UNC student turns his OCD into a musical

Gian Gibboney, a UNC senior with a double major in music and psychology, practices piano in Hill Hall. Photo by Daniela Rodriguez

ANCHOR LEAD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – commonly known as OCD – is often depicted in television as the need to clean or organize. But not everyone with OCD has those compulsions. OCD can affect what people think and even the way they walk – not always depicted in the entertainment industry. One UNC student with OCD decided to change that. He wrote a musical to represent others like him. UNC Media Hub’s Ava Pukatch has more.

AVA PUKATCH It’s lunchtime in Chapel Hill and UNC Senior Gian Gibboney walks to Panera Bread stepping on the black asphalt with his left foot. Left, right, left, right, left, right until he reaches a brick sidewalk. Then, he needs to restart with his left foot.

When Gibboney walks from place to place, the pattern of his steps is affected by changes in the pattern of the walking surface. As the pattern changes, he steps with his left foot. “The way OCD compulsions work is that they’re usually tied to some sort of obsession that causes anxiety,” Gibboney said. Photo by Daniela Rodriguez.

GIAN GIBBONEY: If it changes by like texture or color or something then it kind of like resets there.

PUKATCH: Four years ago, If he screwed up his walking pattern he would have gone back and corrected it.

GIBBONEY: I don’t think I would do that now. I think I kind of, I’ve gotten better at not letting the compulsion of it get in the way of me like just continuing on.

PUKATCH: This is a form of OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that Gibboney deals with every day. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, OCD affects about 1 percent of the population. Fear of contamination and perfectionism are two more popularly known types of OCD, but not the only forms. Jonathan Abramowitz, a UNC psychology and neuroscience professor, said people with OCD can have unwanted thoughts that are the opposite of a person’s personality. Another form: responsibility for harm.

JONATHAN ABRAMOWITZ: That nagging doubt, what if I didn’t do enough to you know lock the house up before I left? What if I left the door unlocked? What if I didn’t do enough?

PUKATCH: Abramowitz said those types of OCD aren’t well depicted in the entertainment industry.

Gibboney started playing piano when he was 5. His artistic endeavors continued through high school, where he played keyboard in the pit orchestra and picked up acting for the first time. Photo by Daniela Rodriguez.

ABRAMOWITZ : You see a lot of people, in the media, “I’m so OCD” you know “I wash my hands” or “I like everything neat.” It’s kind of degrading to people who have OCD. It’s not a joke, it’s not something to be made fun of or taken lightly. People who have this, they suffer. This is really distressing to them. It gets in the way.

PUKATCH: Gibboney was also frustrated with that representation ….so he wrote his own. His musical, “Onward, Chef Dominguez!” follows Chef Sofia Dominguez, a Puerto Rican chef battling OCD and aspiring to open her own pastry shop. Her character parallels Gibboney reflecting his own Puerto Rican background and depicting his ritual actions like passing a glass of water so it touches both his hands before he takes a sip. Gibboney wrote OCD as its own character to show how it tricks the brain into thinking it needs to perform these checking habits.

GIBBONEY SUNG: Hi again Sofia, did you forget to lock your door just now? I sense you’re doubting just a bit. Is this something you’re just going to allow? Someone could just come instant, someone could just break in tonight and slice open your neck. So if you don’t want to die, maybe that’s something you should check.

PUKATCH Eloise Williams, a UNC senior, produced the performance. Like Gibboney, Williams copes with OCD every day – calling it a full-time job. She said she felt empowered watching Sofia confront her OCD thoughts.

ELOISE WILLIAMS: I hope that anyone else who’s dealt with it who’s like me going through it experiences, the same thing that I experience watching it which is getting that reminder that you are not powerless. Even though progress is not linear and it’s not perfection, the little victories still matter.

GIBBONEY SUNG: Adelante. Abuela yo sigo adelante. Although this step was just a start I think that I’ll keep going on adelante. Moving onward.

PUKATCH: Gibboney attends therapy to help reduce his OCD symptoms to a manageable level. And just like Chef Dominguez, Gibboney said he feels he can move onward and not be defined by his OCD.

Gibboney reads the script of “Onward, Chef Dominguez!,” his recent musical. Gibboney’s story of life, love and baking follows a pastry chef on her way to the top of the baking world while battling with OCD. Photo by Daniela Rodriguez.

GIBBONEY SUNG: I feel like today I moved onward and somewhere deep down in my heart I think that I can finally move onward. My OCD won’t make things easy but today feels like a new day. Just resisting a single compulsion, made me realize that maybe there’s a way.

In Chapel Hill, I’m Ava Pukatch.