I have to reply this comment can you help me please To be frank, I was repulsed
ID: 3446760 • Letter: I
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I have to reply this comment can you help me please To be frank, I was repulsed by this video. It wasn't just the fact that he was making people lick their hands after touching the dumpster, it also just seemed incredibly cruel and unethical. Very few people would stick thei a dumpster, spend time around it, touch the inside or lick their hands after touching the dumpster. I take issue with this because I feel that there are safer and less humiliating ways to help a person overcome their OCD. The client were exposed to unknown germs and diseases that could have caused them to become incredibly ill. Shame was also used as a way to encourage them to participate (if others are doing it, then so do ). The man at the end said he felt like he was going to have a panic attack, or even faint which is also putting the client's health at risk. I had a visceral reaction to watching the doctor put his clients through this experience. We've talked about exposure therapy in previous chapters, but in the sense the increased the exposure rather than putting them in the most extreme situation at one time. The obvious benefits are learning to overcome the anxiety created by the identified triggers, which seem to be linked to phobias in the case of OCD. I can understand the "see nothing bad happened" nature of putting somebody in such an extreme situation, but at what cost? When it has the potential to negatively affect their health and reinforce their phobia I don't believe that it is worth it. In this case, where OCD behavior is triggered by exposure to dirty objects/environments you still have the ability to expose them to germs and dirty environments that have a lower risk of making the client sick--petting an animal and not washing your hands afterwards, putting your hands in dirt, sand or open water, using another persons phone... If a health professional would tell you the action is a risk to your health (and I imagine licking your hands after touching a dumpster would fall into this category) then it seems to me an unethical form of treatment. ReplyEmail AuthorExplanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. Also, my response is based on an agreement to this comment as I believe the person has made very valid arguments.
(Answer) Truly, it was entirely unethical of the person to ask these individuals suffering from OCD to perform such a task. The primary argument is that even a person who does not suffer from OCD is not expected to be ok with licking their hands after touching a dumpster. This is a health hazard.
Secondly, increased exposure should be delivered in stages. Each stage should be increasingly difficult and eventually culminate to a task that is easily performed by someone who does not have OCD. For instance, wiping the grease off your hands after eating fried chicken instead of washing it with soap and water would be appropriate. Touching a rubbish bin and licking one’s hand is dangerous and also neither here nor there. It is not a requirement to flourish in a workplace or live an anxiety free life.
Thirdly, each of these stages needs to be accompanied by corresponding therapy. A simple “see, nothing bad happened to you” does not help overcome a lifelong issue almost instantaneously. A trained professional would use small tasks to eventually build the patient’s confidence on a fundamental level. This would even help avoid a relapse in the future.
I agree that vulnerable individuals need to be treated with understanding, compassion and delicately.