# Did Howard Huges have DP/DR?



## nayashi (Sep 4, 2004)

Hey guys, I just went and saw The Aviator yesterday, and there was a line in it when Howard Huges said to Kate Hepburn in which he said, "Sometimes I get these crazy thoughts. Sometimes I get these crazy thoughts that things aren't really there. That they're all just in my head. I sometimes I really think I'm losing my mind."

I was just wondering what you thought about this.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2005)

possibly, i know he spent a large portion of his life indoors never going outside, and i heard on the history channel that he was addicted to pain killers


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## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

well, if one believes that dp is anxiety based, it really broadens the spectrum of who suffers from symptoms like this. Aviator was quite a good flic.

s.


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## jft (Jan 10, 2005)

I remember reading that it was surmized that he was severe OCD, with germ contamination being huge for him and that is why he was a recluse. He wore gloves all the time etc. I don't know if he ever had a diagnosis or if this was jsut peoples thoughts on him , but that is what I read and saw on tele.
jft


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2005)

billy joe from green day seriously does have dr/dp panic dosorder and "basket case" was written about it.


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2005)

I just went and saw it. Terrific film...

BUT!

I have to say, if you are feeling really down, be a little careful about going to see it. His mental illness is portrayed very effectively and it might make some of you a little uncomfortable.


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

I remember this being posted a while back, just saw the film tonight.

To be honest I found it terribly tedious, but didn't expect a rather good portrayal of what was clearly OCD. And being old 8) -- 46, I am familiar a bit with the life of Howard Hughes.

What is fascinating about Hughes is not only did he have contamination fears, which forced him to compulsively wash his hands, get obsessed with perfection in everything -- details, he also seemed to be paranoid. There was more there than just OCD.

Mental illness doesn't have to be one disorder sadly.

Also, his repetition of sentences, "We must have the blueprints" or "The wave of the future" -- that was very sad was reminiscent of Tourette's syndrome which is associated with OCD.

As sebastian said, OCD is an anxiety disorder (and Hughes obviously was anxious/uncomfortable) but there is nothing in the film that indicated he experienced DP/DR. When he spoke of those "strange thoughts" I believe he was referring to the odd thoughts that make no sense in OCD which dogged him... not voices... but thoughts which then made him overly concerned with germs/contamination and hence he washed his hands until he bled.

When he has the terrible breakdown in his home theatre, saving his own urine in bottles (that is true -- I recall reading about that.) That starts crossing the line into... I don't know what.

There was some implication (is that the word?) that this started with his mother. I don't know if that was put in for drama or not.

My belief is that OCD OC DISORDER not just obsessing is indeed an illness, a medical disorder. It can be more or less serious.

There are obsessions -- intrusive illogical thoughts which cause anxiety
There are rituals -- such as the handwashing which can "relieve" the anxiety
But it is a vicious cycle.
And the contamination OCD is only one of several variations.

I found it to be one of the first REALLY REAL portrayals of A mental illness. Hollywood may be catching on. "A Beautiful Mind" had good and bad sequences, but was all over the place (vicious movie critic)... Aviator was far more consistent in re: the illness. OCD is much easier to portray though I guess than psychosis, but again Hughes' actions as he got sicker certainly bordered on psychosis, and in his last years, he was indeed a complete recluse, completely disabled by his illness.

That plane crash scene was certainly amazing though. Hope I'm not giving anything away. :shock:

Interesting film, but not worth $8.50, drink $2.50, hotdog (I know, I know, I was hungry) $3.00!!!!!

The balcony is closed 8) 
D


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

Ah, and I do have personal experience w/OCD.

My father, my husband, a close friend who took her life recently (not to scare anyone, she was also very depressed) all are/were hoarder-clutterers.

A friend of mine has OCD of a religious nature. She would also go into panic which culminated in DP/DR. Once treated with Prozac or Zoloft (now for many years) and having CBT she is doing much better. In her case treating the OCD eliminated the DP/DR.

My father and my husband to the best of my knowledge, as well as my friend did not experience DP/DR.

Again, DP/DR can be experienced with most if not all the mental illnesses. I can't say it is a "symptom" -- I'm starting to say, "It tags along, the nasty thing, and sometimes responds to the treatment of the primary illness, or doesn't, or fades."

