6. The William Hammond Case
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U.S. Military doctor and neurologist William Hammond encountered an extraordinary case during the 1800s that ended up going down in history as one of the earliest documented cases of someone who engaged in compulsive washing behavior. The patient, an 18-year-old woman, was obsessed with the notion of becoming “contaminated” by her surroundings. She eventually reached the point where she was unable to touch anything without washing her hands afterward. Her mother reported that she was washing her hands more than 200 times in a single day at one point, and while walking on the street she would take care not to let her clothing come in contact with surfaces around her or passers-by. She was well aware that her actions made no sense but reported that she was unable to stop them, revealing some of the most well-recognized symptoms that OCD patients experience.