Howard Hughes was a business tycoon, aviator, and film director who had a fear of germs that over time evolved into a phobia. With his fear of germs, Howard develops obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which throughout the film plagues his life with problems and challenges. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition in which unwanted obsessions or compulsions are very time consuming and cause a great deal of distress or impair daily functioning (Weis, 2013). This is very much true in the sense of Howard’s condition. The film begins with young Howard standing over what seems to be a small copper bath tub. His mother approaches him and the shot is focused on her hands as she takes out a bar of soap from a small tin box. …show more content…
There’s a scene where his mother’s tin box that carried the soap is used. It’s a special scene because it brings together the symbolism of his mother’s impact on him while he’s having a compulsion. Juan Trippe (a business rival) approaches Howard, Jack Frye (business associate), and their dates. After some conversing takes place, Howard ends up giving away their (TWA) entire post war strategy. This causes great stress for Jack. Jack lashes out on Howard and that results in Howard having to excuse himself from the table. An article from About Health written by Owen Kelly, PhD states, “If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you likely know that stress is a major trigger of OCD symptoms” (Kelly, 2016). The stress Howard experienced from giving away sensitive information to a business rival triggers Howard’s compulsion and he makes his way to the restroom to wash his hands. Whilst in the restroom, Howard pulls out the same small tin box that his mother used in the opening scene. Inside the tin box is a bar of soap and he then proceeds to washing his hands so vigorously that he cuts his right index finger. Once his hands are washed, he notices a small stain on his shirt and is forced to wash it out. When that’s over, he uses the last towel to dry off his shirt. As he makes his way towards the door, he notices that he’ll have …show more content…
235). Compulsions “are usually performed in a highly rigid and stereotyped manner, often according to idiosyncratic rules.” (Weis, 2013) Howard repeats himself because he wants that sentence to come out his mouth in a perfect way so he can get that sense of peace from satisfying that compulsion. If Howard would have just ignored it, it would not have not him any good because ignoring or trying to suppress obsessions tends to increase anxiety and subjective distress (Weis, 2013). However, “compulsion feeds the obsession rather than satisfying it” (Stellwagen, 2016). Because he has this compulsion of having to repeat himself, he is driven to keep doing it until the sentence comes out and feels perfect. Because Howard has been pushed over the tipping point, in order to reduce his feelings of distress, he engages in compulsions (Weis, 2013). Howard suffered from another compulsion when he had a melt-down in his theater room. While he’s in the theater room, Howard is reciting some instructions to some process and says at one point that if there is any variation at all in any of the instructions, that the entire process is to be repeated from the beginning. There are multiple scene’s during this part of the film where whilst having a meltdown, Howard is
In this book, one boy spends six hours a day washing himself- he suffers from the fact that he will never be clean. This woman continuously checks her stove hundreds of times a day to make sure she turned it off. Another woman in the effort to make sure that her eye brows are even she was eventually pulls out all her hair. There are other characters such as Paul, Arnie, and Morris. These people suffer from a common sickness called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This book is basically a go to guide to finding treatments, as well as lists of resources and references to treating OCD. This book brings the disorder to public attention, describing its symptoms and suggesting routes toward treatment. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder that’s caused by thoughts that also causes fear and or worry. By repeating the compulsion it causes the persons fear to lesson. In my opinion I feel as if this book is a great book it gives you true life
What is OCD? OCD stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a psychological disorder that makes an individual have a great deal of anxiety due to unwanted thoughts. The individual will try to reduce it by engaging in repetitive behaviors or compulsions. OCD is a part of an individual’s everyday life, so it is natural to have some obsessive thoughts. However, when it interferes with your every day lifestyle, then the individual knows that it’s a disorder. An example of the most common OCD that someone may encounter are contamination, accidental harm to others, perfection when it comes to washing, cleaning, or arrangement of things. Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms can change over time. It is most common
Melvin Udall suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Melvin sticks to the same routine every day in order to not upset himself, if one thing goes wrong in that daily routine, Melvin’s entire day seems to be ruined to the point where he cannot function well. Melvin is afraid of the germs that are all around him. He does not enjoy being touched in any way, or by anyone, whether it is a stranger walking down the street or a friend, of which Melvin does not have many. Melvin always enters his house and turns around to lock the door, which he counts as he does, turning the lock five times before he is certain that he will avoid any danger that might come if he does not fulfill these rituals; he has the same
“OCD: The War inside” was a YouTube documentary exploring the lives of five individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Tricia was an adolescent, living at home with her parents, and she described her OCD symptoms as “until it feels tight.” Tricia obsessions were related to germs obsessions (Washing OCD Subtype). As a child, Tricia describes her symptoms as washing hands, aligning books, re reading books and calculated numbers in her head. Also, when water touches her clothes she felt contaminated. Her dad described that Tricia avoided touching doorknobs in public places and would to tie her shoe or stop walking until someone opens the doors. Her rituals were rewashing and separating clothes by germs, washing hands and showering
This essay will introduce some similarities and differences between both symptoms and experiences of six different authors who have been personally affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Since OCD is not very well understood by many members of the public ("Escape"), I hope that the experiences of the authors that I researched will be able to paint a vivid picture of what life with OCD is like.