I have noticed that with time, meds, therapy of various sorts my chronic DP/DR is currently less troubling.

The concept of the mask? For me, it has been not "being myself" in the sense of not speaking my mind. I was brought up to not acknowledge my feelings, my mother was very verbally abusive. I was to keep my feelings and things about my family "secret."

In coming out of the closet so to speak, I see a release of anxiety, and a lessening of the overall power of the DP/DR.

But I still say, one day at a time.

And yes, The Aviator will give you a pretty good picture of OCD. Obsessing over things, is not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. That is well portrayed, and abundantly clear in the film.

OK, now the balcony is closed. 8)


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2005)

I was diagnosed with OCD (and bipolar disorder--never DP/DR, though...) And I have obsessions, I'm obsessed with details and at times compulsively check things. I am also something of a hoarder but I'm working on it. I don't wash my hands or anything like that but I seem to repeat myself and have a lot of nervous tics, like berating myself aloud when I'm alone. I feel compelled to.


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

Privateer said:


> I was diagnosed with OCD (and bipolar disorder--never DP/DR, though...) And I have obsessions, I'm obsessed with details and at times compulsively check things. I am also something of a hoarder but I'm working on it. I don't wash my hands or anything like that but I seem to repeat myself and have a lot of nervous tics, like berating myself aloud when I'm alone. I feel compelled to.


Dear Privateer,
I'm sorry to hear you have all of this to deal with. Yup, everyone is unique, and I know with myself, one diagnosis doesn't cover all of my problems. As a young girl I had some very perfectionistic qualities, OCD like, rituals of sorts, but I have managed to stop them over the years. I'm also on meds, so who knows that may have helped.

Yes, the nervous tics, berating yourself aloud -- that was in the film, Hughes would cough or clear his throat. I read somewhere, and now can't recall the details, but this tic related activity is indeed believed to be on the spectrum of Tourettes, but is not Tourettes.

Here's to your feeling better.
Take Care,
D


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2005)

I suppose I seem normal most of the time, but some of my problems might have something to do with the fact that I'm really not all that comfortable in my own skin.


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## person3 (Aug 10, 2004)

Good for you Dreamer!

It's still very hard for me too and oddly enough I mask it by being so outgoing and aggressive that no one would THINK that I'm holding any wish or opinion back. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, like asking for a present...then it's just like...crazy...I dunno. I was shopping with my mom the other day and felt all guilty b/c I didn't want to ask how much she could spend. I didn't want to ask for anything. Weird like that.

So I still have my stuff.

But sometimes in my outgoing mask I also bring wishes through that way, and it makes it to where i can get a LOT of those things out in the world. Sometimes I have to have a drink or a smoke before I ask for what I want or admit something but hey, if it calms me enough to really start talking,t hen great!

also it gets easier. Once the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, it's like all the other things just kind of spill out as well and soon you're telling family secrets on the internet and letting your family read them! 

BTW I've dealt with CRIPPLING OCD before, right before my breakdown...and the years before. April 13, 2001 (friday the 13th) i had the option of driving back to tulsa to see family, but i decided since it was an unlucky day i shouldn't do anything, and I especially shouldn't eat or I would be doomed to be massively fat. All my obsessing got me into a car crash.

And I punished myself afterwords by obsessing MORE, by not eating and by not leaving the grounds of my apt complex for one day. I would liteally walk to the edge of the gate, and since i didn't have any more diet soda I didn't know how to ask my roommate to get me some b/c she would know something weird was up. I could have walked to the store.

I can't believe it all.

But yeah, fear...wanting to control the world. Ironic the one OCD free time of my life was in the year before this breakdown. up until six months before the breakdown when I actually asked myself "are you really going to throw all logic out the window just to be able to control your eating?" and I was so mad at the fallout with Ayn Rand (whose books, ironically, had freed me from OCD for a while!) that I said yes. I was so mad at that part of myself that I became more OCD than ever. Really weird. But up until that six months window I spent a year with the most incredible freedom in my life. Yes still some different ocd stuff. but oh my god. I had never been so clear in the head. I could sit still and I could read books. it was absolutely incredible.


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