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7 Celebrities With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Stars like Camila Cabello and Megan Fox have been candid about life with OCD.

Suga (left), Howie Mandel (center), and Camila Cabello (right) have all spoken out about having obsessive-compulsive disorder.

One in 40 adults in the United States, some of whom are household names — TV personalities, musicians, athletes, and the like — have been diagnosed with  obsessive-compulsive disorder  (OCD), a mental health condition in which a person becomes caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions.

According to the  American Psychiatric Association  (APA):

• Obsessions   are persistent and uncontrollable intrusive thoughts that cause significant distress. Common obsessions include fears of contamination, disturbing thoughts about sex, fears of misplacing or throwing out something important, or extreme preoccupation with order and organization.
• Compulsions   are repetitive behaviors that a person feels compelled to perform in response to obsessive thoughts. Common compulsions include excessive handwashing, showering, or cleaning of household objects, arranging or ordering objects in a very specific way, and repetitive checking of switches, locks, or appliances.

With the right treatment, people with OCD can live successful and fulfilling lives, and these seven celebrities are proof of that. When influential, highly visible people share their experiences with conditions such as OCD, it helps reduce stigma, raise awareness, and normalize conversations about mental illness,  APA experts say.

Here’s what these seven stars have shared about living with OCD, busting mental health stereotypes, and more.

Camila Cabello, Singer-Songwriter

In a 2020 article she wrote for The Wall Street Journal , Cabello shared how shame and stigma led her to bottle up her struggles with  anxiety and OCD for a long time. “The little voice in my head was telling me that if I was honest about my mental health struggle and my internal battles, people would think there was something wrong with me, or that I wasn’t strong, or that I couldn't handle things,” wrote the “Havana” singer.

“That same little voice also told me maybe I was being ungrateful for all the good in my life — and that hiding the open wound I’d been avoiding the last few years was the easiest and fastest solution,” she added.

Cognitive behavioral therapy ,  meditation , breath work, and  self-care all helped Cabello learn to manage her OCD . She also emphasizes that conversations about mental health are just as important as those about physical health, when it comes to getting help. “Far from being a sign of weakness, owning our struggles and taking the steps to heal is powerful,” Cabello wrote.

Shannon Purser, Actor

Stranger Things and Riverdale actor Shannon Purser opened up about having OCD,  depression , and suicidal thoughts in a 2018 article she wrote for Teen Vogue .

As a teenager growing up in a religious household, obsessive thoughts and fears about lying and being insincere when talking to others led Purser to compulsively rephrase her sentences so that she could feel at peace inside. One example: “I could no longer say simple things like ‘I’m sorry’ because, I thought, what if I wasn’t really sorry? That would make me a liar. And being a liar was wrong,” she wrote.

Eventually Purser found that she could no longer rephrase her sentences in ways that quelled her obsessive thoughts, so she stopped talking altogether. “I grew to believe that I was evil, disgusting, and perverted,” she wrote.

Another compulsion Purser struggled with was needing to reread sentences in books and schoolwork over and over again until she was confident she had fully grasped the material.

Ultimately, she read an article about OCD that helped her connect the dots and recognize that she had the condition. “It was overwhelmingly comforting to finally realize that I wasn’t alone and that nothing was wrong with me. It was a treatable disorder,” she wrote.

A combination of therapy and medication for OCD and depression helped Purser learn to love life again. “My problems didn’t go away, but they became much easier to face,” she wrote.

Howie Mandel, Comedian and TV Personality

“I was diagnosed with  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder  (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as an adult, but I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have them,” Deal or No Deal host and America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel wrote in a March 2022 magazine article for  ADDitude .

Growing up in the 1960s, Mandel explained, there were no words to describe the symptoms he was experiencing — they were simply viewed as “quirks.” But even now that both OCD and ADHD are well known, Mandel still sometimes fears judgment and stigma. “I have to admit that, at times, I’ve been afraid of being labeled ‘crazy,’” he wrote.

Today, Mandel explained, he manages his OCD and ADHD with medication and psychotherapy. His wife, Terry, and their children have gone to therapy, too, to help them cope with his conditions.

His advice for people who suspect they may have OCD or ADHD? “Get diagnosed and get help. Your life will be much better for doing so,” Mandel wrote.

Suga, Rapper and Songwriter

Suga (aka Agust D), a member of the South Korean boy band BTS, uses his global fame and popularity to share the ups and downs of living with a psychiatric illness. In his song, “The Last,” Suga raps, “It’s a bit dangerous. Depression. OCD. They keep coming back again from time to time.”

And Suga talked directly about his battle with depression in an interview with  Rolling Stone that was published in 2021, explaining that his symptoms come and go. “It’s almost like cold weather. It may come back in a cycle over a year, year and a half,” he said.

Suga underscored the importance of talking about mental health struggles rather than bottling them up. “For anybody, these emotions are not something that need to be hidden,” he told Rolling Stone . “They need to be discussed and expressed. Whatever emotions that I may be feeling, I’m always ready to express them now.”

Lena Dunham, Actor and Writer

In an article for  The New Yorker  in 2014, Dunham, the creator of the HBO series Girls , spoke openly about being a child with OCD. Writing from the perspective of her 8-year-old self, she painted a portrait of a little girl struggling with obsessive thoughts and extreme fears about everything from appendicitis, leprosy , and dirty shoelaces to “foods my mother hasn’t tasted first so that if we die we die together.”

“I have only the vaguest memory of a life before fear,” Dunham continued. “Every morning when I wake up, there is one blissful second before I look around the room and remember my many terrors.”

One day, while at a beauty salon with her mother, Dunham came across an article about a woman’s experience with OCD. In that moment, it clicked that she, too, likely had OCD.

These days, Dunham continues to tell her story to raise awareness and offer hope to others living with OCD. In a 2017 interview with Vogue , she spoke of wanting to foster a world in which we’re “teaching kids from a young age that it’s as okay to say ‘I’m anxious’ as it is to say ‘I hit my knee.’”

Megan Fox, Actor and Model

Transformers and Jennifer’s Body star Megan Fox revealed in a 2010 interview with Allure that she went to therapy both as a child and an adult to learn to cope with an intense fear of germs that compelled her to wash hands so often that her knuckles bled.

While therapy helped Fox get her excessive handwashing under control, she continued to struggle with obsessive thoughts. “People can’t imagine what the struggle is really like, when you can’t let go of a thought or a word,” Fox explained. “All day and every day. And I can engage in a conversation with someone and seem like I’m present, and the whole time I’m in my own head thinking about something else, worrying about something else.”

Maria Bamford, Actor and Comedian

The star of Netflix’s Lady Dynamite , Maria Bamford, has been very candid about having OCD. In fact, as a comedian, she often turns to humor to talk about life with OCD, as well as her struggles with bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts.

In a 2016 interview with NPR , Bamford described OCD like this: “What it is, it’s the equivalent of, you know, washing your hands, thinking that you’re going to be dirty or that you’re somehow dirty, but it’s with thoughts. So as soon as you try to not think of the thought, the thought pops up again so —  ’cause most of us have weird thoughts floating through our heads every once in a while.”

Bamford said she recalled having obsessive thoughts as early as age 9. “I stopped being able to sleep at night ’cause I had fear that I was going to kill my parents, you know, act out violently in some sort of taboo way. And it’s even hard for me to say now, act out sexually, toward something, somebody, and so I wanted to isolate so that I would not be around people at all and would stay up all night making sure that I just wouldn’t fall asleep and somehow lose control,” she explained.

