OBSESSIONS AND THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
Part 1: OBSESSIONS AND THE SOCIAL CONTEXT Howard Hughes
The content of obsessions changes over time. In past centuries in the Western
world, obsessions were often religious and sexual. John Bunyan, seventeenth
century author of A Pilgrim's Progress, was "fiercely assaulted" with
the wicked suggestion to "sell Christ" running in his mind. " 'Sell him, sell
him, sell him, sell him,' as fast as a man could speak. Against which also in
my mind I answered, 'No, no, not for thousands, thousands, thousands,' at
least twenty times together." Other famous religious personalities believed
they suffered from "pollution of the mind" with "naughty and blasphemous
thoughts" of committing sexual sins "revolving in a restless circle." Today,
obsessions about religion and sex have become somewhat rarer; obsessions
about dirt and contamination, violence, and orderliness are more common
(Hunter and MacAlpine, 1963; Akhtar, Wig, Varma, Pershard, and Verma,
1975; Rachman, 1978; Rachman and Hodgson, 1980). One patient embodied
this historical trend in the course of her thirty-five-year-long disorder.
For the first ten years, she was obsessed with contracting syphilis. She repeatedly
scrubbed and disinfected herself, and took extraordinary care to
avoid walking on used condoms in public places. The syphilis fear disappeared
and gave way to obsessions about being infected with cancer, and she
continued to wash and disinfect herself many times.
Obsessions about contamination are perhaps the most common kind of
obsession today. Here is a description of a striking case:
Howard Hughes was one of America's richest and most colorful tycoons. During
at least the last half of his life, Hughes was apparently afflicted with a severe obsessive-compulsive
disorder about infection. He lived as a recluse, but unlike most obsessives, he was rich enough t
o be able to hire a retinue of servants to carry out his rituals for him, rather than doing them himself.
Hughes's fear of germs and contamination dominated his life. He wrote numerous memos in which he explained
in detail what he wanted done to prevent the "back transmission" of germs to him.
For example, in a three-page memo, he explained how he wanted a
can of fruit opened to prevent "fallout" of germs. He required that special equipment
be used to open the can, writing, "The equipment used in connection with
this operation will consist of the following items: 1 unopened newspaper, 1 sterile
can opener; 1 large sterile plate; 1 sterile fork; 1 sterile spoon; 2 sterile brushes; 2
bars of soap; sterile paper towels." The ritual he devised for opening the can had
nine steps: "preparing a table, procuring of fruit can, washing of can, drying the
can, processing the hands, opening the can, removing fruit from can, fallout rules
while around can, and conclusion of operation." He worked out complicated
procedures for each step of the operation; for example, to wash the can, he wrote:
The man in charge then turns the valve in the bathtub on, using his bare
hands to do so. He also adjusts the water temperature so that it is not too hot
nor too cold. He then takes one of the brushes, and, using one of the bars of
soap, creates a good lather, and then scrubs the can from a point two inches
below the top of the can. He should first soak and remove the label, and then
brush the cylindrical part of the can over and over until all particles of dust,
pieces of paper label, and, in general, all sources of contamination have been
removed. Holding the can in the center at all times, he then processes the
bottom of the can in the same manner, being very sure that all the bristles of
the brush have thoroughly cleaned all the small indentations on the perimeter
of the bottom of the can. He then rinses the soap from the cylindrical sides
and the bottom of the can. (Bartlett and Steele, 1979, p. 233)
Hughes's persistent fear of contamination led to a series of compulsive rituals
that increasingly dominated his daily life. He eventually became a prisoner
of his obsessions, confined to his "sterile" rooms, and seeing only his
selected servants. Hughes's compulsive rituals bore a rational relationship to
the obsession-if there really was rampant danger of infection from germs
around food, the compulsion might have cut down the risk-but it was his
obsession that germs were rampant that was irrational. The ritual to control
contamination need not be so rational, as this next case illustrates.
A twenty-seven-year-old veterinarian described his severe compulsive ritual.
His compulsion required him to flush the toilet a multiple of three times whenever
he entered a bathroom. Sometimes he was "satisfied" with three times only; but
on other occasions, nine, twenty-seven, or even more were needed. He was at a
loss to control his compulsive ritual which had sometimes embarrassed him socially
and was professionally handicapping. (Laughlin, 1967, p, 351)
Looking for treatment?
If you are ready to schedule a FREE Consultation...
