James Bailey’s form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was as bizarre as it was unbearable. He was obsessed by a fear of drugs and their effects, believing himself to be in constant danger of becoming insanely high through people spiking his food, or even by just touching a photograph of a marijuana leaf.
The treatment programme he went through at a specialist American clinic was challenging, to say the least. He was asked to shake hands and mingle with the local junkies, fighting his anxieties and the urge to go and wash for as long as possible in order to ‘expose’ himself to his fears.
It is a testimony to Bailey’s indomitable spirit that he is now able to see the absurdity of many of the bizarre situations in which he found himself. He invites us to share the joke with him as he harasses fast-food waitresses over whether they’ve put any drugs in his food and chases joggers down the street to ask them if they think there’s something strange about the way he is running. It is this quirky sense of humour combined with his strength of character that helped him to recover and go out to face the world again.
Man, Interrupted' gives us a glimpse into the tortured world of a man suffering from what is an increasingly common disorder. But far from being a doom-laden account of mental illness, the result is uniquely revealing, hilariously entertaining and wonderfully rewarding.
