OVD, or Obsessive Valve Disorder, is described as a mental disturbance characterized by an obsession with valves. Individuals with OVD experience intrusive thoughts about valves that cause them anxiety and compel them to take photographs of valves wherever they see them. The document then provides a humorous fictional account of someone developing an obsession with valves after taking a course about industrial valves, jokingly suggesting that OVD may be a real condition and could even be genetic or contagious in nature.

1. OVD (Obsessive Valve Disorder)
During my courses, which are delivered by Petrobras University and other
institutions in Brazil, I always begin working with each new group by explaining
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).
OCD is a mental disorder characterised by the presence of obsessions. These
are involuntary thoughts, impulses or images which invade the consciousness
causing heightened anxiety or discomfort, and obliging the individual to carry
out rituals which are physical acts carried out in response to these obsessions.
In the beginning the students believe that they have entered the wrong room, as
they have enrolled on a course on Valves; only then do I explain the reason for
this introduction. My experience shows that by the end of my courses many
students will have acquired a strange syndrome, which is only now beginning to
be studied by scientists, called OVD - Obsessive Valve Disorder.
OVD, or Obsessive Valve Disorder, is a mental disturbance characterised by
the presence of an obsession with Valves. Valves invade the consciousness of
the individuals affected causing them heightened anxiety, causing the individual
to need to take many photos beside the most diverse models of valves
whenever possible, this photographic record-taking happening even during
holidays, leisure time or moments of reflection, and in the most unexpected of
places which have valves, such as churches, tourist spots, shopping centres,
etc.
XANGAI CHINA YORK ENGLAND

2. COLICO ITALY YANCHENG CHINA
CAGLIARI ITALIA PENZA RUSSIA
This joking in relation to OVD is the result of a very funny article written by a
colleague of mine, Claudia Cabaleiro. The text below was published in the
second edition of my book “Industrial Valves”. In case you suspect that she
may be suffering from OVD, please remember that it is all in jest. Enjoy!
Where is my Valve?
For my friend Osmar,
How could we live until today without paying attention to the details of a
valve? They are found everywhere: their applications range from the culinary –
or we would not have the practicality of pressure cookers – to spaceships,
passing through anatomy, botany and so many other areas. In other words,
everyone has a valve, either in them or near them.
And now that the valve is almost a celebrity, why not collect valves? Imagine a
display cabinet in your sitting room full of miniature valves, which you could then
exhibit with pride to your friends. Or become a great collector of exotic valves,
with strange names such as “cathode ray valves”. What about having a
“thermionic”? I bet you don’t have one…

3. The desire of the valve aficionado, be they small or industrial, is to be near
them, while for the valve maniac, especially those affected by OVD or
Obsessive Valve Disorder, they arrive at their travel destination, and instead of
posing with an internationally recognised monument, like the Eiffel Tower, they
bring home photographs where they appear smiling proudly in front of an
enormous industrial valves, or even better, beside a lovely “extended gate valve
with external actuation”. Isn’t it beautiful?
A device for controlling the passage of fluid through a pipe or duct, especially an
automatic device allowing movement in one direction only. Yes, this is the
generic definition for the word valves given in the Oxford English Dictionary,
however they are so much more than this. This definition lacks feeling. Ask
someone with OVD what a valve is and you will see his little eyes light
up. Before long he will pull from his wallet that photo, all folded and worn, of the
time when he was nothing more than a little boy who dreamt of valves. In the
portrait, taken on the day when he got his first little valve, you will probably see
his father or another family member with OVD. But this is logical, as OVD, in
my view, is genetic.
To love a valve may not be as bizarre as it seems. Neither is it normal. If you
come across someone with OVD, get away from them quickly, before it’s too
late and you find yourself dreaming of having, for example, a mercury arc valve,
even if that is just the start. As well as being genetic, I fear that OVD is also
contagious. The proof of this is that I am here worried by the fact that I don’t
have my own pet valve. I want one too. Where is my valve? I think that I’ll go
for a butterfly valve, they seem sweeter to me.