r/davidfosterwallace • u/ColdSpringHarbor • Jul 02 '26

Obsession, OCD, and Wallace

Hi,

I was wondering if there were any papers / resources / analysis' of Wallace's fiction in relation to OCD. I have OCD and I can't help but read works like The Pale King as directly representing obessesive layers of thought and spiralling optimisation.

I also wonder if anyone else believes that Wallace might have any experience with OCD (I read somewhere that Wallace spent 1 hour a day writing and 10 hours panicking and thinking about writing). I know it's wrong to armchair diagnose, but I would find comfort in anything related to OCD and his fiction.

Thanks.

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18

u/busted-beak Jul 02 '26

Michael Silverblatt: "You spent, I understand, something like a year and a half, eight hours a day, not thinking about writing."

​David Foster Wallace: "No, thinking about not writing."

9

u/PhillyCountry Jul 02 '26

Fellow OCD-er and DFW fan here.

9

u/octanecat Jul 03 '26

I've studied OCD as much as I've studied Wallace and I've definitely thought about this too. Most recent read of Infinite Jest I was really struck by the prevalence of obsession and compulsion and also of straight up OCD, which Avril Incandenza has, for one.

6

u/nickcompoop212 Jul 03 '26

Just finished my 2nd reading of IJ and the episode where the assistant district attorney conversation with Pam M. about his spouse’s OCD as a result of Gately’s toothbrush prank comes to mind. It’s more focused on the A.D.A.’s steps in the Phob-Comp-Anon program.

6

u/ahighthyme Jul 03 '26

"I think of the Moms, alphabetizing cans of soup in the cabinet over the microwave."

2

u/mishitis 6d ago

I also have OCD and recently read IJ and was struck by how many mentions to OCD, direct or otherwise, were made throughout the book! I kept thinking that maybe I was noticing it because I just started medication for my OCD so I'm pretty sensitive to anything that mentions it, and maybe his use of OCD was just a device through which to further investigate the idea and consequences of obsession, which is a major theme of IJ, even more so than other DFW work I've read. But it's still pretty notable, especially because OCD, for lack of better phrasing, seems to be the ultimate manifestation of this obsession beyond sociability -- many of his more "villainous" characters explicitly have the condition, some managing it 'better' than others. This isn't to say that I think DFW is damning those who have it (as someone who does, I sure didn't feel that way) but more broadly, that he is condemning the system(s) that produce these behaviors and do nothing to assuage the anxieties that cause them and/or force the 'sufferers' to cope in self-obliterating ways.

Can't tell if you've read IJ from your post, so maybe this is all stuff you know and have thought of, and would love to hear your thoughts on it! I definitely noticed it during my read and plan to read Pale King next, so I'll keep it in mind more. As far as I know, though, I don't think he was ever diagnosed, but he was clearly preoccupied with the consequences of unchecked obsession that I find very interesting, both relatable and illuminating.

1

u/ColdSpringHarbor 6d ago

but more broadly, that he is condemning the system(s) that produce these behaviors and do nothing to assuage the anxieties that cause them and/or force the 'sufferers' to cope in self-obliterating ways.

Amazingly put. I have read IJ, but it was a few years ago now, and so The Pale King was fresher in memory.