#whiggitymacabee

“i’m such a hypocrite i wonder why people get so defensive over their...”

i wanna hear more about the ocd tho

ok!!! so i’ll start off with the disclaimer that this is my own opinion as a person with ocd and some psych education, but it’s by no means actually definitive

and with ocd specifically, symptoms tend to vary from person to person--it’s more about a cluster of symptoms than a checklist that leads to a single definite diagnosis. it’s also relatively common to have ocd and related disorders (like trichotillomania [obsessive hair pulling], eating disorders, depression, and other mental disorders where you get stuck in a negative thought loop or perform rituals) comorbidly, when they happen at the same time to the same person. 

I’m mostly gonna be pointing out stuff that looks familiar to me and is usually associated with ocd; it’s not enough to diagnose anna, especially since I’m not a doctor

and a quick definition for those unfamiliar with it: obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) is loosely defined as a series of obsessions and compulsions. actual official diagnosis criteria is here. I’ll be copy and pasting parts of it and bolding relevant bits for emphasis.

Obsessions are recurrent intrusive thoughts that make a person upset--a classic example would be “Did I lock the door before I left home? I’m pretty sure I turned the knob, but I’m not positive. If I didn’t lock the house, someone could break in. I can’t get any work done or think about anything else until I know if I locked the door.” 

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or thoughts that a person performs, usually to get rid of or alleviate the distress from their obsession, in a way that’s more extreme or done more often than would be healthy. A compulsion might be going back to your house over and over, turning the knob, leaving for work, and then going back home to triple-check the door lock.

Anna’s setting is one before these diagnostic criteria were identified, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t have ocd--it just might have been called something different, or gone unnoticed/untreated indefinitely.

and i’m basing this off of the ongoing Over the Garden Wall series, not just the oneshot where we see Anna as a kid. ok? ok!

Anna’s single most recognizable and defining character trait is the way she recites her couplets. Originally, she uses them as a mnemonic the way her mother taught her: an easy way to remember the various rules and dangers of living in the forest. But soon they morph into something else. Anna writes and recites these poems to herself for comfort. 

We don’t see her repeat the same poem multiple times, but in my subjective reading of the comic, it seems likely that she does repeat them off-screen. As mnemonics, they’re not meant to be said once and forgotten, after all. 

This definitely could be a compulsion of hers of a mental sort, with the definition of compulsions from the link above being:

Repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or distress, or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent, or are clearly excessive.

This line especially is what convinced me that Anna represents a person with OCD. OCD is made of arbitrary rules that a person follows to ward off disaster. 

Repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or distress, or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent, or are clearly excessive.

SHE EVEN CALLS THEM “RITUALS” FFS.

Another trait classically associated with ocd is the counting compulsion. A counting compulsion is when a person’s OCD rituals involve numbers--for me, I have to mentally count stairs when I go up or down them. A lot of people with ocd have a specific “lucky number” that they use--for example, if they turn around one time, they’d have to turn around three times for it to feel “right.” (This is related to a symmetry compulsion, where if they turn left, for example, they’d have to turn right as well, in order to feel “balanced” and “symmetrical.”) 

Anna writing her name three times at the end of her rules list makes no sense to me unless she’s doing it to make her list feel “right,” “balanced,” or “lucky” by using her lucky number 3.

This one’s not a classic ocd symptom, just a #relatableocdthing to me. If your brain makes your life dictated by arbitrary laws, you learn very quickly to become a sneaky lawyer.

I’m iffy about including the page above, but I think it should be discussed anyway. OCD is often related to hoarding, where a person collects useless objects and get anxious about the thought of throwing them away.

Hoarding disorder symptoms focus exclusively on the persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, marked distress associated with discarding items, and excessive accumulation of objects. However, if an individual has obsessions that are typical of OCD (e.g., concerns about incompleteness or harm), and these obsessions lead to compulsive hoarding behaviors (e.g., acquiring all objects in a set to attain a sense of completeness or not discarding old newspapers because they may contain information that could prevent harm), a diagnosis of OCD should be given instead.

The panel above does not demonstrate a classic case of hoarding. Anna’s repurposing an object that she broke, turning it into something useful. This isn’t evidence that she hoards. 

But, I feel like this solution (and her repeated distress over her cup-breaking habit) would come more naturally to someone who gets anxious over the idea of throwing away objects even if they’re broken. 

More arbitrary rules Anna’s creating to alleviate distress.

Now this one’s also pretty subjective and not a symptom in itself, but Anna’s interactions with Jordan are interesting. She leaves the social situation quickly (despite constantly complaining of her loneliness) and later admits (above) that she left because of unjustifiable worries of Jordan’s trustworthiness.

OCD is associated with reduced quality of life as well as high levels of social and occupational impairment. Impairment occurs across many different domains of life and is associated with symptom severity. Impairment can be caused by the time spent obsessing and doing compulsions. Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions or compulsions can also severely restrict functioning. In addition, specific symptoms can create specific obstacles..... When the disorder starts in childhood or adolescence, individuals may experience developmental difficulties. For example, adolescents may avoid socializing with peers; young adults may struggle when they leave home to live independently. The result can be few significant relationships outside the family and a lack of autonomy and financial independence from their family of origin.

