DIRT
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BEHIND THE ILLNESS:

I have OCD. It's a mental illness where the brain secretes a lacking amount of seratonin. The results vary but, most often, obsessive compulsive disorder affects a persons view on what is "clean". Excessive hand washing, constant worry that certain people or things are contaminated, etc are examples of the disease. I had it for years, but once I was diagnosed it took me only 2 years of therapy/medication to more or less mentally block the compulsions. It's not curable, but I'm certainly as close to being cured as I can be.

Why make a comic strip about it?

I had seen the movie "The Aviator", where the main character Howard Hughes (DiCaprio) has OCD. It was the first time that I had ever seen what someone suffering with OCD would look like. While it was an extreme case, it brought back memories from when I struggled with the same illness and it was...disturbing. Those with the illness think that they are acting perfectly normal, as did I, so finally seeing how abnormal it really is was powerful. After the moving film, my girlfriend Kym suggested I make a comic strip about OCD. It would be a challenge to make the strips funny while also being sensitive, but I decided to give it a shot.

This comic strip series is dedicated to Kym, who not only gave me the idea in the first place, but taught me how to love.

DIRT #1-10

The first of the DIRT comic strips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




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