When OCD has finally taken us over - the story of Howard Hughes

At times, I wonder how it'd be like living with OCD at its worst, without help of the now-existing medication and counselling available from healthcare professionals. I found the answer today in Howard Hughes' life.

A total genius, who created various world records and set history to its new course in aviation, engineering and movie making - his OCD condition worsened throughout the years, eventually taking total control of him.

He eventually went into total isolation for 20 years to the end of his life - away from people, in fear of germs, physical contacts, and having even developed fear of flies from one point in time.

He would urinate and dispose of his waste in milk bottles all lined up in certain way; re-arrange his stuffs in his room repetitively; and organise sections into germ-free zones.

His servants were given elaborate details on how to handle his things that he would be touching or use, like cutleries and soap. He would stay inside his room and not coming out for months; with his hair, beard and nails all untaken care of.

At his death, he was so unrecognizable to the extent the FBI had to resort to fingerprints to identify his body.
His tall structure (193 cm) had then weighed 41 kg, nails grossly long, with hair and beard extremely unkempt. Doctors who examined his body, found that he was severely malnutritioned, with kidneys failed, and broken needles (he did drugs for very long to cure his pains from various plane crashes he had) still within his arms.

My personal take on this

Had he be destined by the Lord to live in a more future time, he would have priviledge to access medications and services available to help him counter his condition. Stuffs like Prozac, a would have been huge-reliever for him, had only surfaced in the market in the late 80s; a decade more after his death in 1976.

Can't begin to describe how fortunate those of us who live with this condition at this present time. Life would have been literally a living hell, had us lived in the past, and gotten this illness.