Media Representation: OCD in Dance Moms

I've been conspicuously absent lately. I've had health issues which have prevented me from doing much of any writing. I will do my best here but it may take me several revisions before this is up to my personal standards.

Now, I've long procrastinated about writing any OCD articles because the range of OCD types  is so vast that I didn't know where to begin. Tonight I was watching the newest episode of Dance Moms and saw clear as day a little girl go from anxiety to panic attack. Then I saw online that people were calling her out for being a brat. I felt so bad for her and thought, "That's what I'll write about."

Maddie is a girl who is the teacher's favorite student. The other moms are jealous of how much better Abby treats her, which is likely due to her extreme dedication. Her mom calls her a perfectionist, I think that's oversimplifying things. It starts after a teammate gets a call from an audition they all did saying she was at the top of their list for a scholarship. Maddie attempts to reorganize her make-up trunk, a classic self-soothing behavior, which her mom yells at her for. Essentially, you have someone who feels their emotions spiraling out of control, so to get back in control they feel they need to engage in a certain behavior. This behavior can be just about anything--counting, organizing, hoarding--but all boils down to, "If I don't do this thing, I will fall apart." It takes a feeling of helplessness and provides an illusion of control. Her mom took a child's attempt to regain control of herself and made her feel even more powerless before sending her onstage.

It is important to note that these compulsive behaviors don't really put the sufferer in control, it is only an illusion. Eventually the behavior starts to grow with the anxiety, what used to work is no longer enough, and will continue to do so. The only way to really be in control is to challenge the thinking that this is the only way to overcome the anxiety. This usually involves purposefully engaging in situations that cause anxiety in a controlled setting, starting small and working your way up.

Naturally, Maddie forgot her dance onstage. She just stopped and ran offstage. She freaked out that the teacher would hate her, crying and begging to try again. Normally Abby would tell a student who cries at a competition to suck it up, but this time she just held her and said everything would be alright. The other parents were upset because of the double standard. I don't know if she knew it but she really did the best thing for Maddie. It was important for her to realize that her deepest fear, being rejected for her imperfection, was not actually going to happen and that it wasn't a compulsive behavior that prevented it from happening. She helped her work through the anxiety but as I've seen countless times, people are not recognizing this as anxiety (or that anxiety is in fact a mental illness and not just "being upset").

When 'Good' OCD Goes Bad -or- the author's embarrassed ramblings

My whole family knew I had OCD before I did. I'd check every fork in the drawer until I found one that was absolutely clean. Even before that, when I was a little kid my parents would get annoyed with me because I'd stop drinking a soda once it started to go flat. Over the years I've gotten to the point where I can tell by watching the soda fountain whether it will be bad or good, syrupy or bitter.

I have a routine when I buy individual bottles at grocery stores. Sometimes the conveyor belts go too fast and knock them over, so I just hold onto them. Well I was at the store today and decided to get myself a coke. All was going as usual until at the very end of the transaction I see that the cashier decided to put my soda in the bag, and it was on its side! I felt like all the blood drained out of my face. After I got my receipt and managed to get it all sorted out, I left with my tail between my legs. I was upset because of what happened and because I was embarrassed.