How to Slay a Jabberwock: An Alice-Informed Tale of OCD

"The Jabberwocky is a literal nonsense."

Within the tales of Alice in Wonderland and especially Through the Looking-Glass, there is a reference to the Jabberwock (Carroll, 1909;1893). In literature, the Jabberwocky is a nonsense poem. While parts follow, pieces do not. A loose image of a creature is painted, but the image is fuzzy. What the Jabberwock represents is a topic of debate.

Some have called it a metaphor for the nonsense and deep spirals we often find ourselves in. As Alice gains strength in herself, she slowly realizes her dream and ultimately succeeds in slaying the Jabberwock.

As a therapist, this story resonates. I've often followed clients down rabbit holes of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. For people living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and specific presentations of anxiety, these rabbit holes take on a particular flavor where uncertainty becomes magnified and feels intolerable. In inference-based cognitive therapy, this is called inferential confusion (Aardema et al., 2010).

Inferential confusion can be described as the moment when the inferences we make in everyday life feel unreliable. We make inferences all the time. My roof could collapse, but I'm 99% sure it won't today, so I guess that it won't. I'm sure enough it won't fall that I'm not checking for weak spots or on edge awaiting my demise. When inferential confusion comes in, that "sure enough" doesn't exist.

Inferential confusion can lead a person into the mother of all rabbit holes built of obsessive doubts, rumination, and rituals. In the case of OCD, there is often a theme. A person feels "sure enough" in their reasoning in most matters. Yet, when faced with a certain theme, such as matters involved in ethical decisions, health, illness, or cleanliness, that certainty breaks down. In some cases of anxiety disorders, similar patterns are present. The Jabberwock emerges.

The Jabberwock threatens our trust in our perceptions.

In inference-based cognitive therapy (I-CBT), a therapy with mounting evidence for its effectiveness in OCD (Aardema et al., 2022), individuals are equipped with strategies to build self-trust and recognize the many faces of the Jabberwock. Through this journey, the individual is empowered, in a way, to recognize and slay their Jabberwock. This is a novel treatment for OCD, which has traditionally focused on tolerating uncertainty, yet I-CBT offers an alternative. Rather than saying I can't know about my doubt and that's ok, the message is I can be sure enough and my perceptions can be trusted.

Whether through I-CBT or otherwise, the pathways to recovery in OCD and other anxieties represent a rediscovery of one's authority in one's own life to take steps toward valued goals rather than allow the condition to boss one into a corner. That's something to be celebrated.