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Melvin Udall's Theories Of Personality

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Personality makes us who we are and it plays a significant role in influencing most of our daily decisions such as what we choose to do for a living, who we choose to be our friends, our romantic partners and how we interact with our family (About.com). However, the question still remains about what personality is? According to Wade and Tavris, Personality refers to the distinctive pattern of behaviour, mannerism, thoughts and emotions that characterizes an individual over time (2008). Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, along with others who came after him studied Personality and developed theories of personality that are still referenced today. For instance, the movie “As Good as It Gets” comprises of several characters with different personalities, offering an ideal arena to analyse each character by the different theories of personality. Given these points, this analysis focuses on the main …show more content…

OCD is a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviours (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Therefore, Melvin is obsessed with the fear of contamination, organization, control and doubt. Based on Sigmund Freud theory of Psychodynamic, adult personality is formed through primarily by experiences in early childhood. Throughout the movie, Melvin only speaks one time about his childhood experience and based on this, there is the impression that his father wanted him to play the piano perfect. As a result, he now has that obsession of organization and control. In addition, he is afraid of walking on the cracks, suggesting that something bad happened to him when he was a kid and now he is obsessed with fear that something is going to happen if he does walk on

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