Although Finding Nemo (2003) is a fun and familiar children's animated film, it has deep layers of mental illness embedded in the film that viewers tend to miss. The first character to be introduced is Dory, a Pacific bluefish who suffers from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Throughout the film, Dory is easily distracted and often forgets many important details. He explains that he also has a short-term memory where he always forgets what he is doing, where he is going and people's names. Dory plays this when she comes across a frantically swimming clownfish named Marlin. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayMarlin, Nemo's father, suffers from PTSD (PTSD) and anxiety disorder, specifically separation anxiety resulting from the loss of his wife and children being attacked by a Barracuda shark. Because of this incident, he is very overprotective of his only son, Nemo, because he is afraid of losing him. Separation anxiety is shown when Marlin finally takes Nemo to his first day of school after many attempts to take Nemo to school for his first day. Marlin suffers from separation anxiety from his son due to the fear that something bad will happen to Nemo. However, when Nemo is captured on a school trip by divers, it causes Marlin to feel feelings of fear, anxiety, and helplessness stemming from the trauma he experienced years earlier. As she frantically tries to chase down her son's kidnappers, she faces the fear and anxiety of the open ocean to save her son. Another disorder depicted is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) shown through the characters, Jacques and Gurgle, located in a fish. tank in a dentist's office. Jacques, a cleaner shrimp, and Gurgle, a royal gamma fish, both fear germs and contamination, so they obsess about cleaning the tank. Both characters are seen cleaning constantly, and their mess is shown when they quickly clean Nemo shortly after Nemo's arrival to rid the ocean of germs Nemo may have brought into the tub. Although many characters may meet DSM-5 criteria for many different disorders, we are focusing on Jacques and Gurgle. Both of their mental illnesses were most likely developed from trauma before living in the aquarium or during their stay with the other fish living inside the aquarium who have other mental illnesses such as Dissociative Identity Disorder (Deb) , PTSD (Gill) and neurosis (Bubbles). Their anxiety turns into germaphobia which leads to OCD having to clean to decrease anxiety (negative reinforcement). Obsession is identified with germs, while cleanliness is the compulsion implemented. The book defines OCD as “recurrent and persistent” applying to the intermittent nature of the disorder present in Jacques and Gurgle's daily lives. According to the DSM-5, all criteria are met for the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. For which those criteria are met, they include recurrent and persistent thoughts and impulses, repetitive behaviors such as cleaning in response to the obsession. The compulsions are carried out by Jacques and Gurgle because they feel they have to do so to prevent a feared event from happening. These ritualistic actions and feelings clearly indicate the presence of OCD. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Overall, this movie has.