In 2014, Bamford received the inaugural Illumination Award from the  International OCD Foundation  — an award given to influencers and media personalities who’ve talked about OCD and related disorders in an accurate and respectful way.

Howie Mandel 'Living in a Nightmare' With OCD

— comedian wants to remove the stigma of his illness.

by Michele R. Berman, MD June 15, 2021

"America's Got Talent" judge Howie Mandel has been open for many years about his struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, in a recent interview with People magazine, the comedian discussed how painful that struggle could be: "If I'm not laughing, then I'm crying. And I still haven't been that open about how dark and ugly it really gets."

Mandel, 65, has suffered from OCD since childhood (although he wasn't officially diagnosed until he was an adult). In an interview with Everyday Health in 2010, Mandel said: "I was always incredibly obsessed with germs and cleaning and taking shower after shower after shower. Even when I was very young, I wouldn't tie my shoelaces because they had touched the ground. I had continuous repetitive thoughts that I couldn't get past. As a child, my mind was a lot busier than I was."

Although Mandel said he is "living in a nightmare," he explained that he tries to anchor himself: "I have a beautiful family and I love what I do. But at the same time, I can fall into a dark depression I can't get out of." He has been married to his wife, Terry, since 1980 and has a son and two daughters. His eldest daughter, Jackie, 36, also suffers from anxiety and OCD.

The pandemic was an especially difficult time for Mandel. He told People: "There isn't a waking moment of my life when 'we could die' doesn't come into my psyche," he said. "But the solace I would get would be the fact that everybody around me was okay. It's good to latch onto okay. But [during the pandemic] the whole world was not okay. And it was absolute hell."

Mandel said he is speaking up again at this time because "my life's mission is to remove the stigma [of mental illness]. I'm broken. But this is my reality. I know there's going to be darkness again -- and I cherish every moment of light."

OCD is a common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over.

Approximately 2.3% of the U.S. population has OCD, which is about one in 40 adults and one in 100 children. The average age of onset is 19.5 years. About 50% of those with OCD have onset of symptoms in childhood and adolescence.

Males present earlier, but in adulthood, more females are affected. In families with a history of OCD, there's a 25% chance that another immediate family member will develop symptoms.

Half of adults with OCD (50.6%) have serious impairment, 34.8% have moderate impairment, and only 15% are mildly impaired.

The majority (90%) of adults who have OCD at some point in their lives also have at least one other mental disorder. Conditions that are often comorbid with OCD include:

• Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (75.8%)
• Mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder (63.3%)
• Impulse-control disorders, including attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (55.9%)
• Substance use disorders (38.6%)

Signs and Symptoms

People with OCD may have symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, or both. These symptoms can interfere with all aspects of life, such as work, school, and personal relationships.

Obsessions are repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety. Common symptoms include:

• Fear of germs or contamination
• Unwanted forbidden or taboo thoughts involving sex, religion, or harm
• Aggressive thoughts towards others or self
• Having things symmetrical or in a perfect order

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that a person with OCD feels the urge to do in response to an obsessive thought. Common compulsions include:

• Excessive cleaning and/or handwashing
• Ordering and arranging things in a particular, precise way
• Repeatedly checking on things, such as to see if a door is locked or that the oven is off
• Compulsive counting

Not all rituals or habits are compulsions. Everyone double checks things sometimes. But a person with OCD generally:

• Can't control his or her thoughts or behaviors, even when those thoughts or behaviors are recognized as excessive
• Spends at least 1 hour a day on these thoughts or behaviors
• Doesn't get pleasure when performing the behaviors or rituals, but may feel brief relief from the anxiety the thoughts cause
• Experiences significant problems in their daily life due to these thoughts or behaviors

The exact cause of OCD is still unknown, but it is believed to be multifactorial. Twin and family studies have shown that people with first-degree relatives (such as a parent, sibling, or child) who have OCD are at a higher risk for developing OCD themselves. The risk is higher if the first-degree relative developed OCD as a child or teen.

Imaging studies (functional MRIs, diffusion tensor imaging, and single-photon emission computerized tomography) have shown differences in the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits of the brain in patients with OCD. These differences are most noticeable in the orbitofrontal cortex, the caudate, anterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus.

Environmental factors may also play a part in the development of OCD. Those implicated (but for which causal associations have not, as of yet, been established) include:

• Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections, a group A streptococcal infection
• Premenstrual and postpartum periods, which can be associated with new onset or exacerbation of OCD
• Exposure to traumatic events
• Neurologic lesions, such as stroke or traumatic brain injury that affect CSTC circuits

The mainstays of OCD treatment are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Although most patients with OCD respond to treatment, some patients continue to experience symptoms.

It is important to consider any other mental disorders a patient may have when making decisions about treatment.

Two primary neurotransmitters are thought to contribute to OCD: serotonin and glutamate. The improvement of OCD symptoms with the use of serotonergic antidepressants led to the hypothesis that changes in serotonin play an important role in OCD. More recent studies support the idea that glutamate also plays a significant role.

SRIs, which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are used to help reduce OCD symptoms. SRIs often require higher daily doses in the treatment of OCD compared with depression and may take 8 to 12 weeks to start working.

If symptoms do not improve with these types of medications, research has shown that some patients may respond well to an antipsychotic medication, such as aripiprazole or haloperidol, as an adjunct.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy can be an effective treatment for adults and children with OCD. Research has shown that certain types of psychotherapy, including CBT and other related therapies (e.g., habit reversal training), can be as effective as medication for many individuals. Research also has shown that a type of CBT called exposure and response prevention -- spending time in the very situation that triggers compulsions (e.g., touching dirty objects) but then being prevented from undertaking the usual resulting compulsion (e.g., handwashing) -- is effective in reducing compulsive behaviors in patients with OCD, even in those who did not respond well to SRIs.

Other treatment options

In 2018, the FDA approved transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as an adjunct in the treatment of OCD in adults. TMS is a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. The FDA permitted the marketing of TMS as a treatment for major depression in 2008 and expanded the use to include pain associated with certain migraine headaches in 2013.

Clinical trials of new methods for treating OCD can be found at the National Institute of Mental Health clinical trials webpage .

Michele R. Berman, MD, is a pediatrician-turned-medical journalist. She trained at Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Her mission is both journalistic and educational: to report on common diseases affecting uncommon people and summarize the evidence-based medicine behind the headlines.

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25 Famous People With OCD

Written by Sarah Norman

Nov 8, 2023, 14 min read

If you have been diagnosed with a mental health condition (or believe you may have one) it can be extremely helpful to hear about others who live with the same condition and manage it day to day.

If you live with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) , learning of others who struggle with the same thought processes and compulsions as you can be a huge confidence booster. Many people with OCD have very specific obsessions and compulsions, so even if you don’t hear from someone with exactly the same thoughts as you, it can help to see that the root cause is often similar. 

Here, we’re looking at 25 famous people who live with OCD, from some who manage varying degrees of OCD, to others who have been hugely impacted by the condition throughout their life. 

At Augmentive , we aim to provide holistic, tailored mental health support to everyone so they can live their life to the fullest, so if you have questions about OCD or another mental health condition, we’re here to help. 

Note : Celebrities in this article have been mentioned in various media sources having either talked openly about their OCD, or been mentioned by a second hand source. Keep in mind there is no way to confirm an OCD diagnosis for any of the celebrities on this list.

Firstly, what is OCD?

