Charles Dickens was a control freak who displayed many of the symptoms of mild obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), says a new biography.

    The book says, Dickens developed a ritualistic routine in his domestic life, together with an obsessive approach to work, which is consistent with the disorder and can be seen reflected in some of his characters.
    In Dickens’s case the disorder manifested itself in his habit of rearranging furniture whenever he stayed in a hotel room and inspecting his children’s bedrooms every morning, leaving behind notes when he was not satisfied with their tidiness.
    Michael Slater, of Birkbeck college, London, and author of, ‘Charles Dickens’, said his behaviour could be traced to his childhood when poverty for-ced his family to move home repeatedly. Dickens had to work in a blacking factory to help provide for his family.
    Slater said, “The disorder of his upbringing may have had the effect on him of wanting to be in control.” He added that Little Dorrit, the main character in Dickens’s novel of the same name, reflected his character. Slater said there were also signs of OCD in the semi-autobiographical David Copperfield. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON