Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder: Background information when reading The Unnamed

Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder

This article relates to The Unnamed

Although Tim Farnsworth's condition never receives an official diagnosis in The Unnamed, his relentless walking might seem to belong to the category of obsessive/compulsive disorders.

Obsessions are defined as recurrent, unavoidable thoughts, and compulsions are categorized as repetitive behaviors. Obsessive/compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder, since not performing the compulsive behavior can result in increasing anxieties, and often patients perform the compulsive behavior specifically to try - successfully or not - to ward off anxiety.

For many people suffering from compulsive behaviors, the disorder takes the form of one or more "rituals" or routines that must be performed in the exact same way each time. Common examples include repeated hand washing, repeatedly locking doors before going to bed, or returning to the house multiple times to ensure lights or burners have been turned off. These kinds of behaviors can be seen in the healthy population as well, but in people with OCD, the difference is that these rituals begin to interfere with normal enjoyment of life.

In The Unnamed, Tim's doctors also raise the possibility that his walking might have a physical, rather than a mental, explanation. As Jane and Becka discover, this compulsive walking caused by liver or brain malfunction is more commonly witnessed in animals, which may wander aimlessly to the point of causing themselves physical harm or even death. Ferris's novel never gives readers a straight answer about what causes Tim's walking. Readers can consider and debate whether the ailment is physical or mental, or whether Tim's condition is a metaphor rather than a "real" ailment at all.

Filed under Medicine, Science and Tech

This "beyond the book article" relates to The Unnamed. It originally ran in February 2010 and has been updated for the September 2010 paperback edition. Go to magazine.