Behaviors that we do not understand often become nearly invisible — even when, in retrospect, we see how truly strange they are. 4f@havFIJ
When I was a psychiatric resident, we had a faculty member who was famous for his messy office: stacks of papers and old journals covered every chair and table as well as much of the floor. One day, as I walked past the open office door with one of my supervisors, he murmured mildly, “Odd duck.” And that was as far as anyone seemed to reflect on this peculiar state of affairs within an institution staffed by psychiatrists. Eventually, the faculty member had to be given another office in which to see patients. ef;&Y>/
Not surprisingly, the psychiatric diagnostic manual does not list “messy room” in the index. But it does mention a symptom: inability “to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value.” It comes under the diagnosis obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, an obscure cousin of the more famous obsessive-compulsive disorder. syWv'Y[k?
I was barely aware of the diagnosis. Every era has mental disorders that for cultural of scientific reasons become popular. In Freud’s day it was hysteria. Currently, depression has moved to centre stage. But other ailments go relatively ignored, and this disorder was one. <6d{k[7fz)
It came with a list of additional symptoms that appeared to be peculiar bedfellow: anxiety about spending money, excessive devotion to work to the exclusion of leisure activities, rigidity about following rules, perfectionism in doing tasks-at times to the point of interfering with finishing them. 'U|MM;(
In moderation, the symptoms seemed to fit right in with our workaholic culture-perhaps explaining the low profile of the diagnosis. Relentless work orientation and perfectionism may even be assets in rule- and detail-oriented professions like accounting or law. !7O=<