I encourage you to access this website
for the treatment I recommend here:
http://www.TheLiberatorMethod.com/
The content of obsessions changes over time. In past centuries in the Western
world, obsessions were often religious and sexual. John Bunyan, seventeenth
century author of A Pilgrim's Progress, was "fiercely assaulted" with
the wicked suggestion to "sell Christ" running in his mind. " 'Sell him, sell
him, sell him, sell him,' as fast as a man could speak. Against which also in
my mind I answered, 'No, no, not for thousands, thousands, thousands,' at
least twenty times together." Other famous religious personalities believed
they suffered from "pollution of the mind" with "naughty and blasphemous
thoughts" of committing sexual sins "revolving in a restless circle." Today,
obsessions about religion and sex have become somewhat rarer; obsessions
about dirt and contamination, violence, and orderliness are more common
(Hunter and MacAlpine, 1963; Akhtar, Wig, Varma, Pershard, and Verma,
1975; Rachman, 1978; Rachman and Hodgson, 1980). One patient embodied
this historical trend in the course of her thirty-five-year-long disorder.
For the first ten years, she was obsessed with contracting syphilis. She repeatedly
scrubbed and disinfected herself, and took extraordinary care to
avoid walking on used condoms in public places. The syphilis fear disappeared
and gave way to obsessions about being infected with cancer, and she
continued to wash and disinfect herself many times.
Obsessions about contamination are perhaps the most common kind of
obsession today. Here is a description of a striking case:
Howard Hughes was one of America's richest and most colorful tycoons. During
at least the last half of his life, Hughes was apparently afflicted with a severe obsessive-compulsive
disorder about infection. He lived as a recluse, but unlike most obsessives, he was rich enough t
o be able to hire a retinue of servants to carry out his rituals for him, rather than doing them himself.
Hughes's fear of germs and contamination dominated his life. He wrote numerous memos in which he explained
in detail what he wanted done to prevent the "back transmission" of germs to him.
For example, in a three-page memo, he explained how he wanted a
can of fruit opened to prevent "fallout" of germs. He required that special equipment
be used to open the can, writing, "The equipment used in connection with
this operation will consist of the following items: 1 unopened newspaper, 1 sterile
can opener; 1 large sterile plate; 1 sterile fork; 1 sterile spoon; 2 sterile brushes; 2
bars of soap; sterile paper towels." The ritual he devised for opening the can had
nine steps: "preparing a table, procuring of fruit can, washing of can, drying the
can, processing the hands, opening the can, removing fruit from can, fallout rules
while around can, and conclusion of operation." He worked out complicated
procedures for each step of the operation; for example, to wash the can, he wrote:
The man in charge then turns the valve in the bathtub on, using his bare
hands to do so. He also adjusts the water temperature so that it is not too hot
nor too cold. He then takes one of the brushes, and, using one of the bars of
soap, creates a good lather, and then scrubs the can from a point two inches
below the top of the can. He should first soak and remove the label, and then
brush the cylindrical part of the can over and over until all particles of dust,
pieces of paper label, and, in general, all sources of contamination have been
removed. Holding the can in the center at all times, he then processes the
bottom of the can in the same manner, being very sure that all the bristles of
the brush have thoroughly cleaned all the small indentations on the perimeter
of the bottom of the can. He then rinses the soap from the cylindrical sides
and the bottom of the can. (Bartlett and Steele, 1979, p. 233)
Hughes's persistent fear of contamination led to a series of compulsive rituals
that increasingly dominated his daily life. He eventually became a prisoner
of his obsessions, confined to his "sterile" rooms, and seeing only his
selected servants. Hughes's compulsive rituals bore a rational relationship to
the obsession-if there really was rampant danger of infection from germs
around food, the compulsion might have cut down the risk-but it was his
obsession that germs were rampant that was irrational. The ritual to control
contamination need not be so rational, as this next case illustrates.
A twenty-seven-year-old veterinarian described his severe compulsive ritual.
His compulsion required him to flush the toilet a multiple of three times whenever
he entered a bathroom. Sometimes he was "satisfied" with three times only; but
on other occasions, nine, twenty-seven, or even more were needed. He was at a
loss to control his compulsive ritual which had sometimes embarrassed him socially
and was professionally handicapping. (Laughlin, 1967, p, 351)
Looking for treatment?
If you are ready to schedule a FREE Consultation...
I encourage you to access this website
for the treatment I recommend here:
http://www.TheLiberatorMethod.com/