An obsession is defined as a thought, mental image, impulse, or worry that gets stuck in your head. In Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, the obsessive thoughts and impulses are disturbing, causing patients so much distress that they must engage in some compulsive behavior to relieve their discomfort.

There are also “normal” obsessions which many untroubled people have. They accept them as the way their mind works, perhaps taking it for granted that everybody has them. These ordinary obsessions are associated with an anxiety-prone personality structure. There are, in my opinion, several basic designs of the normal human psyche, none better or worse, but different. Generalizations about human beings that are this broad are very problematical, but if you get “songs stuck in your head” I would take that as a strong clue that your personality structure leans toward anxiety. This is okay; don’t worry about it.

If you have never gotten a tune stuck in your head, repeated, sometimes for hours, in the background of your thinking, you have no idea what I am writing about. Just imagine living with background music from a weird radio that constantly re-played the same advertising jingle or song from a kid’s TV show. What gets stuck in your head doesn’t have to be music; it can be a word, a person’s name, an image, or impulse. For those of us who are used to it, this background to the objects of our conscious attention feels normal.

But, for people who do obsessions routinely, there are times when the stress load rises, or worries become more substantial and intense. Then the obsessive moments can become more unpleasant, with thoughts or impulses that are unsettling, moving in the direction of OCD. This variability in the content and comfort of obsessions can actually serve as an accurate gauge of how stressed, tired, or worried we are.

In these less-pleasant times, we look for some way to quiet the unsettling racket in the background of our minds. One of the obvious ways to do this is to “get busy,” engaging in some activity that is so interesting that we focus our attention strongly on it. When we are in a worrisome, obsessive spot, and we watch an exciting show, engage in a vigorous sport, or take on a complex job, our worrying and obsessing are reduced to a level that they are not intrusive. Essentially we are ignoring them.

This means that the most difficult moments for being bothered by obsessive thoughts are those times when we are doing something routine, which does not require our full attention. We can think about and do two things at once if one of them is well-practiced. When we are driving the car, walking the dog, taking a shower, or walking behind the lawnmower, we are busy, but doing a task that doesn’t require our full attention.

Those are moments that invite our obsessions to fill the unoccupied part of our minds, and it can change a routine, even pleasant task into a fretful, worrisome, “I am feeling pretty crazy” experience.

It is my theory that this phenomenon explains why people sing in the shower. I believe that it is impossible to sing and obsess at the same time. There is something about the way the brain works that we cannot do these two activities together. If you can obsess and sing simultaneously, please let me know. Most of us simply can’t do it.

There are theories about the acoustics of the shower improving the sound of ordinary singers, transforming us into Broadway stars. I can carry a tune, but as far as I can tell, the shower fails to make me sound like Luciano. Bad singers don’t seem inclined to seek out phone booths and other enclosed spaces so they can sound good. It’s a shower thing.

Many of us shower as we are getting ready for the day. While we are lathering, something we have done a million times, our minds fill with obsessive thoughts about possible stresses, risks, mistakes, failures, problems and disappointments we can imagine. We become uncomfortable, even while standing under the relaxing warm water.

So we break into song, and it all goes away. After a couple of stanzas of “Zippedy-do-da,” it is time to dry off and get busy with the day.

If I am right about all of this, the generalization from it is that we should sing more, consciously choosing to fill our minds with music. I believe that almost any kind of music-making will do: singing badly or beautifully, humming when we walk, whistling while we work, harmonizing with the car radio, etc. I don’t know, and would be interested in knowing, if playing a musical instrument has the same effect.

And, if you are close to someone who suffers from OCD, tell them about this article. I have never seen an article about the treatment of this very unpleasant disorder which suggests singing as a powerful way of silencing troubling obsessions. In my clinical experience, I have suggested this to patients, and they have reported heartening results.
Copyright Gregg Dana 2007