I used to watch your show quite a bit when it first started. I thought it was clever, and entertaining. Now granted, as the years have passed, and the quality of your show has decidedly gone downhill, I have stopped watching due to classes, jobs, and in general having a life.
However, in the last few weeks, I have had some time off from a summer job, and I decided one day to give your show a try.
I should have know better.
The show was annoying for all the regular reasons. You yelled at each other and talked over each other. You insulted people who weren't there to defend themselves. You gave misinformation. And after all that, I decided to stay tuned, because you were going to feature people from a A&E show called 'Obsessed" which chronicles the real-life struggles of people with OCD.
I, myself, have OCD, and I have found this show amazing, scary, and informative all at the same time. I was interested in seeing some of the people talk about their therapy and their different phobias and rituals.
Once again, I should have known better.
You never gave them a chance. You had two people on the show who had OCD and you belittled their disorder, you made fun of the treatment methods the Doctors used with them, and you never let them complete their sentences. You reduced OCD into nothing more than something to laugh at, and something that is 'weird' and 'other'.
So congratulations, Barabara Walters and crew, for making those of us out here with OCD who aren't diagnosed or in treatment ashamed of what we have, or making others of us just extremely pissed and what you did on the show last week. Thanks for giving people no hope, for giving people no information that was factual, and thanks for sensationalizing and villianizing what could be a very helpful show for people.
And just to clear up some of the misinformation you gave out so willingly - having an organized closet does not automatically diagnose you with OCD, people with OCD aren't always obsessed or afraid of germs like you insinuated, and radical treatments like having a man put trash in his hands or on his face may sound 'weird' to you, but are life-changing, research driven methods of helping people overcome a really crappy way they have been living life.
Perhaps you should research something before you pretend to be an expert, or perhaps you should actually let some of the experts you invite on the show talk for once. Believe it or not, I am way more interested in what the Doctor with a PHD has to say about my problem that you, Whoopi Goldberg, or Joy Behar.
I am never watching your show again. I don't care if Rosie O'Donnell comes back and eats Elizabeth Hasselback, I'll just watch the recap on 'The Soup' and watch Joel McHale laugh at all of you.
Never been quite so angry -
Me
