Coming Soon to a TV Screen Near You: You!
Sounds like A&E is doing the reality thing with crazies, this time. From a press release:
A&E explores the world of individuals suffering from extreme anxiety disorders, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder and Hoarding, and tells the stories of their struggles to overcome them in the new original nonfiction series “Obsessed.” The eleven episode, one-hour series debuts Monday, May 25 at 10pm ET/PT following the season premiere of the Emmy-nominated “Intervention.”
“The series sheds a light on the vast world of anxiety disorders, while offering those who suffer from these debilitating afflictions a path to recovery,” said Robert Sharenow, Senior Vice President, Nonfiction and Alternative Programming, A&E Network and BIO. “Like ‘Intervention,’ Obsessed takes an honest and unflinching look at a difficult subject, programming that has come to resonate with our viewers and that underscores the essence of our brand.”
The essence of our brand? That makes me feel icky.
Of course, the cases are very extreme, or it wouldn’t be fun:
In the series opener, Helen, a single mother of three is tormented every day by her OCD as it’s making her life a nightmare. Her anxiety was spiked when her father died in a car accident. She has extreme panic attacks while driving and she obsessively puts on her father’s bloody clothes from that fatal night. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (CBT) widely described as the most effective treatment for OCD, Helen must face her fears and try to come to terms with her father’s death and her inability to drive. Meanwhile, Scott is a germaphobe who doesn’t keep a trashcan in his house, doesn’t have any pictures on the wall, washes his hands 50 times a day and sleeps on the sofa because it takes him too long to make his bed in the morning. His OCD has caused him to be desperately alone and he must face his fears through CBT in hopes that he can have a successful relationship.
So let me amend my header, here: Coming Soon to a TV Screen Near You: People Who Are Just a Skosh Stranger Than You Could Ever Be.
liz | 4:07 PM | alternative treatments, anxiety, media
I have such mixed feelings about this sort of programming. On the one hand, it has the potential to sensationalize the issue. On the other, it has the potential to open the issue to discussion and de-stigmatize it. It all depends on the presentation, I think.
It will be interesting to see what the ratings and feedback on this will be and if A&E decides to pick it up as a regular series.
Liz
I ran across this post and was a little offended, that “these people” were referred to as crazies.
Maybe its an issue that should be opened.
I am curious too, as to how well this will do in respect to intervention.
Although there are many addicts out there….mental illness, anxieties and phobias are much more relatable to most people amongst us. Have you ever considered the possibility that you may actually learn something from this program? Or maybe in todays day and age, we would rather watch stuff with no substance, no learning, no truth to it what so ever…. like Put New York to work. Yah, becasue you know, she’s not crazy! Right!
Maybe these “crazies” as you called them are trying to show us that even the most educated “normal person” loses touch with reality and thought comprehension at some point due to some circumstance.
Some will point and laugh at these “freek show” people as you might put it, but at the end of the day they make come out looking like the strong ones – while you just look like a jackass.
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