He is renowned for his perfectionism on the pitch, but it seems everything has to be just right for David Beckham at home as well. He has admitted that he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - a complaint which drives sufferers to carry out bizarre and persistent rituals.
In a television interview, Beckham, 30, confessed to counting the cans of cola he keeps in his fridge.He said the condition leads him to count clothes and place magazines in straight lines and symmetrical patterns. And he added that one of the reasons why he keeps having tattoos is that he is addicted to the pain of the needle.
Beckham said: "I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs."
With a carefully-placed plug for his sponsor, he went on: "I'll put my Pepsi cans in the fridge and if there's one too many then I'll put it in another cupboard somewhere.
"I've got that problem. I'll go into a hotel room. Before I can relax I have to move all the leaflets and all the books and put them in a drawer. Everything has to be perfect."
Asked if he had tried to rid himself of the condition, which affects two per cent of the population, he replied: "I would like to. I've tried and I can't stop."
The World Health Organisation rates OCD as one of the top ten most debilitating illnesses.
Beckham reportedly spends hours straightening the furniture, apparently buys exactly 20 packets of Super Noodles on each visit to the supermarket and wears a new pair of football boots for every match.
His wife Victoria, 31, has said: "Everything has to match in the house. If there are three cans of Diet Pepsi, he'd throw one away because it's uneven."
Beckham said he had kept the condition secret from his teammates at Real Madrid.
But his battle with OCD was common knowledge amongst teammates at his previous club, Manchester United.
Beckham told how players Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Gary and Phil Neville would barge in to his hotel room. "I thought they were just coming in for a chat. But then they'd go out and I'm thinking, 'Something's different here'. And then all the magazines would be all wonky."
He added: "They'd have been in my wardrobe and all my trousers and my shoes would be all over the place. It was a joke with them."
Recently, David Beckham's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has worsened as he struggles to cope with family conflicts.
The soccer star is said to be growing anxious about celebrating Christmas because his parents are divorced and do not get along. His father Ted - who recently suffered a near-fatal heart attack - is also said to clash with David's wife Victoria's dad, Tony, so they are unable to spend the festivities together.
9 comments:
David Beckham! I think you did a great job discussing how he is affected by OCD, but I think that you could have written about how he has tried to overcome his OCD.
I'm wondering if maybe you have an underlying reason for writing about David Beckham? :D anyways, I think you did a good job explaining and illustrating the degree of OCD that Beckham has. I think putting in quotes also strenghens your blog.
Lol, it's cool that you chose a person that was relative to your interests. Great post, great writing. I enjoyed reading about David Beckham and how he worked around the disorder.
Well written article. I learned a lot of things about David and about OCD. You did a good job at explain everything.
It was interesting to learn that he has OCD. I would think that living with OCD can be kind of difficult and annoying at times because you may know that what you are doing is ridiculous but you cant stop. You did a good job with the detail of your story.
Wow. Poor David...One of the top ten debilitating diseases huh? Well at least he can get through it. His teammates were jerks.
quotes always make a great blog even better. good job
but i love david beckham.
it makes psychology real to anyone.
everyone has there problems as perfect as they areeee!!!
david beckham in one word is amazing. this just makes him human. it sucks that he has this though. it must be the biggest pain.
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