As an overview, OCD stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder , which is a mental health condition that can cause obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. Around 1.2% of the UK population is thought to suffer from varying degrees of OCD, and the condition most often begins in early adulthood. It can, however, start at any age with symptoms appearing sometimes as early as 6 years old. 

OCD tends to manifest as obsessions (repeated unwanted thoughts or mental images), compulsions (a compulsion to carry out a specific action), or a mix of both. 

"The obsessions are the ruminating thoughts, and the compulsions are the behaviours you do in response to the ruminating thoughts. It is really important for us as a society to reflect on the fact that behaviour doesn’t always match up with a person’s internal experience." -  Dr Chetna Kang , Consultant Psychiatrist

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some notable names who have been linked to OCD. 

David Beckham (Footballer) 

David Beckham has talked openly about his OCD and its relation to the idea of perfection. The famous footballer has mentioned struggling with compulsions such as moving leaflets and books in hotel rooms into drawers, and making sure everything is in its proper place. 

“I’ve got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs. I’ll put my Pepsi cans in the fridge and if there’s one too many then I’ll put it in another cupboard somewhere.”  – David Beckham via The Independent

Beckham has apparently attempted to stop his compulsions in the past, but struggled to do so. According to more recent reports, he instead came up with coping mechanisms that have enabled him to better manage his condition in daily life and reduce its impact. 

Megan Fox (Actor) 

Megan Fox has talked openly about her struggles with OCD and mentioned that she attended therapy as a child and an adult to help her manage a fear of germs. The condition caused her to wash her hands so frequently that they bled, as well as obsessive thoughts that she still struggles with today. 

“People can’t imagine what the struggle is really like, when you can’t let go of a thought or a word… All day and every day. And I can engage in a conversation with someone and seem like I’m present, and the whole time I’m in my own head thinking about something else, worrying about something else.”  – Megan Fox via Everyday Health  

Obsessive thoughts can be a huge part of OCD. You can read more here: Why OCD Ruminating Is A Problem (And What To Do About It)

Howie Mandel (TV Personality) 

Howie Mandel has opened up about his ongoing struggle with OCD which led to his intense fear of germs, so much so that he stated he was unable to tie his shoelaces because they had touched the ground.

Mandel has been forthcoming about his condition and the fact that he feels there is no cure, but says that treatment has improved his life in a big way. Reportedly, he uses a mix of medication and psychotherapy to manage his OCD symptoms. 

“After I impulsively revealed that I have OCD on a talk show, I was devastated. I often do things without thinking. That's my ADD/ADHD talking. Out in public, after I did the show, people came to me and said, "Me, too." They were the most comforting words I've ever heard. Whatever you're dealing with in life, know that you're not alone.”  – Howdie Mandel via Psychology Today

Kanye West (Musician) 

Rapper and designer Kanye West has been open about his mental health conditions in the past, and has mentioned having OCD on more than one occasion.

“I definitely have OCD… I have to be creative at all times and I have to learn. I don't know any other way.”  – Kanye West via The Guardian

Interestingly, West has mentioned that he believes his OCD could also be partly responsible for his success, as he thinks it could be related to the idea of perfection in all areas of his life, including his career. 

Cameron Diaz (Actor) 

Cameron Diaz has mentioned her Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in various media outlets, specifically tendencies she has when it comes to doorknobs. The actor claims she cleans them so obsessively in her home that the paint has worn away, and has also mentioned being a compulsive hand washer. In more recent interviews, she says she has found a balance with her condition. 

“I think I've made my peace with it.”  – Cameron Diaz via The Daily Mail

Katy Perry (Musician) 

Sometimes OCD can manifest in more intense ways during stressful periods , and this is what musician Katy Perry believes happens to her. Perry has mentioned having a strict Christian upbringing which included a lot of moving around, and a poor education that led to difficulties learning to read. 

“I have OCD tendencies. I do strange things with buttoning everything up and colour coordinating it, hanging it in a certain way. When things are out of control in your childhood, you find things to focus on."  – Katy Perry via Business Standard

Jackie Chan (Actor and Martial Artist) 

It is important to mention that Jackie Chan has not been quoted speaking publicly about his OCD, and the only reports of him having struggled with the condition come from interviews with his son, Jaycee Chan. 

These interviews suggest that Chan has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that leads the actor and martial artist to clean things, and make sure things are neat, tidy and in their place. 

Jackie Chan allegedly told reporters during an interview that he has a lot of “problems”, and that these problems led to him putting a lot of pressure on his son. He would apparently arrange shoes for him, and pick on him when he engaged in what Chan considered to be bad habits, like running around in white socks that could become dirty.

Howard Stern (Broadcaster) 

Radio broadcaster Howard Stern opened up about his struggle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in 2018 during an interview in which he mentioned his OCD caused him to go into a “rage”. It has caused some of his erratic behaviours over the years, including spending one to two hours in the bathroom touching things before each workday. 

“I’ve come to understand that this behaviour is trying to control a world that’s out of control.” – Howard Stern via The Hollywood Reporter

Julianne Moore (Actor) 

Many people find that having a child can exacerbate OCD issues. Research has found that it is common for postpartum women to be affected by OCD due to intrusive thoughts about harm coming to their child. 

On the other hand, some people (including some mentioned on this list) have reported an improvement in OCD tendencies after having a child. Actor Julianne Moore has said in interviews that she was able to confront her OCD issues after having her children. Moore struggled with obsessively lining things up, as well as leaving her home at the same time and walking at a certain pace in order to only meet green lights on her journey. 

"Having two young children means you drop all that sort of rubbish… I'm much more laid back than I used to be." – Julianne Moore via ABC News

Camila Cabello (Musician) 

Singer-songwriter Camila Cabello wrote a personal essay for The Wall Street Journal in 2020 about her OCD diagnosis, and how she initially felt shame that caused her to keep it to herself and pretend everything was fine. 

“The little voice in my head was telling me that if I was honest about my mental health struggle and my internal battles, people would think there was something wrong with me, or that I wasn’t strong, or that I couldn't handle things.”  – Camilla Cabello via Teen Vogue 

Through a mix of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, meditation, breathwork and self-care, Cabello has learned to better manage her OCD symptoms. 

Daniel Radcliffe (Actor) 

Daniel Radcliffe is known as the star of the Harry Potter film franchise, and has been open about his challenges with various health conditions, including dyspraxia , and also OCD from as young as 5 years old. 

He noted that his compulsions included feeling the need to repeat words he said back to himself under his breath. Radcliffe found help with his condition through therapy, and encourages others to do the same as it has helped to improve his quality of life. 

“I had to repeat every sentence I said under my breath. I would encourage everyone to undergo therapy. It doesn't mean you're insane or weak. I haven't had it this year so far and I'm missing it.”  – Daniel Radcliffe via Hello Magazine

Charlize Theron (Actor) 

Actor Charlize Theron has mentioned her OCD symptoms in several media outlets, saying that she feels a need to keep everything in order and partake in excessive cleaning otherwise she struggles to sleep . Like Julianne Moore (mentioned above) Theron has stated that she believes having children played a part in her managing her anxieties better.

“I actually have a serious problem – obsessive-compulsive disorder. I don’t do counting or anything like that. I’m good with chaos, I just don’t like it when chaos is hidden. So I have a problem with cabinets being messy and people just shoving things in cabinets and closing the door. I will literally lie in bed and not be able to sleep because I’ll be like, “I think I saw something in that cabinet that just shouldn’t be there.” – Charlize Theron via The Daily Mail

Michael Jackson (Musician) 

According to Psychology Today , the late Michael Jackson suffered from a number of mental health conditions such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and, as some outlets have reported, some degree of OCD. 

