Was Howard Hughes Mentally Ill?

George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan, a self-described "big fan" of Thomas Szasz, recently blog-posted his reaction to the movie The Aviator: "Howard Hughes and the Economics of Mental Illness." He writes, in part, "What's so odd about Hughes? His biggest foible, which drastically increases during the story, is germophobia. No doubt today he'd be diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. I say, however, that this is just name-calling." Well worth reading. It also contains a link to download his paper "The Economics of Thomas Szasz."