E's Obsessed—episode 4, involving Nidia and Rick—then wake up with a newfound fear of toothbrushes? Or was that whole episode just a bad, bad dream?

UM UPDATE: For all who think my crypticness is a cop-out and want details of what the fuck I'm talking about EVEN THOUGH THESE DETAILS MAY RUIN YOUR LIFE, proceed to the jump.

Okay, Obsessed is a reality series devoted to people with OCD. I watch it for a small handful of reasons, but the one I'll cite today is my fascination with how mundane the behavior of people in extreme circumstances can be. (Important fact: I spent four years at a drama conservatory, where all extreme behavior was presented extremely dramatically—the school's production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was like the Tic Olympics, with every single cast member gunning for gold—and seeing the often-mundane reality of "extreme" experience remains somewhat revelatory.)

Anyway, one of the stories on last night's Obsessed centered on a woman named Nidia, whose life was compromised by debilitating obsessive-compulsive cleanliness habits. Specifically, this involved Nidia needing to take a two-to-three-hour shower after every bowel movement. Eventually we learn that Nidia has been hospitalized twice, when she needed blood transfusions after her "shower ritual" got "too intense."

Then we met The Toothbrush, the centerpiece of her shower ritual, with which she scraped every speck of fecal matter from her colon after every BM.

You are allowed to go die now.

However! In the end, Nidia was cured, or at least well on the road to recovery, with the crucial "controlled exposure" scenes (where Nidia had to eat high-fiber foods at a public park—and maybe even poop there!) followed by a montage of a high-functioning Nidia hiking with her boyfriend and taking 10-minute showers.

I think I need one of those now.

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horror

Posted by Cochise. on June 9, 2009 at 10:01 AM

I will never be able to look at a toothbrush the same way.

Posted by mdurango on June 9, 2009 at 10:05 AM

OH MY GAAHAHAHAD! When the husband said, "I discovered that Nidia was scraping herself from the inside out," I knew my life would never be the same.

Posted by Meags on June 9, 2009 at 10:20 AM

Gah. Who had the horrible idea to profile those with panic and anxiety disorders? Intervention is bad enough. I had a close friend in college who suffered from OCD, and I think that having a TV crew follow her around would have been the LEAST beneficial thing she could do. No, I'm pretty sure that cameras would have made her germaphobe-at-the-ATM episodes even worse.

Bleah.

Posted by arts&letters on June 9, 2009 at 10:27 AM

Man, I want her hot water heater.

Posted by Skippy McFarland on June 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM

I may need a hit of canned air to get over this trauma.

Posted by Brian Geoghagan on June 9, 2009 at 10:31 AM

I heart Skippy McFarland (and Brian G.)

Posted by David Schmader on June 9, 2009 at 10:33 AM

OMG! I really have no words. I go to lunch in an hour. Ugh.

Posted by NikT22 on June 9, 2009 at 11:03 AM

OMG, I don't know if I can ever poop or brush my teeth again.

Posted by haunted leg on June 9, 2009 at 11:08 AM

i dont get why this is gross?
did she use the toothbrush on her teeth after she cleaned her ass? because that would be gross.
how is a toothbrush any different then a falafel...oops i mean luffa?

you guys must have never changed a diaper before.....that's sad
:(

Posted by Andy_Squirrel on June 9, 2009 at 11:12 AM

What was worse was when they cut to Nick who, for a segment or two, seemed to always have a toothbrush in his mouth. He was brushing while driving to the GYM...and then again when he was leaving. My though was "...and where has THAT toothbrush gone?"

Also, I second #5. I hear her say "I get out of my 2.5 hour showers, and the hot water exhausts me" I can't help but think "That was gone like 2 hours ago."

Posted by TheMisanthrope on June 9, 2009 at 11:12 AM

@4 Then I don't think you understand cognitive behavior therapy....

Posted by Cochise. on June 9, 2009 at 11:13 AM

This didn't phase me at all. So someone cleaned their ass with a toothbrush. It's not my toothbrush, so what do I care.

Posted by Lacking Creativity

on June 9, 2009 at 11:54 AM

10 & 13: Two words: depth and force (which caused the blood loss that necessitated the aforementioned blood transfusions...)

Posted by David Schmader on June 9, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Sweet holy OMG are you kidding me... Umm yeah @14 thats the part that pretty much ruined my life... I wonder if I can just floss and use mouthwash for the rest of my life?

Posted by Tina on June 9, 2009 at 12:15 PM

U ALL ARE SO LIK INCONSIDERATE N SHIT. HOW THE FRICKY AM A SMOKING, LITTERING, SPITTING, BIKE NON RIDER LIKE MYSELF BE THE MOST HOLY IN SEATTLE?!?!?!?!?!?!? BITCH HAS A PROBLEM, U AND I HAVE ONE TOO, AND OURS IS DA SAME: WHOOOOOOBRIS!!!!!

Posted by LaRiiiiM0RrrHAwtiiii696969

on June 9, 2009 at 12:39 PM

What, there is an OCD reality show?! How come I'm not getting profiled! Who's the sponsor Dove soap? Is this on the DSM channel or something? Don't get me wrong, as a former OCD sufferer I know first hand how entertaining OCD can be, and quite frankly it sounds refreshingly real. OCD isn't all bumbling detectives and cranky old men (Monk and Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets"), it's also some seriously fucked up shit.

Posted by stuck in boston

on June 9, 2009 at 12:47 PM

2.5 hour showers? She must have a hot water heater the size of a Metro bus.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on June 9, 2009 at 12:57 PM

On Demand Hot Water Heater, anyone?? It might cycle out a little cool water from time to time, but mostly, if set right, you can have a pretty consistent flow of shower ready water for a really long time; you just pay a lot for it.

Posted by PDX_Paulie on June 9, 2009 at 1:35 PM

Yeah, that's kinda gross and all; poor Nidia for never having discovered enemas.
But if you want squick-factor 8: According to Mary Roach in her fantastic and fascinating book BONK, apparently Dr. Alfred Kinsey was known to use a toothbrush as a penile sound. Bristle-end first.
Did you just feel that? ;>)

Posted by treacle on June 9, 2009 at 1:41 PM

sonicare?

Posted by DJSauvage on June 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM

"God i missed you guys so much, I love your place, thanks again for putting me up for the night"....walking into the bathroom , towel over shoulder, slowly shutting the door, "shit I forgot my toothbrush" "I bet they have an extra one floating around here somewhere", "medicine closet........nope" "under the sink, score! looks clean enough"............. "boy that toothpaste had a nutty flavor"

Posted by graffuck on June 9, 2009 at 3:09 PM