Body Dysmorphic Disorder can be closely linked to OCD in that it causes a debilitating preoccupation over one’s appearance. It may cause someone to compulsively check how they look, or become obsessed with cosmetic surgery.

Although an OCD diagnosis has never been confirmed for Michael Jackson, it is widely believed that his cosmetic surgery procedures were related to issues with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and that he suffered with OCD tendencies related to this. 

Amanda Seyfried (Actor) 

Amanda Seyfried has spoken publicly about her struggles with OCD, and several media outlets have reported that she was first diagnosed with the condition after appearing in the hit film Mean Girls in 2004. 

“A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category [from other illnesses], but I don’t think it is. It should be taken as seriously as anything else. You don’t see the mental illness: It’s not a mass; it’s not a cyst. But it’s there. Why do you need to prove it? If you can treat it, you treat it. I had pretty bad health anxiety that came from the OCD.”  – Amanda Seyfried speaking to Allure Magazine 

At the time of speaking about her condition, Seyfried said she was on a low dose of Lexapro (a type of antidepressant) to help her manage the condition, and had been for 11 years, with no plans to come off of it as it helps her in daily life. 

Niall Horan (Musician) 

British musician Niall Horan has talked in interviews about his OCD and how it can cause what he calls "tics", which is a term sometimes used to describe compulsions. In Horan’s case, he has mentioned feeling the need to do certain behaviours in a specific order or routine. 

"I feel like I have to do things in a certain way… For example, if I have a burger with chips on my plate, I always have to eat the chips first and only pick up the burger at the very end… Even when I go on stage, I only have one fixed sequence. I always have to sing in the same order, move and so on… I live with them and they’re mine no matter what others think about it… Fortunately, I now have enough people around me who understand me.” – Niall Horan via Teen Vogue

Charles Dickens (Writer)

Famous author Charles Dickens was alive in the 1800s, so there are no interviews that can confirm an OCD diagnosis for him. However, it is widely believed that the Victorian writer did suffer from the condition due to various expert accounts of his behaviours. 

According to researchers, Dickens may have had a compulsion to rearrange furniture whenever he stayed in a hotel room. He was also thought to inspect his children's bedrooms daily to check their tidiness, and if not up to his standards, would leave notes for them. 

Michael Slater is a professor of Victorian literature at Birkbeck College in London, and has written extensively on Charles Dickens. He believes his OCD traits can be traced back to Dickens’ poverty-stricken childhood, when his family were forced to move home frequently. 

Jessica Alba (Actor) 

Jessica Alba has discussed health issues she suffered as a child, such as asthma, pneumonia and kidney issues. These health issues apparently made her ill more than once a year, and led to her feeling no sense of control over her life. As a result, she believes she developed a compulsion to control things which led to OCD tendencies.

“I used to unplug every single appliance in my house. Or I’d double-check every door in my house to make sure it was locked at night.”  – Jessica Alba via The Guardian

Suga (Musician) 

Suga is a member of the South Korean boy band BTS, and has been vocal about his depression and OCD. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2021, he mentioned that his symptoms tend to come and go, and expressed how he now finds it easier to talk about.

“It’s almost like cold weather. It may come back in a cycle over a year, year and a half… For anybody, these emotions are not something that need to be hidden… Whatever emotions that I may be feeling, I’m always ready to express them now.”  – Suga via Rolling Stone

Leonardo DiCaprio (Actor)

Leonardo DiCaprio is known for strongly committing to the roles he plays, and during his time filming ‘The Aviator’ he played pilot Howard Hughes who famously suffered with OCD symptoms. His role in the film playing someone with OCD apparently brought up some of DiCaprio’s own compulsions, as he too has suffered with the condition. 

DiCaprio has previously mentioned compulsions such as avoiding sidewalk cracks, always stepping on chewing gum marks, and walking through doors more than once. 

“Sometimes it took me 10 minutes to get to the set because I'd be pacing back and forth, stepping on gum stains… I'm able to say at some point, 'OK, you're being ridiculous, stop stepping on every gum stain you see… ‘You don't need to do that. You don't need to walk 20ft back and put your foot on that thing. Nothing bad is going to happen’.”  – Leonardo DiCaprio via The Daily Express

Thanks to therapy, the actor now apparently manages his OCD in everyday life. 

Kelly Rowland (Musician) 

Kelly Rowland is most famous for her time in former girl band Destiny’s Child, and has been open about her struggle with OCD. She has discussed her compulsive need to order and arrange objects in a certain way. 

According to Psychology Today , similarly to some others on this list Rowland had to adjust her OCD tendencies after the arrival of her son, when she was forced to become acquainted with having his toys everywhere. 

George Ezra (Musician)

British musician George Ezra has been vocal about a specific type of OCD that only causes intrusive and uncontrollable thoughts (obsessions), but does not cause compulsions. This is sometimes referred to as ‘ Pure O ’, although there is debate in the OCD community over this term. Regardless, Ezra has been open about his struggles with this purely obsessional condition. 

“Often OCD will come with physical actions that you have to carry out to silence the mind… [Pure O] is the name given to somebody who just experiences the thought patterns without the physical part.”   – George Ezra via The Independent

Billy Bob Thornton (Actor and Musician) 

Counting compulsions are a common symptom of OCD, which cause people to, for example, repeat words or perform actions a certain number of times. Billy Bob Thornton has been open in interviews in the past about his phobias and his OCD tendencies. In fact, these tendencies are said to have inspired his song ‘Always Countin’. 

“It exhausts you… You're constantly doing mathematics in your head… Certain numbers represent certain people. And I can't use that number in a certain circumstance. And then I have to use it in another circumstance.”  – Billy Bob Thornton via NBC News  

Amerie (Musician) 

According to Psychology Today , musician Amerie has mentioned her struggles with OCD, although she has not given specific details of her symptoms. She has, however, disclosed that her OCD has been triggered by fame and having to make appearances on red carpets.

“I know I disappeared and people are like, ‘What happened?’ It’s because… I don’t really chase after fame. I don’t really love red carpets. Maybe it’s because of the OCD thing. They just give me a lot of anxiety .” – Amerie via Rap Up

OCD can be triggered by a number of things, and they are often very unique to each individual. You can read more about triggers in our article; OCD Triggers: How and Why Do They Happen?

Justin Timberlake (Musician) 

Justin Timberlake has been open about his struggles with both Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) , stating that living with both conditions can be challenging. His OCD tendencies apparently cause him to seek to line things up perfectly. 

"I have OCD mixed with ADD . You try living with that. It's complicated." – Justin Timberlake via SheKnows

Lena Dunham (Actor and Writer) 

Lena Dunham has been one of the most vocal celebrities when it comes to her OCD, which can cause intense symptoms for her, and led her to write the character she plays on ‘Girls’ who also suffers with OCD. 

Dunham has lived with the condition since she was a young child, and has mentioned being 8 years old with obsessive thoughts and extreme fears about different things, such as health conditions, dirty things, and death. 

