Monday 21 April 2008

Howard Hughes' OCD from The Aviator movie

Starring Leonardo di Caprio as the "eccentric" recluse, Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's 2004 film The Aviator. Dating and hobnobbing with many of Hollywood's most famous leading ladies of the classic era, Hughes was one of the richest and most powerful Americans of his day. Life was blitzed and blighted however by a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) severe enough to keep the man hidden away as a chronic recluse for many, many years... Cate Blanchett co-stars as Katherine Hepburn, the one true love of Hughes's life.

The film also features Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Gwen Stefani as Rita Hayworth and Kelli Garner as Faith Domergue, the ice-cream-eating postwar starlet and Hughes's attempted replacement for the irreplaceable Katherine Hepburn...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a psychiatric condition whose sufferers feel compelled (often through a near-phobic fear of "contamination" repeatedly to wash the hands, count numbers, repeat words, actions or rituals or to perform other tasks... and as stated in the film "if performance of these isntructions varies, even to the smallest degree, the entire procedure must be scrapped and started over"... In its most extreme manifestations, OCD can become a totally debilitating condition, robbing its sufferers of any semblance of a normal life...

For further information click these links:
OCD-UK (leading charity)
OCD factsheet from Bupa private healthcare
OCD-Action (sufferers' charity)
OCD-Action Self-diagnostic Questionnaire...
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Wikipedia)
Personality Types: Obsessive-Compulsive
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (milder but usually lifelong OCD-like behaviours, as described by American psychiatrists ~ diagnostic article)
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (Wikipedia article)


1 comment:

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