About
OCD Otter is an advice animal image macro series featuring the face of a sea otter (Enhydra lutris) in front of a green color wheel background. The captions typically include humorous descriptions of obsessive-compulsive behaviors and reactions.
Origin
According to Google[2] cached search results, a Meme Generator page for “OCD Otter” was created as early as May 13th, 2010. The earliest instance shown on the sitefeatures the caption “Teacher erases whiteboard / asks to get up and erase the pieces she missed” (shown below, left). The original photo of the southern sea otter (shown below, right) was taken by photographer Ron Wolf of Tom Stack & Associates Inc.[12]
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder[13] (OCD) is a type of psychiatric disorder commonly associated with anxiety that causes a variety of repetitive behaviors and obsessions. Symptoms of the disorder include hoarding, excessive hand-washing, compulsive checking and nervous rituals that can become time-consuming and seem strange to both the sufferer and others.
Spread
On June 5th, 2010, FunnyJunk[3] user GreenTyphlosian submitted a compilation of OCD Otter image macros. On August 26th, the “OCD Otter” Tumblr[4] blog was launched, which posted over 35 images in the next six months. On December 12th, Redditor Cheesyfinger submitted an image macro titled “OCD Otter on Pockets” to the /r/AdviceAnimals[9] subreddit, featuring the caption “Touch each pocket before I go anywhere / Should probably touch them again just in case” (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post received over 300 up votes and 15 comments.
On June 20th, 2011, the Internet culture blog The Bigster[7] published a post titled “The best of OCD Ottter,” which featured a compilation of 26 notable examples from the series. On January 4th, 2012, a Facebook[8] page titled “OCDOtter” was created. In the following months, two single topic blogs dedicated to OCD Otter were launched, the “Obsessive Compulsive Otter” Tumblr[5] on May 16th, followed by the “Fuck Yeah OCD Otter” Tumblr[6] on September 10th. On December 24th, Redditor DeLiri0us submitted an image macro titled “OCD Otter Knows What’s Up” to the /r/AdviceAnimals[11] subreddit, which featured the caption “Tie one shoe / Must re-tie other one so they feel even” (shown below). Within three days, the post received over 5,600 up votes and 110 comments.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[3]FunnyJunk – OCD Otter Compilation
[5]Tumblr – Obsessive Compulsive Otter
[6]Tumblr – Fuck Yeah OCD Otter
[7]The Bigster – The best of OCD Otter
[9]Reddit – OCD Otter on Pockets
[10]Reddit – The only meme I could ever relate to
[11]Reddit – OCD Otter Knows What’s Up
[12]Tom Stack Associates – Tom Stack Associates Inc
[13]Wikipedia – Obsessive-compulsive disorder