In the autism community it is widely recognized that autism is a spectrum disorder. This means that while there are similar consistent attributes that a person with autism may experience it doesn't mean that everyone with autism experiences all of the attributes together or even at the same severity. It's kinda like going to a buffet and you take your plate and pick a bit of this option and a bit of that option and while everyone in the restaurant is eating buffet, some may have more or less, or even none at all, of the individual options. And OCD is similar in this aspect. I have my experiences with OCD; they are uniquely mine yet also can resonate with others with OCD. I am not here to judge what someone else experiences with OCD, just as I don't want to be judged.
Let's set all of that aside for a second, because I am going deviate from my statements above and throw some shade on Dax Shepard and his comments on his experiences with his OCD because it's ideas like these that make OCD so misunderstood. This article appeared on Yahoo News a few days ago and I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have been ruminating on this since I read it. Stewing is probably more accurate because I got angry.
Here's Why An OCD Specialist Has Called Dax Shepard's Latest Comments On OCD "Grossly" Misrepresentative (yahoo.com)
The "CliffsNotes" version is this: Bravo Camila Cabello you hit the nail on the head and Dax Shepard what the actual fuck?
Camila Cabello appeared on Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert in 2020 and described "experiencing what felt like constant, unwavering, relentless anxiety that made day-to-day life painfully hard." This! Yes! Camila, you get it and I am so sorry that you are in this club that no one wants to be a member of.
In a follow up, the cohost, Monica Padman comments, "You have an obsessive nature..." and Dax Shepard interjects "(OCD) is a superpower. Part of me is like, stop trying to euphemize everything...It is weird to call OCD a disorder because it's a personality type and it's super beneficial."
<insert record scratch sound> What?? Excuse me??!! No. OCD is not a personality type. Let me emphasize this again.
OCD. IS. NOT. A. PERSONALITY. TYPE.
OCD is as much a personality type as autism is a personality type. OCD is a biological abnormality in how the brain processes information and responds to stress. There is nothing beneficial to OCD. No one that has expirenced OCD from the inside or witnessed a loved one in an OCD cycle could possibly think that OCD is beneficial. OCD is a misfire in the area of the brain that is intended to protect you from harm. The most damaging piece to this is that Dax Shepard says he lives with OCD. So, as much as I am an expert on my OCD; Dax Shepard is an expert on his but, that doesn't make him an expert on OCD. And I know I'm not an expert either, this is just a chronicle of a girl worried AF. Though, I do believe that celebrities have a platform, a voice, and a responsibility. They have a built-in audience in their fan base and the opportunity to bring attention to topics and causes. Dax Shepard did something positive bringing a guest like Camila Cabello on his podcast to share her truth about living with OCD only to sweep it all away by turning the focus to him and his belief that her living hell is somehow a superpower that can be channeled into good. Sure, Dax... yeah. Just like being chased by a bear in the woods will make you a better runner. Anyone that has a neurodivergent condition can probably relate to this style of sympathetic-empathetic attempt to connect with someone. I do it. I am trying to train myself out of doing it because, as I have learned, it makes the other person feel like you are stealing the spotlight and making it about yourself. Dax Shepard used OCD as an adjective, in a cute way, to describe having a Type A personality like many people do. 1+1 does not equal 5. Having a debilitating mental condition does not make you more productive or more organized; it makes you want to curl up in a ball and not leave your house. You may be a superhero for living with OCD but, it is because you get out of bed and show up for yourself by going to therapy and trying to live a productive life. OCD is Kryptonite it's not the secret sauce.
So, I am trying to find a place of non-judgement and understand why he could possibly feel a benefit to being bombarded with disturbing, intrusive thoughts, and unbridled anxiety that is debilitating. Nothing is coming to mind other than self-flagellation and masochism. So, I am going to wonder this instead: Perhaps, like myself from 30 years ago to about 3.5 weeks ago, he doesn't understand his OCD and doesn't understand how the compulsions are actually super detrimental to him. The other thing about Dax Shepard that comes to mind is that he is a recovering drug addict. His wife, Kristen Bell, has been very outspoken about Dax's drug addiction and recovery and if he does indeed have a diagnosis of OCD he may be trying to self-medicate his symptoms with drugs. I don't know. One "Armchair Expert" to another (here's side eye looking at you Dax Shepard). I am not his doctor or a doctor at all. All I do know is that from sitting up here in the cheap seats his comments on OCD are inimical at worst and ignorant at best. It's my humble opinion that he should try to do better with his platform to move things forward in educating the world about OCD instead of perpetuating misinformation.
Perhaps Abraham Lincoln said it best: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."
But then again, Dax Sheppard got his start on the TV show "Punk'd" so, can I really expect anything more than this from him?
-Alice
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