A very refreshing portrayal of OCD in media that isn't played for laughs and is taken seriously. (Better Call Saul S1 Spoilers)

So, to preface, I'd like to state firmly that what Chuck has may not be entirely OCD, but there's a large component of it that is.

Specifically, Chuck has contamination OCD. Contamination OCD is defined as compulsions or obsessions (hense the name) surrounding being in contact with something or exposure. As we know, at the start of the series, Chuck suffers from agoraphobia due to an allergy he believes he has to electromagnetic waves. While this sounds ridiculous, because of the severity of his dellusion, he actually does experience some mild placebo symptoms.

And I unfortunately know exactly what that's like because I suffer from a similarly severe case of contamination OCD. Chuck has rituals just like I do, Chuck has panic attacks when things don't go according to his rituals just like I do, Chuck's life goes to shit for a while because of it, just like mine did. When Chuck is asking people if they grounded themselves at his door, that's me asking my partner if he washed his hands after touching the laundry.

OCD is not the quirky fun-time illness that people have reduced it to be in the mainstream. Honestly, I blame Big Bang Theory for the trivializing of things like OCD and Asperger's, because for the longest time when I would describe my symptoms to somebody, they'd say, "oh just like Sheldon." No, not like Sheldon. Sheldon never found himself in a hospital due to a mental breakdown, Sheldon never took a shower so long that by the end of it his skin was falling off, Sheldon has never had to explain something as innocuous as grabbing one bag of rice over the other due to some dust and have somebody look at him like he's mental.

Anyway, rant aside, Chuck's condition is extreme but realistic. It's something that a lot of people deal with, largely in silence. I know it's treated with some levity due to the fact this is a Gilliverse series, and there's always an element of deadpan comedy in everything, but it's genuinely very well done.

And to answer the obvious question, no, stuff like this isn't just something that pops up. OCD is a lifelong, incurable, dysfunction of the brain. It manifests differently at different times. When I was younger I used to have to stare at locks to make sure they're actually locked, and if somebody said something to me and I didn't quite hear it, I would be compelled to drop literally whatever I was doing, go back to said person, and ask them what they said. It wasn't something I could fight, once the thought entered my head, it was something I had to do.

Living with OCD is like being a puppet. Once something pulls a string, you do as it commands. There's therapy, like the exposure therapy that we see Chuck undergo in the first season, and medication, but again it's a fundamental difference in the brain's way of sending messages. You're basically at a 10 at all times, where the normal brain is maybe a 5.

Honestly, with how rapid the progress of Chuck's recovery is, Jimmy should switch from law to psychology. I would give my right arm for a specialist that good.

Anyway, Bravo Vince.