Tiny young unicorn

2005-07-06 - 1:50 p.m.

"Deen po" in Cantonese means "crazy woman." In school we used to call DeenPo this because she was always a goofball. Always happy, always smiling. For the last year or so, although I haven't seen her in person more than maybe once or twice, Deenpo has rarely been happy. Sure, we always used to commiserate about the tortures of life, but behind it she was happy. Now she's not. At all. Ever. When we talk on the phone now she almost always cries.

And she and I both think she's developed a pretty severe case of OCD. Neither of us are psychiatrists, but this is affecting every aspect of her life. It scares me. She is worried about catching germs to such a degree that she won't touch anything or go near other people. If someone comes near her then she feels like she has been contaminated and from then on anything she touches is contaminated too. This lasts until she has showered and washed her hair, all of her clothes have been laundered, and she has scrubbed everything she's touched. She doesn't eat because either she is contaminated from being near someone, she's too busy cleaning, or she's too tired from cleaning to even think about eating. She won't use the restroom at work so will drive all the way home during her lunch break just to use the bathroom and has no time to eat before having to turn around and go back. She quit her old job because it was too dirty only to find that her new job is worse.

I used to try to use logic on her or to just laugh it off as one of her quirky peccadillos, but that was when it wasn't so bad. It keeps getting worse. I used to suggest she go to her doctor to get meds or therapy or something. I talked to her yesterday and insisted she get help. She said she would call her doctor and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist. Apparently she talked to him before and he didn't believe there was anything wrong with her. But there is. This can't go on. I don't know what I can do to help her other than be supportive (although I'm often stymied to come up with something to say) and make sure she gets help from someone else. Is there anything else I can do? I'm so worried about her!