Nikki peeing/soiling herself as a trauma response
I saw Obsession last night and have not been able to stop thinking about it, and there’s one part that stuck out to me that I haven’t seen many people talking about. Also, for context, I have a bachelors degree in psychology and I’m currently in a clinical mental health counseling masters program.
When Bear leaves and Nikki stands all day waiting for him, he comes home to find that she’s covered in pee, feces, and vomit. The most common take I’ve seen on this is that she only lives to meet Bear’s wants, so she essentially doesn’t exist when he isn’t around. This makes sense, but I have another opinion that I haven’t really seen others talking about. When people are being abused, especially sexual abuse, a very common trauma response is to urinate or defecate on oneself. This often isn’t a conscious decision (but sometimes is) and is the brain and body’s way to make oneself “undesirable” as a protection against abuse. In other words, if I’m covered in pee and poop, my abuser won’t want to touch me. This context feels extremely relevant to this scene with Nikki, and it made me feel like “real” Nikki was trying to take control in this moment. Especially from the perspective that “real” Nikki was aware and conscious most of the time, and “freaky” Nikki may have been less in control in this moment just because Bear wasn’t around. Would love to hear others thoughts on this!!