As Good As It Gets

4 Pages 1092 Words

“As Good as it Gets”
Some believe that diversity in our society is enriching. Exposure to different races, cultures, religious groups, and people can enrich our lives if we let it. These same people may have a problem dealing with people with mental illnesses, different economic status, or different sexual orientation. The movie, “As Good as it Gets” deals with all three of these issues on some level, and interestingly enough, the main character, Melvin, has a mental illness, yet is prejudice against a homosexual man.
Melvin Udall has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD. OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions or compulsions. Melvin’s symptoms of fear of germs, counting, and hand washing, are some of the most common symptoms of OCD. This disease can interfere with a person’s social life and relationships. Many live as recluses with little or no close contacts, much like Melvin does.
During the movie, you come to realize that Melvin can control his condition with the help of medication, but has chosen not to take them. After some research into the side effects of the most popular OCD medications, I have found that there are very few side effects, ranging from the lowering of sex drives to possible insomnia. But there are new drugs that boast of none of these side effects. This makes me wonder why anyone would go off of their medication. A lot of the time, there may be a stigma attached to taking drugs of this nature and that is a possible reason people decide to quit taking them.
Why does a society that doesn’t look down upon those who have to take insulin because their body doesn’t make it, look down upon those who have to take antidepressants because their body does not make serotonin? It doesn’t make sense, yet that is the way that it is. Taking Prozac myself, I understand the embarrassment of having to take a pill to feel better, yet taking an aspirin to feel better, I don�...