Through attending therapy and the support of her family, Dunham has learned to manage her symptoms in daily life, 

“I feel so lucky that my parents were people who were comfortable with therapy with medication and conversations about anxiety. I would tell my younger self that there’s no shame in asking a teacher for help, telling a friend that you’re uncomfortable and that it’s just the same as falling down and scraping your knee.” – Lena Dunham via HuffPost

If you suspect a loved one may be suffering with OCD, you can read more in our article: Advice For Living With Someone With OCD

What to do if you think you may have OCD

At Augmentive , we believe getting professional advice and treatment is the best way to ensure you get on a path to recovery from OCD that is bespoke to your situation and specific compulsions. It can manifest differently for each individual, and treatment should reflect this. 

OCD is typically treated with either medication (such as Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), psychotherapy (such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Exposure and Response Prevention ), or in some cases a combination of both. 

Many patients undergoing OCD treatment will see improvements that allow them to be free of their OCD, but others will learn tactics to manage it in daily life while still experiencing ongoing symptoms. OCD is often considered to be a lifelong condition, so finding the best treatment for you as early as possible can help you to manage the condition well and continue taking part in daily life. 

32-70% of those with OCD are thought to experience symptom remission, so recovery is certainly a possibility. Reach out to your GP or to a private specialist in order to discuss your symptoms, treatment options and more.

If you have a question about mental health, like what real event OCD is , we’re here to assist on your journey. Our free 15 minute consultation can guide you to the most relevant specialists to answer your questions and discuss next steps, and we also have specialists for a private OCD assessment who can help you get a better understanding of your situation and the best way forward.

Whether you’re feeling off-kilter or want to shake up your routine, our state-of-the-art mental wellbeing platform gives you quick and seamless access to world-class support on your terms, from private psychiatric assessments to helping you find a therapist near you for support on your journey.

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9 Celebrities & Famous People With OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)

• March 13, 2019

Anxiety disorders top the chart as some of the most common mental health disorders in the United States. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) falls into this category. It should come as no surprise that there are many celebrities and famous people with OCD who are affected by the disorder.

The National Institute of Mental Health defines OCD as a chronic and long-lasting disorder , in which a person has battled with uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts and behaviors .

Among the U.S. population, an estimated 2.2 million people – around 1 percent of the population – struggle with this disorder to some degree or another, reports the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Women and men are affected at equal rates and 19 years of age is the average for symptoms of OCD first appearing .

Since there is no demographic immune to this treatable mental health disorder , it should come as no surprise that even celebrities of different stripes and careers suffer from the disorder.

9 Famous People and Celebrities With OCD Who Struggle With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

With 2.2 million people in the U.S living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder each year, it makes sense that the disorder impacts all walks of life.

Here are nine famous people and celebrities with OCD who have been successfully living with their condition and serve as an inspiration:

1. David Beckham

World-renowned soccer player David Beckham has opened up about his struggle with OCD on a few occasions.

“I’ve got this obsessive-compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs,” he told the Independent .

Beckham also admitted that he’s tried to stop his obsessive behaviors but has been unable to, including what he calls an addiction to the pain of getting tattoos.

2. Katy Perry

Singer-songwriter Katy Perry struggles with more than just the paparazzi. The pop star admits to being something of a germaphobe and practices “crazy cleaning rituals in her house.”

She has on occasion, talked about her struggle. “I’m so OCD,” Perry told a Z100 radio host . “I always want to put things in alphabetical order. I’m also a little Howard Hughes about germs.”

3. Howard Hughes

Speaking of Howard Hughes , the 20th-century American magnate died in 1976, partly due to his severe OCD.

Hughes famously spent four months in a darkened movie screening room, never leaving. He was surrounded by Kleenex boxes that he continually stacked and sorted. The industrialist also stored his urine in bottles.

The industrialist’s “eccentricities” are so numerous that films have been made about his mental decline.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio

Oscar Award-winning actor, Leonardo DiCaprio , who portrayed Howard Hughes in the biopic “The Aviator,” struggles with OCD.

Though DiCaprio’s OCD is not as severe as the real-life character he played, he’s admitted that he fights different compulsions, like walking through doors several times as well as the urge to step on chewing gum stains.

5. Lena Dunham

Actress and writer Lena Dunham came out of the gate with her debut HBO project “ Girls ,” a television show that chronicled many of her real-life battles with OCD.

In an interview with Vogue , Dunham said her goal is to create more dialogue about anxiety by, “teaching kids from a young age that it’s as okay to say ‘I’m anxious as it is to say ‘I hit my knee.'”

6. Howard Stern

Longtime shock-jock and radio icon Howard Stern came clean about some of his OCD issues in a 2018 interview with David Letterman on Netflix.

Stern said at points in his career, he failed to address anxiety issues, telling Letterman that he used to spend hours in his bathroom before work just touching things.

“I’ve come to understand that this behavior is trying to control a world that is out of control,” he said on the show .

7. Fiona Apple

Recording artist and writer Fiona Apple  has been outspoken about her ongoing struggle with OCD.

Apple admitted that the disorder played a part in a seven-year delay between albums and, even now, says the disorder keeps her from traveling that much.

“I don’t go anywhere, except for Largo,” a Los Angeles venue, Apple confessed in an interview .

8. Justin Timberlake

Pop icon Justin Timberlake says his battle with OCD affects various aspects of his daily life.

Timberlake says he also deals with attention-deficit disorder (ADD), a condition that makes it hard to focus, among other symptoms.

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

9. Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel, a comedian, game show host and judge on “America’s Got Talent” has a long history of OCD.

The entertainment mainstay even wrote a book about his disorder called “Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me,” a reference to his germaphobic tendencies that keep him from interacting with his fans.

Mandel’s honesty about his mental health has made him an advocate for greater public awareness about OCD.

“If I didn’t take my meds, I wouldn’t be here,” Mandel announced in an interview. “I’d be locked in a room someplace.”

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21 Famous People and Celebrities with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Last Updated on

July 16th, 2023 02:21 pm

Table of Contents

Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel has been open about his OCD since he was diagnosed with it in the early 1980s. In one episode of his show, The Howie Mandel Show, he revealed he had problems washing his hands for years because he was afraid of getting sick. He would do everything possible to avoid being around sick people where he could contract germs.

Jessica Alba

Actress Jessica Alba also suffers from OCD. She told Oprah Winfrey that she has obsessive fears of contamination and fears that something bad will happen if she doesn’t wash her hands properly after using the bathroom. She said she can’t even use public restrooms because she feels like she might get sick just by touching them.

Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes was known as “the man who owned a million things” due to his obsession with collecting items. His collection included over 3,000 pairs of shoes, 1,200 hats, and 11 Rolls-Royces. He died penniless and alone in 1976.

Howard Stern

Stern is well known for having OCD. He admitted that he has obsessive fears of germs and dirt and that he washes his hands up to 100 times a day. He said that when he gets home from work, he showers immediately and then goes straight into bed.

Michael Jackson

Jackson was another famous person who suffered from severe OCD and was prescribed medication to help him cope with it. He was also known to have other mental health issues including depression and bipolar disorder.

Charlize Theron

Theron has spoken openly about her struggles with OCD tendencies. She said that she used to spend hours cleaning her house and showering every single day. She added that she still has some of those same habits today and they affect her daily life.

Megan Fox has talked openly about her struggle with compulsive behaviors. She said that she felt compelled to clean her entire apartment multiple times a day. She said that she couldn’t stop herself and that she felt ashamed of her behavior and how it affected her everyday life.

The US goalkeeper Tim Howard has spoken publicly about his own battle with OCD. He said that he spent most of his childhood trying to hide his symptoms so that no one else knew what he was going through.

