Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is different from just double checking to see if you locked the door or switched off a light because you couldn't remember if had done so.

The need to repeatedly perform the same actions over and over by OCD patients can interfere with basic every day functioning and cripple their lives.

According to Vancouver Coastal Health's Web site, about 120,000 British Columbians (or three percent of B.C.'s population) suffer from a lifetime prevalence of the anxiety disorder.

The local band Hinterland (which the Straight's John Lucas belongs to) wrote a song about OCD and anxiety disorders called "Detwiller Pavillion", which is named after the UBC building which houses the Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence (kind of a strange name for a mood disorder clinic, isn't it? I never thought of someone excelling at mood disorders.)

And OCD has served as more creative inspiration in this short film that features an interview with a British OCD patient, followed by a Michel Gondry–like dramatization of what it's like for him to live with the psychological disorder.

He says it bothers him so much that it consumes a large portion of his daily life.

Unlike the fantasy sequence in the film, which was a dramatization of how the patient felt, things certainly do not have to end in disaster.

As in many cities, in Vancouver, there is help.

There are support groups which can help to alleviate detrimental feelings of isolation, hopelessness, or frustration.

As mentioned in the film, there are also prescription medicines that can help.

Vancouver Coastal Health's Anxiety Disorder Clinic also helps people with the disorder.

If you or someone you know is suffering from OCD, or if you are concerned that you may have OCD, please be aware that other resources and professional help in Vancouver, B.C., or other parts of the world can easily be found by searching online.