Are there any historical accounts of people with OCD?

Factual Questions
1

Are there any documented references from historical sources - say, prior to 1800 - about people with Howard Hughes type OCD - obsessive ordering of objects, and compulsive repetitive behaviors? Is this a relatively recent phenomenon or has it plagued people since the dawn of mankind?

2

This site (take it for what it’s worth) lists Charles Darwin, Michelangelo, and possibly Albert Einstein as having OCD.

Nikola Tesla compulsively did things in threes, and stayed in a hotel room whose number was divisible by three. He also would not shake hands and was obsessively fastidious. ISTR he would wipe his tableware before eating, and I think he may not have wanted his food touching other food on his plate.

3

Yes. The clear problem with sites like that making lists is that they will take the flimsiest of evidence and report it as fact. The justification for Einstein is particularly flimsy and doesn’t really match the facts.

4

I’d imagine that prior to 1800, the average person didn’t own enough property to participate in any ‘obsessive ordering of objects’(btw, wouldn’t that include most stamp collectors, etc?), and that the ‘higher classes’ would not have made a habit of recording family member’s nutty little habits, with insanity being frowned upon the way it was.

5

Does Samuel Johnson count? Looks like he did

6

OCD doesnt only require compulsive ordering of objects or cleaning, there are multiple ways it can manifest.
The idea of avoiding contamination seems to be strongly linked to incorrect beliefs about germs, most of the recent treatments do pretty heavy education on germ theory as part of the treatment for this reason.

So Howard Hughes type ones would probably be fairly rare pre 1800 because germ theory is a comparatively recent idea in science. Tesla is post 1800, when germ theory had become known and cleanliness as a concept of avoiding disease was really getting underway.

There is the Macbeth example of compulsive hand washing to remove blood though, which suggests some idea of familiarity with compulsive cleaning to remove something thats no longer there. Theres probably others.

Otara

7

Agreed, hence the parenthetical comment. When I found the site it reminded me of other ‘agenda’ sites. Kind of like how any well-respected historical figure is gay, according to some claims. But Tesla still fits, except for the specified time.