According to the OCD-UK website, “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition that affects as many as three in a hundred people – from young children to older adults – regardless of gender and social or cultural background.”
Knowing that there are many famous people with OCD can be a moral boost for sufferers of this disorder. The fact that respected celebrities with obsessive-compulsive disorder have had such success in life can serve as a motivating and inspiring influence for OCD sufferers.
Historical OCD Sufferers – Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Famous Figures from History
Although OCD is a modern term, obsessive-compulsive disorder has been retrospectively diagnosed in a number of historical figures. Two of the greatest novelists of all time, Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust, are both considered to have perhaps suffered from OCD.
British poet and essayist Samuel Johnson is also thought to have suffered from OCD. In his article “Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): A Patron Saint of OCD” (WSPS website), OCD expert Fred Penzel, Ph.D, speculates that Johnson’s numerous tics and eccentricities were caused by the disorder.
Nikola Tesla, a physicist perhaps best remembered for his Tesla coil, was obsessed with the number three and had a phobia for germs and other people’s hair. He is now widely believed to have been an OCD sufferer.
One of the wealthiest men of his time, Howard Hughes is now recognized as having had OCD. Aviation pioneer, industrialist and movie director, Hughes developed both severe social avoidance behavior and an extreme form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hughes suffered from a germ phobia, a compulsion to rearrange objects, and he was said to obsessively watch movies. These compulsions and phobias had a debilitating effect on Hughes' life.
Movie Directors and Actors with OCD – Celebrities with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
There are some huge Hollywood celebrities with OCD. Billy Bob Thornton’s OCD has been well documented in various interviews, including his inability to use silver cutlery (The Independent, 2004).
Leonardo DiCaprio was also a childhood OCD sufferer. Mildly afflicted as a child, DiCaprio managed to keep his condition largely under control. However, when playing the role of OCD sufferer Howard Hughes in the movie The Aviator, DiCaprio’s condition returned. Dr Jeffrey Schwartz, who had been called in to advise DiCaprio for the role, later told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that DiCaprio “let his own mild OCD get worse to play the part.”
Legendary movie director Martin Scorsese, who directed The Aviator, is also said to have OCD. Not only did he confront the disorder in The Aviator: his first short film, titled What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This (1963), was centered around a writer with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Famous People with OCD – OCD Sports Personalities
There are also famous people with OCD in the world of sport. David Beckham, the English soccer star, is another well-documented obsessive-compulsive. Beckham’s OCD became public knowledge after a 2006 TV interview with Tim Lovejoy for ITV1. He told Lovejoy, "I've got this obsessive-compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs."
David Beckham, like the other famous people with OCD mentioned above, managed to excel in his chosen field. Celebrities with OCD, both past and present, are great examples for other obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferers to follow.
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Tony Dunnell - Tony Dunnell is a freelance writer and a specialist in South American travel. He has two Peru blogs, howtoperu.com and tarapotolife.com
