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Anxiety Disorders In The Film As Good As It Gets

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In the movie “As Good as it Gets” Jack Nicholson played Melvin, an obsessive-compulsive man whose communication with the world was mostly limited to insults. Obsessive-compulsive disorder falls under the category of anxiety disorders, which contains a group of disorders that share similar characteristics. Anxiety disorders all typically become aroused over apprehension from anticipated problem. One obsession that Melvin suffer from was the fear of contamination therefore, he washes his hands dozens of time a day with a new bar of soap each time. He eats the same meal at the same table in the same restaurant at the same time every day. Melvin always brings his own plastic utensils to use at the diner instead of the utensils provided. He thinks that the utensils provided at the diner are not clean, even though everyone else at the diner uses them. This again shows his obsession over contamination. The movie also show a great way to see how unique relationships are develop. Melvin, a man who squats in the apartment where he has crushed out romance novels for women. He makes racist, sexist, homophobic and physical insults at everyone he meets. The movie illustrated how Melvin becomes in a relationship with carol, the waitress …show more content…

When the movie started, Melvin was portrayed as an arrogant, insensitive person who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. By the end, Melvin becomes a more caring person and suffers slightly less from obsessive-compulsive disorder than he does at the beginning. The main way to treat the disorder is through intense exposure to the obsessions without letting the subject perform the compulsions associated with the obsessions. Melvin was forced to overcome his obsession and compulsive behaviors. It shows in the movie that when Melvin becomes connected to Carol and the dog, his symptoms start to diminish with personal

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