Last night just by chance I happen to catch an episode of A&E’s new show called “Obsessed”.  This episode was about a young woman with OCD and claustrophobia and another woman with anxiety issues related to being obsessed with clutter.  I have to say that I found the show to be rather compelling.

What really caught my attention was the young lady.  There was a scene were she was supposed to ride an elevator as part of her exposure therapy and she simply couldn’t do it.  But the captivating part was this young girls emotional anguish, I could literally feel her pain.

She sobbed uncontrollably and just couldn’t bring herself to get into that elevator – it was heart wrenching.  Partly because I can empathize fully.  I don’t fear elevators in that way, but I could connect fully with the pain that her anxiety was causing her.  You could see that she just wanted to get over it because she knew this was all so abnormal.

Also of interest is the shows tracking of the subjects as they go through therapy.  It was interesting to see the different types of treatments used and the kind of questions asked of the ladies to get at the root of their angst.  I hate to say it but it’s good t.v.  I say that only because I don’t like the idea of someones anxiety hell being entertainment, but for other anxiety sufferers it’s definitely more than that.

It’s not like the reality t.v. that most us have grown to hate.  These are real people with real problems all stemming from living very anxious lives.  You just can’t make this stuff up.  If you’re interested the show airs on Mondays, at 10pm/9C.

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