Letter from chicago: compulsion.

About a quarter of a century ago I failed psychiatry because of my imperfect understanding of the obsessive-compulsive disorders. I had not grasped the difference between compulsions and obsessions, the professor pointed out from behind his big desk; and I had written that these disorders were rare when in fact they were exceedingly common. So I spent the summer clarifying these points in my mind, which is the last time I ever thought about them. Nor have I ever seen a case since, which shows how much the professor knew, unless one were to include my proclivity to walk half a block back to the car to make sure that the headlights are switched off. But now it turns out that my