Talking about water, a friend of mine recently told me about a guy who had
an obsessive-compulsive type of thing over wasting water (some people call it a
global warning OCD). He was treated by a therapist who was doing aversion therapy which consists in confronting people with their fears.
In this case the therapy consisted in turning on the faucet at the guy's apartment before he went to work. The guy was supposed to go through his entire day knowing the water was on at home. He couldn't do it. Well, call me water-wasting phobic but I couldn't do it either. Could you?
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No way, I couldn't do it either. Besides, in the desert, I don't think this is a bad OCD to have. I almost wish more people here had this problem!
ReplyDeleteI have OCD, and the problem is that the anxiety about wasting water can take over your life, and still not really conserve more water than if you took your best shot at doing what you value(saving water in various ways), but not knowing for certain at any given moment whether you are wasting water. OCD might have someone checking the faucet constantly for drips, or ruminating for hours about whether you have done every possible thing. The therapy doesn't makes sense to me--you could probably have the guy not check the tap before he leaves, and live with the uncertainty about whether he actually turned it off, rather than actually letting the water run.
ReplyDeleteDear Expwoman,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have your input. To me, the "therapy" sounded brutal and cruel but I have no first hand experience with compulsive behavior. Thanks for sharing. I'll ask my friend if he's heard anymore about this particular case.
LaGreenga