
Khloe Kardashian has sparked towering waves of backlash after launching what she calls ‘Khlo-CD Week’, a week-long series on her app packed with ‘tips and tricks’ for cleanliness and organisation.
On Wednesday, the pregnant reality star created a quiz on Twitter, polling her followers on how ‘Khlo-CD’ they are. She also joked of her love of rearranging cookies perfectly in a jar.
Throughout the week-long series, Kardashian will share with her followers advice on to “get organised for the year” and how she organised her “home bar” (also known as, and I quote, “going H.A.M on [her] home bar”).
Fans were fast and furious in pointing out that glamorising Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and framing it as a desire to be “tidy” is detrimental to those in the throes of mental health battles.
“I’m a fan of Khloe, but glamorising OCD as ‘Khlo-CD’ really upsets me. It’s a real mental illness and should be thought of seriously,” one said.
“I hate the fact that every single thing celebrities do is broadcast over the news, as if it’s actually relevant. But Khloe Kardashian calling herself Khlo-CD is f*cking offensive. Being tidy is a needle in a haystack of issues relating to real OCD,” another tweeted.
In Australia, it’s believed two per cent of Australians have OCD. According to SANE, it’s defined as “an anxiety disorder”.
“People living with OCD are troubled by recurring unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses, as well as obsessions and repetitive rituals,” SANE’s definition reads.
Lily Bailey talks to Mamamia about the reality of living with OCD. Post continues after audio.
According to Dr Emily O’Leary, the Director of OCD Clinic Brisbane, it’s hugely problematic for someone with the following of Kardashian to be framing OCD in a context of being “organised”.
“It’s a problem for two reasons,” she tells Mamamia.
“First off, it stereotypes what OCD is and… pigeon-holes people with OCD into people who are neat freaks and people who are tidy and organised. OCD is very broad and has lots of different symptoms.
“The other thing is that it’s really invalidating to people with OCD – saying all it is is liking their pillows in a certain order. The World Health Organisation rates OCD in the top 10 disabilities in the world, but things like this minimise what they’re going through.”