Donald Trump

Trump is possibly the most famous person with the condition and has been open about his struggles with OCD. He has said that he spends hours each day scrubbing his hands and face. He has also said that he avoids shaking hands with people out of fear that he’ll spread germs.

Other Celebrities With OCD

There are many other celebrities with OCD too! These include:

• Barbara Sinatra
• Frank Sinatra
• Samuel Johnson
• Ian Puleston-Davies
• Harrison Ford
• Amanda Seyfried
• Shannon Purser
• Natalie Appleton
• Warren Zevon
• Albert Einstein
• Jon Richardson

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Doesn’t Have To Hold You Back

In summary, having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder isn’t something to be ashamed of. Rather, it’s a condition that can be treated successfully. With the right guidance and support, anyone can overcome their OCD and achieve great success.

Keep reading for more inspirational content!

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

12 celebrities who live with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Sometimes, our minds can be our worst enemies. No one understands that better than those living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a group that includes the OCD community here on the Mighty , as well as some of the world’s most famous actors, writers, and musicians. As author John Green put it, Intrusive thoughts can make you feel like a “passenger in [your] consciousness.” Compulsions, on the other hand, are time-consuming and can get in the way of your everyday life.

If you live with OCD, know that you’re not alone. According to the National Institute of Health , approximately 1.2% of American adults live with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a cycle of “uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions)” that interfere with your quality of life. Among them are many public figures you know and love. The celebrities listed here have shared their stories in hopes of helping others living with OCD to feel less alone.

1. Mara Wilson

“I was always a very anxious child,” writer and performer Mara Wilson told the Independent . Wilson, best known for her roles in “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Matilda,” has been living with OCD since she was eight years old, and struggled with anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

Wilson’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Wilson was very young. As her mother’s condition worsened, thoughts of “sickness and loss” flooded Wilson’s head.

“That’s when I started washing my hands obsessively until they were red and raw and chapped,” Wilson said. “That’s when I started thinking that certain numbers were good or bad, that’s when I started thinking ‘I can’t walk in that crack, I can’t walk through that door.’” She sometimes went days without sleeping or eating. She checked on the family pets “compulsively,” trying to protect them from the destruction she sensed everywhere.

Wilson was formally diagnosed when she was twelve years old. It was one of the best days of her life, she said, “because I knew that I was not alone anymore.”

Now, Wilson is a vocal mental health advocate. She hopes that by sharing her experiences, she can help others living with OCD. “There are so many of us out there with OCD,” she told the International OCD Foundation . “You are definitely not alone!”

2. John Green

In 1998, John Green was living in Moose Pass, Alaska, working at a gift shop. He was depressed but not suicidal, which made it difficult to understand the thoughts he spent almost every waking moment trying to suppress. It was only later that Green realized his experiences were part of his OCD .

“What I was experiencing is called invasive thoughts,” he wrote for Medium . “At the time I felt sort of like I was experiencing some kind of demonic possession.”

Eventually, Green sought help for his OCD, and got better “slowly,” through a combination of medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT.

In his most recent book, “ Turtles All the Way Down ,” Green tells a story about Aza Holmes, a teenage girl who lives with OCD. She describes her thoughts as spirals, ever-tightening and inescapable, a series of “light-swallowing wormholes.” Her OCD often terrifies and overwhelms her. But ultimately, her mental illness doesn’t get in the way of her happiness. “I know that girl would go on,” Aza writes to her younger self, “that she would grow up, have children and love them… that you’d go to college, find a job, make a life, see it built and unbuilt.”

3. Camila Cabello

Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello told Latina  her struggle with OCD began in late 2015. “I would wake up with a super-accelerated heartbeat and really negative, intrusive, compulsive thoughts,” she said. “I didn’t know what was happening.”

Her OCD was difficult to manage at times. Her thoughts were often difficult to control. “Everybody has different ways of handling stress,” she told  Cosmopolitan U.K. . “For me, if I get really stressed about something, I’ll start to have the same thought over and over again, and no matter how many times I get to the resolution, I feel like something bad is going to happen if I don’t keep thinking about it.”

For Cabello, being formally diagnosed with OCD went a long way towards helping her to “step back from it,” she said. “I feel much more in control of it now. To the point where I’m just like, ‘Aha! OK, this is just my OCD.” Moving forward, she wants to remind people who are struggling to “slow down and take care of yourself.”

“You can get help,” she said. “If you’re dedicated to making it better, you can.”

4. Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel, a Canadian performer best known for his work on “Deal or No Deal” and “America’s Got Talent,” has been living with OCD for as long as he can remember. “I’m always on the verge of death in my head,” he said, according to ABC News .

Germs are the biggest source of his anxiety. He refuses to shake people’s hands or touch handrails, and will not touch money unless it has been washed. As a child, he pretended not to know how to tie his shoelaces for years, opting to drag his feet everywhere rather than touch the dirty laces.

Even with all of these protective measures in place, Mandel’s thoughts still overwhelm him at times. “The biggest fear I have is being triggered,” Mandel said. “If I’m triggered and I get some weird thought in my head that can’t go, then my day is, is stopped. My life stops.”

Mandel uses his platform to raise awareness about OCD. In 2009, he published a book, “Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me,” where he speaks about his struggles with the illness. He even testified about his experiences in Congress. He hopes that in speaking openly about OCD, he can help to remove the stigma that has been attached to mental illness.

“You know, in the middle of a workday, wherever you work in America, if you got up and say, ‘I’m going to go to the dentist,’ nobody would even flinch,” Mandel said. An appointment with the psychiatrist should be treated the same way.

5. Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel, bestselling author of “ Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic ,” struggled with OCD as a child. “My actual obsessive-compulsive disorder started when I was ten,” she wrote.

Bechdel spent much of her energy avoiding “odd numbers and multiples of thirteen.” She could only step through a doorway if “the number of edges of flooring was even.” If she failed in this, she had to mutter a “special incantation” under her breath, along with hand gestures.

A filmy, “noxious substance” covered everything, and Bechdel found herself constantly brushing it out of her way. She spent several minutes every night lining up her shoes perfectly, so as not to give preference to one or the other (“The left one was my father, the right one was my mother”). In short, “life had become a laborious round of chores.”

Suga, lead rapper for K-pop band BTS , lives with OCD, depression and social anxiety. In his song, “ The Best ,” recorded on a solo mixtape, he raps about the “anguish” that can come with living with a mental health condition. “Depression, OCD/ They keep coming back from time to time,” he says. “At times I’m scared of myself.”

Mental illness and suicide are heavily stigmatized in Korean society, but Suga has been open about his struggles. In doing so, he’s helping break down the stigma attached to mental health conditions. Following K-pop idol Jonghyun’s death by suicide, Suga told Billboard , “I really sympathized with him.” He hopes that moving forward, those who are suffering won’t have to do so alone. He said:

I really want to say that everyone in the world is lonely and everyone is sad, and if we know that everyone is suffering and lonely, I hope we can create an environment where we can ask for help, and say things are hard when they’re hard, and say that we miss someone when we miss them.

7. Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford, a comedian who stars in Netflix’s “ Lady Dynamite ,” used to struggle with harm OCD, a subset of OCD, as well as bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. People living with harm OCD experience intrusive thoughts that involve hurting the people they love. Despite the distressing nature of these thoughts. they do not make people with OCD more prone to violence .

“When I was about nine years old,” Bamford told NPR , “I stopped being able to sleep at night ‘cause I had a fear that I was going to kill my parents.” When Bamford was thirty-five, she went into therapy for her OCD, which proved to be very effective. “Something that had plagued me for my entire life was gone,” she said.

