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Celebrities that struggled with OCD

OCD Treatment in San Diego

OCD is one of the most common mental disorders seen in the United States. OCD is a chronic and long-lasting disorder that triggers a person’s highly obsessive and recurring thoughts and behaviors. 

OCD is quite common between men and women. As per the reports, it affects nearly 2.2 million adults; that make up for 1 % of the US population. 

As we can see, the commonality of the disorder, not even the celebrities are spared from it. Famous personalities in different fields suffer from OCD.

So, let us look at some of the celebrities who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:

David Beckham

One of the most excellent soccer stars David Beckham has recently in an interview opened up about his fight with OCD.

He said, “I’ve got this obsessive-compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs,” 

Beckham has confessed about the hard time he is facing to urge restraint to these obsessive impulses. 

He has also admitted his addiction to the pain inflicted by tattooing. 

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio gave one of his finest performances in the film Aviator, where he portrays the Hollywood Moghul Howard Hughes. 

Howard Hughes had intense OCD for cleanliness and order. Just like his character, even DiCaprio has OCD, although not as fierce as Howard’s.

He gets obsessive impulses of walking through doors a lot of times. Interestingly, he also gets intensely obsessive urge to step on chewing gum stains.

Celebrities with OCD

Justin Timberlake

Pop icon Justin Timberlake recently admitted on David Letterman’s show about his on-going struggle with OCD.

He spoke about how severely it is disturbing various facets of his life. On top of this, he also has Attention Deficit Disorder, which makes it difficult to focus on. 

He said in an interview recently, “I have OCD mixed with ADD, You try living with that. It’s complicated.”

It is clear to see how difficult it is for him to carry on daily tasks.

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra was one of the most influential music icons in the 60s. Although there is no clear account of him talking about his OCD, his wife has recently opened about some of the intimate parts of his life. 

In her memoir Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank, she confessed about Frank struggling with intense OCD.

He was a cleanliness freak. Earlier, he was obsessed with keeping his hands clean. And this obsession with cleanliness grew steadily and reached its peak during the latter half of his career. 

He would take more than ten showers a day to keep clean. People associated with him say that he would always smell amazing. 

Howard Hughes 

Howard Hughes is one of the most celebrated personalities in Hollywood. He was a successful businessman, a filmmaker, and making advancements in the aviation industry. This tells us what an extraordinary genius he was. 

 As it is said that all genius comes along with some eccentricity, Howard Hughes had numerous idiosyncrasies. Most of them associated with cleanliness and order. 

Howard Hughes was always at the center of news during his active period. One such long period was when he disappeared entirely and hid inside his projection room, re-watching his films. 

He had spent nearly four months in his movie room and surrounded himself with Kleenex boxes that were stacked continuously and re-assorted. 

He also had bottles of milk lined up across a wall and stored his urine in it. A famous personality that he was there is a brilliant film by Martin Scorsese that chronicles his complexities.

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Howard Stern

An icon of radio broadcasting, Howard Stern admitted about his OCD on David Letterman show on Netflix in 2018.

Stern also said that for a significant part of his life, he failed to acknowledge and address his anxiety. Later he confessed that before going to work, he would spend hours in his bathroom just touching things. 

Howard Stern shared about his life on the show, talking about his struggle with himself. However, today he is in a much position thanks to psychotherapy.

He told Letterman, “I’ve come to understand that this behavior is trying to control a world that is out of control.”

Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel has had a long career in Hollywood. He is a comedian, hosted a reality show called “Deal or no deal,” and been a judge on America’s Got Talent. 

He has been very open about his struggle with OCD, Depression, and anxiety. He even has a book published called “Here’s the deal: Don’t Touch Me.” The title is about his intense obsession with cleanliness. 

He was also diagnosed with ADD that made it difficult for him to focus on his professional life. It was only with the help of psychotherapy, meditation, and comedy that he got out of the hold of these illnesses.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry has been very vocal recently about her struggles with her obsessive tendencies towards cleanliness and order.

She admittedly said in an interview that she follows “crazy cleaning rituals in her house.” On a Z100 Radio show, she told the host, “I’m so OCD, I always want to put things in alphabetical order. I’m also a little Howard Hughes about germs.”

She also has germophobe tendencies that make it very difficult for her to carry on with her routine life.