While talking about disorders in class, one thing that struck me that I have seen in other articles is the statistical fact that in societies like America, it is much more common for people to become diagnosed with some kind of psychological disorder. Some worth mentioning may range from depression (which I feel that everyone knows someone who may be suffering from, whether it is mild or severe) to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In addition, bulimia and anorexia are prime examples of culture-specific disorders that are often seen in American-like societies. In fact, I personally have friends who have serious issues related to every disorder I have previously listed that need to deal with their problem medically as well as psychologically. It is almost sad to see so many beautiful people attack such minor flaws of the self. I can only think of how much time and energy is used up, trying to make an effort to think a certain way or, in contrast, creating large pharmaceutical corporations that gain profit for disorders that shouldn’t exist because of how our society works. Nevertheless, sociologic issues have brought us back to identifying the many disorders we have in class today. One disorder I would like to mention in particular is OCD, or the persistence of unwanted thoughts and urges to engage in senseless rituals that cause distress. Although I only know of one friend in particular who is diagnosed with it, there are plenty of people, including myself, who I feel that have some degree of obsession (that I tend to blame on society but I won’t bother to explain at the moment). For me, I can’t help but crack my knuckles during certain, tense situations. There is no purpose to it but if I fail to crack them at a certain time, pressure to crack them builds up if I think about it too much – sometimes I will crack the same finger over and over until I crack it just right. In another case, my roommate will always check the door if it is locked. I personally think it is ridiculous because no matter how many times she will hear the click of the door lock, she will go back and turn the handle and pull on the door to double check that no one can get in. At this point, I have accepted that it comes with her overcautious personality and if she never felt safe, she would grow to have some form of anxiety disorder. However, she is definitely not the most severe case of OCD I have come across. I’m sure everyone has that one friend who is so meticulously neat, but to have that one friend who notices when one little detail is out of place is a true sign of OCD. Although it is unimportant (and unrelated to psychology), here is why I blame society: first, we are too untrustworthy. Unless you live in a small community where you know virtually everyone since pre-school and the biggest grocery store is locally owned and a 10 minute walk from your house, American towns, like people, put walls and locks up to protect themselves because only a handful of people are worth trusting and for some reason, everyone else is the enemy. Secondly, we have some irrational need for everything to be perfect. With these two ideas in mind, how could we not develop so many disorders?