Now, she uses her experiences with mental illness to make people laugh. It gives her hope to see that there’s a place for stories like hers in the world of comedy, and in society at large.“I’ve felt there’s been so much more support and openness about mental illness,” she told Vox . “It’s really wonderful.”

8. Corey Hirsch

“I can still recall the exact moment that my brain started lying to me,” Corey Hirsch, a retired NHL player, wrote for the Players’ Tribune . He was twenty-one years old when it happened, a “black ace” just getting his start in professional hockey. He was sitting in a bar with some other players when something shifted. “I had this thought. It was a horrible, ridiculous, dark thought,” he wrote of it.

He expected it to pass, like “a flash in your mind,” as most unwanted thoughts do. Instead, “it kept repeating and repeating.” And the more he tried to get it out of his head, the larger it loomed. “The thought hammered me,” he wrote. “I could barely breathe.”

The thoughts were still there when he lay down to sleep that night, and he woke up to them the next morning. Over the next few years, the thoughts grew steadily worse. He tried to end his life at twenty-two. Finally, about five years after that first day at the bar, he told his trainer what he had been going through. He knew that he would not survive otherwise.

Hirsch was diagnosed with OCD that year, which “changed everything.”

Now, Hirsch wants people who are struggling to know,  “there is help, and there is hope.”

“There is a light, however faint, in all this darkness. There is help out there for you. There is hope… you will reach the light.”

9. Rose Cartwright

When Rose Cartwright was five years old, she was sure the conflict in Bosnia “would come for my family,” she wrote for the Guardian .

When she was fifteen, an image of an undressed child flashed in her head. She sat back, horrified, feeling “the corners of [her] world” fold inwards. For years afterward, she would shudder in her bedroom alone of nights, begging God to forgive her the awful thoughts that had invaded her head. She would crawl into the bathroom and bite down on the toilet paper roll to prevent herself from screaming.

When she was twenty, after years of unwanted thoughts, doubts about her identity, and a suicide attempt, she finally found a name for the illness she had been living with for the past decade. A therapist confirmed her diagnosis, Since then, things have gotten slowly better.

Cartwright wrote a book, “Pure,” based on her experiences with primarily obsessional OCD also known as Pure O. Her book has since been adapted into a television show for Channel 4 in the U.K. She hopes that as more people learn about OCD, it will become less stigmatized. And she knows, now, her unwanted thoughts do not make her a bad person.

“I was not the author of them, I was the observer,” Cartwright wrote . “I’d been telling stories about myself in my mind my entire life. And I could let those stories go.”

10. Marc Summers

Marc Summers, best known for his work on “The Food Network” and Nickelodeon’s “Double Dare,” shared his experiences with OCD with Oprah Winfrey . “I would go down Madison Avenue and read a sign nine or ten times,” he said. “You tell yourself, if you don’t read the sign exactly, that the plane will crash on the way home. Meredith won’t get the part that she’s auditioning for.”

He said his compulsions ranged from “touching the wall a certain way” to making sure he entered a room using the right number of steps or cleaning.

Summers wrote a book about his experiences and recorded a series of videos for Freedom from Fear, a charity dedicated to helping people with mental illness.

11. Shannon Purser

Shannon Purser, an actor best known for her work on “Stranger Things” and “Sierra Burgess is a Loser,” lives with OCD and depression . She wrote about her experiences in an essay for Teen Vogue .

Purser was “raised religious,” she wrote, and with that upbringing came deeply ingrained notions of right and wrong. Lies, she said, were among the things she considered especially “sinful.” It was also something she’d done a lot as “a little kid,” and looking back as a teenager, Purser felt a tight coil of guilt growing in her stomach.

Once OCD was thrown into the mix, her fear of lying spiraled out of control. “I became obsessed with the idea I was being insincere,” Purser wrote. “I thought, what if I wasn’t really sorry? That would make me a liar.” She picked away at every sentence, trying to find the words that would allow her to “feel at peace.” A lot of the time, this was impossible. “I just decided not to talk,” Purser wrote.

Purser’s troubles with words were not the worst she would deal with in her struggles with OCD. “My disorder not only caused me to fixate on certain thoughts or images,” Purser wrote. “[It] curated ones that were specifically disturbing to me and bombarded me with them.” Intrusive thoughts that were “super-sexual or violent” pushed themselves to the fore, and seemed to worsen with time.

As the days wore on, it was not just Purser’s happiness that was under threat — her sense of self was crumbling beneath her. “I felt dangerous. I thought I deserved to die, and I felt utterly alone,” she wrote.

On one especially difficult night, Purser finally shared her feelings with her mother. And after stumbling across an article about OCD online, she realized that the thoughts she was having were due to a “treatable disorder.” There was nothing wrong with her at all.

Purser entered therapy and started taking medication. “I got better,” she wrote. “I learned to love life again. My problems didn’t go away, but they became much easier to face.”

If you struggle with OCD in any of its forms, you are not alone. There is a supportive community here at The Mighty that you can interact with by posting a thought or question with the #OCD.

For more about OCD, check out these articles:

• What You Need to Know About “Pure O” OCD
• 27 “Habits” of People Who Live With OCD

If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources .

If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or reach the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.

Follow #CheckInWithMe on The Mighty!

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25+ Celebrities And Famous People With OCD

List of Famous People with OCD, loosely ranked by fame and popularity. Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is an anxiety disorder that inflicts an individual with feelings of fear and worry that can only be released by engaging in particular obsessions or compulsions. People who suffer from OCD frequently are compelled into repetitive behaviors or actions that they recognize as irrational.

Who is the most famous person who has OCD? “Good Luck Chuck” star Jessica Alba tops our list. Alba says that her OCD stems from needing to control something. Her disorder does not impact her on the set. Cameron Diaz's OCD is a bit more severe. The “ Something About Mary ” actress has a fear of germs and does not like to touch door nobs. Other famous actresses who have OCD are Jennifer Love Hewitt, Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz.

Director Martin Scorsese has been diagnosed with OCD and he used the condition as inspiration when filming “The Aviator” about billionaire OCD sufferer Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Hughes, also suffers from OCD. Other actors who have the disorder include Charlie Sheen, Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin.

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Celebrities with OCD: Navigating Obsessions through Fame

M any celebrities with OCD have come forward in recent years to discuss their mental health concerns and journey with obsessive compulsive disorder. It's a mental health condition that can affect anyone, including those who are constantly in the limelight. OCD, like other mental health condition, does not discriminate on the basis of fame and status.

As is widely understood, OCD is accompanied by obsessions (powerful, intrusive thoughts, that the person wants to avoid) and compulsions (behaviors that an individual engages in an attempt to reduce the obsessions).

However, OCD is not about the preference for cleaning and organizing alone, which is a common misconception. Unfortunately, sometimes, the word gets used loosely, even by celebrities. Yet, there are several celebrities with OCD who have shared authentic experiences about this condition.

Celebrities with OCD: How Many Do You Recognize?

Several celebrities with OCD have shed light on something that often gets missed out--those in the spotlight become more susceptible to public criticism and discrimination.

It's also key to remember that there are various types of OCD , and not all celebrities with OCD experience the same type. Here's a brief list of celebrities who have openly shared their experiences with OCD.

