So I saw 'The Aviator' last week for the first time
 

Howard Hughes was one screwed up dude. OCD of epic proportions.

It was fun seeing the portrayal of movie stars of the time, esp Katherine Hepburn & Ava Gardner. It was amazing that Gardner stuck with him(or around him) for all that time, esp when he was so hard to be around(I mean this in a very literal sense).

Of course when you're that rich people put up with a lot of your personal foibles.


It was hard to watch sometimes, especially the scenes which focused on his OCD(like in the restaurant bathroom when he scrubbed his hands in the sink so much that they bled).

The Congressional Hearing scenes were very cool as well as the many airplane scenes. A very, very well done movie.

Is it better than Monk?

Beats me; I don't watch Monk.

funn thing is I don't either.

I enjoyed it too.

I know a little about OCD and the movie was a pretty accurate portrayal. It is pretty tough to deal with. If he were alive today, he would have far greater resources with which to combat it.

OCD
 

I have an uncle who has suffered from severe OCD for a long time (he is in his 50's) and had it for so long before the drugs became available that the behaviors couldn't be undone. He gets a little relief from them (when he takes them) but not a ton.

In some ways he is highly functional (for example he is superb at making money), but in other ways it awful. It has made it almost impossible for him to have relationships, even with family, and he is unable to go to church though he would like to. Such large areas of th United States are "contaminated" for him that he has to travel to South America and Asia just to be in places where he feels comfortable. He realizes it is irrational but that doesn't change what it does to him.

I do not understand the purpose behind some of the tests that people have to endure in this life, but this is a particularly cruel one. I don't know, but my suspicion is that he falls into the category of people who's test is simply to "endure to the end."

Re: OCD
 

Well said, UD. I feel that way quite a lot in my work with clients. A particular population that experiences a ton of distress and difficulty is the GLBT popluation at BYU and within the LDS church in general. I've become convinced that when it comes time to assign 'mansions in Heaven' that theirs will be some of the largest, just for making it through while wrestling with such a difficult issue.

But maybe that's a discussion for the 'religion' page. :)

Did you actually sit through that whole movie?
 

Man, that is one LONG movie...it seemed like about 5 hours, and it would have seemed like about 10, had I not fast forwarded past the slow parts. It was a decent flick overall, but certainly nothing special.

i myself....
 

wasnt impressed.....

i hated the ending. it bothered me.

Re: OCD
 

I still sometimes wonder the purpose behind some of these things that people go through, but I guess I have a little perspective on this as well. I actually suffered through some pretty severe depression for most of my life that I was unwilling to get help with. I finally got some help about 4 years ago and was able to control it through medication and counseling enough that it is no longer a problem in my life and no longer need medication.

I was always angry about it when it was a problem. I never understood why I had to deal with it. The thing is now I would stop short of saying I am greatful for the it, because I would prefer to learn the things I learned in a less painful way, but the things that I learned from dealing with my depression have been extremely valuable to me.

Its interesting one of the most helpful things for me was actually a book on OCD called Mind Lock. Applying it to my depression problems even thouh it was intended for OCD actually helped a lot.