Khloé Kardashian's Been Joking About A Mental Disorder & Fans Are Calling It Out
The glamorization of serious mental health issues might be a pet peeve of all of ours — especially when people joke about being bipolar when they aren't, or say they suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) without any kind of diagnosis by a doctor. So when I logged online on March 13 to see Khloé Kardashian's OCD reference front and center on my Twitter timeline, I was thoroughly disappointed in the reality star. And clearly, so are her fans because they're totally calling her out over it.
Kardashian took to her Twitter page to advertise the latest quiz on her app, "How Khlo-C-D Are You?" The title seems to be a spin on the mental health disorder OCD, which is described by the International OCD Foundation as "a cycle of obsessions and compulsions" that cause "intrusive thoughts" and "intensely distressing feelings." But, unfortunately, the name of the disorder has taken on a new meaning: some use it to describe how tidy or organized they are while downplaying the intense effects of OCD.
So of course, when Kardashian shared the "Khlo-C-D" quiz with her followers, many immediately criticized her for branding and glamorizing a mental illness. Kardashian's team did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on her choice of phrase.
Fans are not happy.
Some were highly disappointed that Kardashian, who has "such a massive following" shared something so offensive.
Sadly, it's not the first time she's used the phrase, either. Kardashian's been running "Khlo-C-D" posts around cleaning since at least 2017.
It's one thing to be a neat freak, but to joke about OCD is just straight-up wrong.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, OCD is an anxiety disorder in which people have recurring intrusive and unwanted thoughts which drive them to do something repetitively. The disorder can manifest in ways such as excessive cleaning, ritualized hand washing patterns, and checking on things multiple times — all of which "can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions," according to the Association's webpage. When speaking about the realities of living with the disorder, Dr. Danielle Forshee, LLC, explained to Elite Daily just how severe it is. She says,
[Those who suffer from OCD] cannot control the content of the thoughts, nor can they control the intensity or the frequency of the thoughts. ... For someone with true OCD, they do not want to have these thoughts, and they are uncomfortable, scary, and irrational. When they try to ignore the thoughts or images, they realize that the only way to get them to go away is to do a compulsion, a physical act, or a mental act to get rid of the thought and the anxiety associated with that thought.
So Kardashian using a distressing mental disorder to try to illustrate how adorkably tidy she is clearly felt like a bit of a slap in the face toward the people who struggle with the real thing on a daily basis.
It's not the first time Kardashian's posts have caused drama.
On March 9, Kardashian shared another post from her app, "5 Hacks To Look Thin AF In Pics" to the 26 million fans who follow her on Twitter. And the excerpt of the message was super cringeworthy, if you ask me. It read, "There are even more stealth ways to look like you have a sick bod in pics," which kind of pushed the whole ideology of needing to be perfect on social media; a message that is more unhealthy than being "thin AF." (IMO, at least.) While it's one thing to advocate for healthy eating habits and lifestyles, many felt that the mom-to-be was promoting unhealthy eating habits and body-shaming through her post.
The best thing about all of this, though, is that when troubling things like this happen, one can always rely on social media to get them in check. That said, I'm sure Kardashian will get it right the next time. Hopefully.
