MovieChat Forums > Outbreak (1995) Discussion > This Movie Caused Me to Have OCD

This Movie Caused Me to Have OCD

posted 13 years ago by quillpen5
24 replies | jump to latest

I'm not lying. I saw it when I was 10 or 11 years old, and saw how the germs spread through the air vent, and had nightmares after that.
Then I became really concerned about germs and getting sick, so I was sanitizing stuff and closed off the vent in my room.
It really blossomed and I started repeating things and counting over and over until I felt safe again.
My parents finally took me to therapy when I was 15, because OCD wasn't as well known back then as now and for a while, they didn't know why I had "weird quirks".
So I'm still in therapy, but am doing much better with meds. I don't blame the movie, though. It was just a catalyst for an underlying problem. If I had not watched it, it would have come out through another movie or a different situation.
Does anyone else have similar problems because of a movie?

[–] purity82 13 years ago

haha!

[–] quillpen5 13 years ago

I really don't see how this is funny.

[–] eXaR_kUn_04 13 years ago

It's not funny. That other poster just had nothing better to say.

I haven't developed anything due to watching a movie.
Being 33, I have seen quite a few films.
Since you were a child, watching this film only reinforced what was already there.
So I agree that it was just a catalyst to an underlying condition.
OCD comes in many forms and being that this was a movie about an airborne virus,
well that didn't help either. At least you're getting therapy for it.
It takes time to weed and deal what gets in our minds. I know from experience.
Good luck on your quirk. All it takes is someone to tell help us through the maze.
And once you're out, you learn a lot more about yourself.
Take Care.

[–] Alice-Morgan 9 years ago

Nothing would've been better.
The universe isn’t evil, John, it’s just indifferent.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] satan-stole-the-muffins 13 years ago

I am 16 and a diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive. I was diagnosed very very young and was on meds for a while, but stopped when I was about 12 because most of my major tics went away. After I watched this movie, a lot of those tics came back, and I began to get very nervous around sick people. After a few months, it all went away again, but this movie really did have an effect on me. But I suppose like anything, it comes in waves. Every now and again, it escalates but eventually calms back down. This movie was just a trigger.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to you, cats down on you. Pigs treat you as equals.

[–] przgzr 11 years ago

Well, this posts (your, OP's and some others) confirm that there should be an age restrictions for certain movies. Not just that a person below the age needs an adult, but that adult must be a parent, because only (responsible) parents know the child well enough to esteem the its ability to cope with the subject and the way it is presented (those who don't have responsible parents will most likely be messed up anyway). But this warning shouldn't be based on MPAA criteria where most restrictions appear due to a visible breast (let alone something more), while deeply philosophical stuff and existential dramas stay in the line of suitable, almost suggested movies. I don't think that some nudity can cause OCD, because those who would be under MPAA limits are already obsessed by the subject (due to their hormones), but not understanding or, even worse, misunderstanding of mature, serious human relations, matters of borderline ethics or really disturbing topics should be really been watched by parents before their deciding if their kids can handle it without a risk of damage.

[–] txwaho 10 years ago

My thoughts exactly. And so much more so when I read that PRE-TEENS are watching highly sexual movies!! Adults who are not responsible, and probably not even present, parents! You got it right!

An independent mind is difficult to enslave.

[–] SubHomeSickBlues 13 years ago

When I was a kid I saw "Doctor Zhivago" and the scene after his mothers funeral, when the wind blows the decorations from the cemetery and sets the frozen branches to clicking against his bedroom window, then the cut to the shot from inside the grave, where it's totally, completely silent, left me with a lifelong fear of being buried. It freaked me out so much that from that moment on I made sure everyone, and I mean everyone, knows that I want to be cremated. I'm not talking some one shot deal; it's very clear in my Will and, to be on the safe side, I reiterate it to my family at least once a year, sometimes twice. It's not a problem like OCD but it is an example of just how powerfully an image can permanently affect the still developing mind of a child.

[–] maddoggin 9 years ago

I know...old post,but I just wanted to ask SubHome if he accidently burns himself,what then?

[–] Vixen_32 13 years ago

Yep! I don't have clinical OCD or anything but I'm extremely conscious about germs.

Whenever someone coughs in public and doesn't cover their mouth I'm reminded of the theater scene with the infected coughing guy and the camera slowing down to show his infected cough particles being airborne and going into people's mouths.

I'll tell a person about it too and they'll look at me funny then I'll say "COVER your mouth before you get us all sick!"

[–] Dvir971 12 years ago

Wow, im staying away from this movie...
I got my OCD from a math test....

[–] MirrorofReflection 12 years ago

I just don't care about germs, anything can kill you. If you die, it's your time.

[–] txwaho 10 years ago

Most of the time your body takes care of them, especially if you eat and live a healthy lifestyle to support your body's immune system! And that does NOT mean staying away from germs! You are actually healthier being exposed to them over a period of time so your body builds up an arsenal. People are so misinformed and paranoid!

An independent mind is difficult to enslave.

[–] abro16 12 years ago

ok, i'm now going to watch the movie,
just bcz after reading your comments.

[–] Strazdamonas 11 years ago

More likely is that this movie triggered the OCD that you already had and was just waiting.
funnily enough, covering your went is the worst thing you can do, since with no ventilation its heaven for germs.
I was OCD long before seeing this movie, but the i learned to live with it.

---------------------------------------------
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.