The following is an overview about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), one of the most difficult psychiatric illness to be understood. The way of doing certain behaviors, thoughts or routines repeatedly is the essential condition of a person with OCD. In general, it is known and described by someone who is extremely perfectionist and meticulous. Unfortunately, they do realize those habits and be able to stop doing it. Common behaviors are such as checking locks, doors, stove bottoms, and lights, hand washing, counting things, or having recurrent intrusive thoughts of hurting oneself or somebody else.
About 60% of obsessive-compulsive disorder patients have multiple obsessions. Not only does Melvin display behaviors associated with his fear of contamination, but also he presents compulsions under the symmetry/exactness/”just right” symptom subtype. This subtype deals specifically with the need for symmetry, in which things are put in a certain order and rituals are repeated. Melvin has very specific expectations of order in his daily routine. Every
The anxiety (nervousness) of this disorder causes the individual to feel the urgent need to perform certain routines or rituals (compulsion) (Chakraburtty, 2009). For example, a person who has an unreasonable germ fear constantly washes their hands (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent or make the obsessive thoughts go away (Chakraburtty, 2009). The rituals that are performed are temporarily the person will perform the rituals again once his or her obsessive thoughts return (Chakraburtty, 2009).
Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable belief that one has a terrible illness, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly, are common. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated--I must wash them"; "I may have left the gas on"; or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts are intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Often the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness.
Obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder described by irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive tasks (compulsions) (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder, 2013). When a person has obsessive-compulsive disorder, they may realize that their obsessions aren't accurate, and they may try to overlook them but that only increases their suffering and worry. Eventually, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to ease your stressful feelings. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is often driven by a reason, cause, or fear for example, a fear of germs. To calm the feeling of this fear, a person may compulsively wash their hands until they're sore and chapped. Despite their efforts, thoughts of obsessive-compulsive behavior keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior and a brutal cycle of obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder, and is diagnosed nearly as often as asthma and diabetes (Who We Are, 2012). In the United States, one in 50 adults suffers from OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder affects children, adolescents, and adults. About one third to one half of adults with OCD report a childhood onset of the disorder, they felt these anxieties but were not diagnosed or felt no need to be diagnosed until the compulsions over whelmed them (Who We Are, 2012). The phrase obsessive compulsive has been used to describe excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated person. While
Marvin Udall displays typical behaviors that many functioning obsessive compulsives have in common. Mr. Udall has obsessions which are, “persistent thoughts, urges that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted, whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession (American Psychiatric Association., 2013).” Very early in the film we see Mr. Udall struggles with contamination-related obsessions and participates in ritualistic activities which serve to lessen his obsessional anxiety. We see him engage in hand washing rituals with extremely hot water and several bars of soap which is only intrusive to him, to later in the film where he must take a shower before dinner and has the character Carol waiting on him for what seemed like hours. Mr. Udall has a ritual to eat at a certain restaurant everyday for breakfast, where he also must bring his own plastic silverware for fear of germs.
In the YouTube clip “Howie Mandel Talks About Living With OCD”, Howie Mandel showed different types of symptoms for OCD (Mandel, 2009). Mandel would not touch a door handle directly; instead, he used his shirt when opening a door. Mandel said that he does not go near handrails, just like Mandel would not touch the handles directly. Mandel would not eat the food if it were from a buffet, because other people have touched the handles. One of Mandel’s signature move is the fist bomb, however, his signature fist bomb is to avoid touching other peoples palms directly. Another thing was Mandel’s dressing room; his entire make up had to be brand new and organized on his desk to avoid germs. Mandel’s baldhead was a choice, since it felt cleaner to him. When Mandel dropped the anxiety pill on the floor he would not pick it up or take it even though he did not have another pill available – he would rather go without his medicine
“In people with (OCD) obsessive- compulsive disorder, there is an excessive need for orderliness and attention to detail, perfectionism, as well as overly rigid ways of relating to others (Nevid and Rathus 293).” Martin is a very demanding individual and has an obsession to have everything in order. For examples, towels have to be evenly spaced with the same length on the towel rack and canned foods have to face label forward, as well as neatly stacked in the cabinet. Martin’s overall main crisis is his obsession with his wife, Laura, is he cannot live without her and he won’t let her live without him. He
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder that causes someone to have unwanted and troubling thoughts and repetitive behaviors (Lack, 2012). People may self-diagnose themselves to be obsessive compulsive. But people with obsessive compulsive disorder need to spend at least 1 hour daily on obsessive thoughts and rituals (Ellyson, 2014). This disorder is broken into two parts. The first part is obsessions, thoughts or images, and the second part is compulsions, the repetitive behaviors caused by the obsessions (Brakoulias, 2015). An example of obsessive compulsive disorder would be someone checking the locked door multiple times to reduce anxiety about forgetting to lock the door. On average 5% of the population has subclinical symptoms which are considered to be symptoms that are not disruptive enough to meet criteria to be diagnosed obsessive compulsive (Lack, 2012). Dropping what you’re doing to go back and check if your curling iron is unplugged is an example of a subclinical symptom. This paper will discuss what obsessive compulsive disorder is and provide a brief history. It will also include current treatments, suggestions on how to treat the disorder, and a summary.
Obsessive compulsive disorder also known as OCD, is an anxiety disorder. People who have this disorder have repetitive thoughts and behaviors that they cannot control. A chemical imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin throws off communication in the brain. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (2015), it can also cause impulses that manifest through obsessions, ideas, and images. The next part of this disorder is compulsions. These are the behaviors that people who have this disorder perform in order to get rid of the uncontrollable thoughts and feelings.