New Hope in Woody Guthrie’s Illness, Huntington’s Disease

Key points

Huntington’s disease (HD) can mimic psychiatric and addictive disorder years before a neurological diagnosis.

Woody Guthrie and his mother had HD but were misdiagnosed and institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital.

Woody Guthrie (1912–1967) was a well-known singer/songwriter with undiagnosed Huntington's disease (HD), born to a family burdened by undiagnosed HD. Guthrie’s mother, Nora, had the diseasse and was institutionalized in the Oklahoma State Insane Asylum as her symptoms advanced. Nora had mood swings, often becoming violent, which were misdiagnosed as a psychiatric illness. Woody grew up traumatized by his mother’s institutionalization.

George Huntington, M.D., was a young doctor who wrote a 1872 paper, “On Chorea,” describing the neurodegenerative disorder that