Howard Hughes

There is no doubt that Howard Hughes was one of the most influential people in the worlds of aviation and movies. However, he was always seen as an enigma if not "crazy" to those who knew him best. Obviously during the time of his life, mental illnesses were difficult to understand and psychology was just in its infancy stages. If Hughes was not a wealthy and highly intelligent man, his life may have turned out quite differently. During that time people with these behaviors were often hidden from society from shame of their families or placed in mental institutions to be forgotten. Since there has never been a psychological profile done on Mr. Hughes while he was alive, we are left to fill in the blanks of his life using hearsay and his own written accounts to make a diagnosis. Hughes was an only child whose mother doted on him and expressed rather excessive concern over his health. Here we see the early seeds of paranoia about germs that eventually became so extreme that he would not leave his own personal rooms for months at a time. We also see that Hughes was fanatic about washing his hands and touching other people. Hughes was also described as a loner. It is easy to see how he might be suffering from avoidant behavior. He coped with his anxiety of meeting new people and social pressures by using the excuse of mental illness. Even as a youth he would avoid camp by complaining about headaches and bad dreams. It is also stated that his mother would exacerbate these problems by her own fears of illness. Eventually Hughes was left on his own after the death of his parents two years apart. He was an extremely intelligent man who did have a lot of charm that drew many people towards him especially the young and beautiful women of Hollywood. He was also quite the daredevil taking risks with planes that he could have easily paid other people to do for him. With everything that was going on in his life, it is easy to see how Hughes also suffered from extreme anxiety, but the most compelling aspect of his life is his repetitious behavior and need for things to be a certain way. His obsessive compulsive behavior is most evident during times in his life where he faces the most stress or emotional experiences. It is also stated that he could have suffered from drug addiction in his later years. Of all his possible diagnosis, it is apparent that the main problem here is obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mr. Hughes shows the recurrent obsessions and uncontrollable compulsions that interfere with his daily functioning (Lebow, 2006). These repetitive behaviors are actually used to help reduce anxiety during times of high stress (Lebow, 2006). There are many different types of options that can be used to help treat OCD. At this time there is no "cure" for the illness, but it can be managed. It has been stated that many times family therapists have tried to avoid the use of medication as part of their treatment plans (Patterson & Magulac, 1994). However, as time as progressed, it is important to note that many therapists are now seeing the benefits of having patients use medications to help with their therapy and not in place of (Patterson & Magulac, 1994). A therapist may decide to work with a psychiatrist or other will be able to prescribe a medication that will help to subside the symptoms of OCD. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) relieve the symptoms of OCD in many patients. With the medication, the nerve cells can communicate with each other in the presence of an adequate amount of a chemical that is normally low in patients with OCD. This improved nerve cell communication helps to relieve the symptoms of OCD (Cottraux, Mollard, Bouvard, Marks, Sluys, Nury, Douge, Cialdella (1998). According to Steketee (2003), the most studied and used drug is clomipramine which when used in conjunction with therapy offer the client an increased success rate. Along with the use of medication there is also psychological treatment for those suffering from OCD. Psychological therapy for OCD is recognized by both researchers and healthcare providers as effective treatments for reducing the frequency and intensity of symptoms of OCD. Although there are a variety of behavioral therapies for treating OCD, almost all focus on exposing you to those things that you fear most such as contamination or the troubling content of an obsessional thought. This exposure provides you with an opportunity to gain new information in hopes of disconfirming your worst fears (Steketee, 2003). One of the most popular and effective forms of behavior therapy for OCD is exposure and response prevention or ERP (Steketee, 2003). ERP involves exposing you to the anxiety that is provoked by your obsessions and then preventing the use of rituals to reduce your anxiety (Steketee, 2003). This cycle of exposure and response prevention is repeated until you are no longer troubled by your obsessions and/or compulsions. Although behavior therapy is highly effective for about two-thirds of people who complete treatment, there are drawbacks: A client is going to have to face their worst fears and may drop out before treatment is completed and there is required homework in between sessions (Steketee, 2003). Cognitive therapy for OCD is based on the idea that distorted thoughts or cognitions cause and maintain harmful obsessions