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The Aviator Mental Illness

453 Words2 Pages

In the movie The Aviator, the character Howard Hughes is played by Leonardo Decaprio. He created movies for and owned the producing company R.K.O. Pictures and he designed and promoted new aircraft. Hughes did struggle with a disorder that made him to outlandish thoughts and task. In this essay, I will provide a comprehensive diagnosis for the character, I will discuss etiological theories, I will examine the positive and negatives the film shows regarding this disorder, and I will give research about this specific disorder.

Howard Hughes has the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD. To diagnosis OCD, many doctors do a psychological examination. To do this they try to understand the patients' thoughts, feelings, symptoms, and behaviors by talking with the patient and their families. Another thing they would conduct would be a blood test to look at the blood cell count, thyroid problems, and alcohol and drug abuse. However, in the movie this did not occur although you could clearly tell by the Hughes symptoms. The symptoms of OCD can be obsessive, …show more content…

Unwanted, persistent, and continuous thoughts are one symptom. This occurred with the character in The Aviator, when Hughes orders the same meal every time in restaurants. This is just the tip of the iceberg because symptoms get worse when stress arises. Unexpected urges or pictures occur in the brain. For Hughes, is urged to wash his hands whenever he touches an object that he defines as germy. Not only does he have to wash his hands, but he carries around a bar of soap and must wash them the way he believes gets them the cleanest. Another symptom being ritualistic or repetitive actions to get rid of the thoughts. The character builds complex and detailed routines that must be followed exactly, repeating words and phrases

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