I’ll be honest though-- this is pretty clearly inherited from the Woodsman himself. He had clearly portrayed anxiety issues when Anna was growing up as well as some paranoid tendencies (leading to what you could argue was a case of agoraphobia or something related to it), but I wouldn’t say the Woodsman had ocd. However, ocd is considered highly heritable, and there’s evidence that a family member with a non-ocd anxiety disorder may increase a person’s risk factor for developing ocd.

I’ve gotta go to work now, so let me sum it up:

thank you, a crotchety old man!!

i feel like i’m spamming otgw on everyone’s dash because it is Literally All I Think About 24/7

i like how these are your softball questions, cor -__-

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

watch - tangled (2010)oh boy does tangled get under my skin in a thornygood way. the whole concept of being trapped in a tower and wanting to do more and waiting for your life to begin hits a bit too close to home. though, unlike rapunzel, my tower is entirely self-made and mostly self-imposed.

my only issue with tangled is that i wish the soundtrack was just a little more inspired. you have access to a full orchestra, disney. fukcin use it.

read - the wizard’s dilemma (book 5 in the young wizard’s series), diane duanei still think about this book a lot and the last time i actually read it, i was in high school. i’ll keep my mouth shut about why because it’s all tied up in the climax.

listen to - sleeping sickness, city and colourAnd I'm afraid, to sleep because of what haunts meSuch as, living with the uncertaintyThat'll never find the words to sayWhich would completely explain, just how I'm breaking down

6. are you religious/spiritual?

i was born and raised catholic and still consider being catholic as a very integral part of my identity. i fell out of going to mass regularly for a lot of reasons, but a significant chunk of it was because of scheduling conflicts, honestly. i’ve had saturday evening and sunday morning shifts for the past couple of years that’s made it difficult to duck into church outside easter and christmas.

i started going back in london, and part of getting my bearings back in dc is going to be finding a community out here.

dana o’brien does this great standup routine where he talks about how not even believing in god isn’t sufficient grounds for leaving the church.

7. do you care about your ethnicity?

i do very much, and it only becomes more of an important part of my identity the older i get.

there are two posts that i’ve wanted to do for a while now. one on how i was more acutely aware of my blackness in london than i ever was in dc (and dc in and of itself was a massive wake-up call from honolulu, where i went to high school). and one on my italianness and how that’s all tied up with my faith and religion.

i’ll get around to that. one day.

riverdale is such a confusing show for me. it's such trash but i have never entertained the thought for 1 second that i might stop watching it

I’m watching it merely out of curiosity atm bc so many others I know (well know online) are. It’s not what I’d typically watch, but if it keeps it’s teen twin peaks vibe, I’ll probably stick around.

This is adorable, your adorable. HAVE A GOOD NYE IN THE PNW FOR ME GIRL.

sober/hungover answers to drunk ask box:

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

I’m actually not entirely sure how to answer this! :o 

If the question is asking are there any charas I’ve written that have hung around me (poking and prodding me to finish their stories), then hmm. Not really. 

If it’s charas from a franchise, that’s equally difficult to answer because I don’t read as many novels as I should. :/ And the few I’ve read I can’t…I honestly can’t remember any resounding imagery.

There are things I’ve read for my field that have stuck with me. But I’m not gonna get too deep into that.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Baby Sarah--write until your fingers fall off. Experiment. But know that you’re not the expert. Accept criticism with grace and poise and apply their lessons to your work. Listen to your peers. Writing is a solitary endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. 

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Absolutely not. I got better the old fashioned way: by reading, imitating and taking classes.

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

Honestly, since I finished my Arrested Development rewatch, that part of me that wants to showcase my current obsession in fic form is itching to write. But problem is, I usually write ship driven fics and I have no ships on that show. I thought of doing a prequel or crossover to make a ship happen w/ an OC or someone from the crossover, but in the end, the fandom is not big on fic and this one would require too much of me working outside of my box of comfort. So I’d be writing it only for myself and making myself uncomfortable while doing it. Still who knows …

12) your weaknesses as an author

Not being able to move the plot forward with action bc I suck at action scenes. Usually I’ll stick my readers with a cliffhanger and then the next chapter will have skipped over the cliffhanger and just have the POV atm inner monologue what happened. I know know know this is a problem and have worked to fix it over the years.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

I think I answered this not so long ago (ha a testament that I do these author asks too much for an author that’s not famous- being self indulgent is apparently a problem for even us lesser writers) But my answer was something along he lines of …

When I began writing fic it was all dreary angsty and sad. Ppl died, ppl were emotionally and physically hurt, and I thought this was the norm, bc the fandom I was in at the time (Twilight) was very angsty w/ its fic. Then after dabbling in the Doctor Who fandom (still angsty, but less so) I saw someone post a fic in the LiveJournal 30 Rock community. I’d never read a humor fic before and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I enjoyed reading it very much and then attempted my own 30 Rock fic. I realized I was made for fluff/humor and while angst was something I could do, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did making my characters happy. So basically the exact opposite of you Cori! ;)

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

i haven't seen a pic of you in ages, i didn't realize your hair was getting so long whoooaa