1) Leonardo DiCaprio

Among the celebrities with OCD, even the most popular ones may be fighting a long battle with their condition, away from the public eye.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio speaks volumes about environmental causes and protection of ancient cultures. However, did you know that he struggles with obsessions of need for symmetry and balance? In an interview with The Mirror Dicaprio revealed,

"When I tell others that I have OCD, they think of it as a cleaning thing. This is not the case for me."

You may think that this might be a good trait for one to possess, but for a person with OCD, it can be a nightmare.

2) Justin Timberlake

As an actor and singer, symmetry can be an essential part of your work. However, for Justin, it comes in the form of an obsession to arrange objects in a straight line. Justin also revealed in a 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer,

"I have OCD mixed with ADD. You try living with that. It's complicated."

Like many other individuals with OCD, this tendency comes from the need to control outcomes, or rather, your environment. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder . When plagued with anxiety, you feel a loss of control, and by engaging in compulsions, you gain some control.

3) Cameron Diaz

Former model and actress Cameron Diaz has been candid about her experiences with OCD. Diaz, for the longest time, has reportedly feared germs. This is often clubbed under contamination type of OCD .

In a 2014 interview with Good Housekeeping Magazine, Diaz revealed that,

"I had a phobia of germs, but have made peace with it."

4) Howie Mandel

Howie Mandel is best known as a comedian and host, who has been active in talking about the experiences of living with OCD. Like Diaz, Mandel experiences contamination OCD.

As a consequence of the condition, Mandel fears physical contact. Howie has also written a autobigography about his intense fears called Here Is the Deal: Don't Touch Me . He reveals in the book,

"I like to fist bump people and keep my head shaved."

5) BTS Suga

Suga, a member of the South Korean band BTS, has used his global representation to talk about mental health in general and his own experiences. Suga has also spoken candidly about depression and OCD in his songs.

In a round of interviews with Rolling Stone, Suga also spoke about the importance of letting your emotions out, rather than bottling them all up. Suga also shed light on his emotions and thoughts,

"They need to be discussed and expressed. Whatever emotions that I may be feeling, I'm always ready to express them now."

6) Camila Cabello

Camila Cabello has also shed light on her experiencing shame and stigma that stopped her from seeking help for anxiety and OCD for a long time. In an early 2020 essay, Cabello revealed in Wall Street Journal,

"Far from being a sign of weakness, owning our struggles and taking the steps to heal is powerful."

Cabello's experience of anxiety and mental health has not been an easy one. She has used an integrated approach with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, meditation, breath work, and self-care that helped her manage her OCD.

Famous people with OCD are just like any of us, when it comes to managing their mental health. No one is blessed with an excellent mental health, rather everyone works and strives to make it better.

Just like the celebrities with OCD, its essential for you to know that talking about your symptoms doesn't make you weak. Rather, doing something for your well-being makes you better. At the same time, it is important to view these celebrities with OCD from an empathetic lens and allow them to recover in their private space.

Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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Home / Blog / Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Sophie’s story

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Sophie’s story

Sophie is a 26-year-old mental health advocate who has lived with OCD for 11 years. She won a Bill Pringle Award with Rethink Mental Illness for her poem on managing OCD in 2019 and has spoken publicly about her experience on radio and on social media. She is open and vocal about mental health and mental illness because she knows first-hand how isolating and scary it can be in the beginning.

“I just felt guilty all the time about every small thing that, before OCD, wouldn’t really have bothered me at all, and I needed people to tell me I was a good person.”

Obsessive compulsive disorder

OCD is a chronic and potentially debilitating mental health condition in which an individual has uncontrollable (“obsessive”) thoughts or images and compulsive behaviours that can be distressing, frightening and upsetting.

The myths that annoy me – and the truth about them

Ocd is characterized by the desire to keep yourself and/or your space clean..

False. While the compulsion to clean isn’t unheard of among individuals with OCD, cleanliness and OCD aren’t mutually exclusive and the compulsion to clean shouldn’t be considered a choice or desire. Instead, they may feel that it is mandatory in order to find relief.

Everyone is “a little bit OCD.”

False. You cannot be a “little bit” OCD. OCD isn’t an adjective – it’s a complex disorder that affects only 1-2% of people and can be incredibly difficult to manage without the appropriate treatment and care.

OCD can be cured.

False . While this may sound daunting, OCD can be effectively controlled and managed with treatment that suits the individual, allowing them to live a healthy, happy life.

My symptoms When my OCD first started I thought it was simply anxiety, but after doing some research into mental health I realised it was OCD. I felt guilty and paranoid for most of the day with very little relief, overthinking every little bit of whatever thought or image was in my head at the time. I would wake up with palpitations and struggle sleeping because I couldn’t stop ruminating. Logical thought takes a back seat with OCD. When your brain wants to convince you that you’re a bad person, it will give you lots of evidence to try and support it. When you don’t know how to fight back, it can be truly terrifying – you’re defenceless.

My lowest moments I began to worry about leaving the house because I couldn’t determine what situation might trigger another intrusive thought, and that lack of control over your own thought process can completely take over your daily life. When I did leave the house, I would avoid the people or things that were involved in my thoughts, otherwise I struggled to cope. I would experience the same recurring intrusive thought or image for months at a time and would only find (albeit short-lived) peace when I was completely distracted.

I haven’t experienced many compulsions, but my primary one was reassurance-seeking or “confessing.” I constantly felt guilty for my thoughts and at my lowest point, when it became overwhelming, I would find myself asking my mum or partner to remind me that I am a good person, but my brain didn’t seem to want to believe it. It was a terrifying circle – an intrusive thought would come in, I’d panic and ruminate, find someone to “confess” to and the process would start all over again. This lasted for a number of years before I discovered that it was only making my OCD worse.

My way forward After two failed attempts at seeking help via public and private mental health services, I admittedly haven’t been very lucky with professional help and so had to learn to manage my OCD on my own, with the additional support of a select few trusted friends and family. As such, I trained in mental health first aid and undertook a lot of personal research, not only to help myself but to help others like me. I’m the nominated mental health champion at my place of work, though I generally remain a passionate advocate for mental health in all aspects of my life, and I will continue to help others for as long as I possibly can. I also love to write and have found solace in writing about my OCD via reflective poetry.

Why I’m sharing my story When I felt my lowest, when I felt there was no escape, it wasn’t professional help that ultimately helped me but the experiences of others with OCD or who know about OCD. It was the advice of mental health charities, the blog pages of people with lived experience and the never-ending stream of support I had that helped me to help myself. I’m very proud that I can now manage my OCD successfully and, if I ever find myself feeling low or overwhelmed, I know that I can overcome it. I see my OCD as an enduring and experienced reflection of myself – it is no longer a threat.

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A True Story of Living With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

An authentic and personal perspective of the internal battles within the mind..

Posted April 3, 2017

• What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
• Find a therapist to treat OCD

Contributed by Tiffany Dawn Hasse in collaboration with Kristen Fuller, M.D.

The underlying reasons why I have to repeatedly re-zip things, blink a certain way, count to an odd number, check behind my shower curtain to ensure no one is hiding to plot my abduction, make sure that computer cords are not rat tails, etc., will never be clear to me. Is it the result of a poor reaction to the anesthesiology that was administered during my wisdom teeth extraction? These aggravating thoughts and compulsions began immediately after the procedure. Or is it related to PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infection) which is a proposed theory connoting a strange relationship between group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection with rapidly developing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the basal ganglia? Is it simply a hereditary byproduct of my genetic makeup associated with my nervous personality ? Or is it a defense tactic I developed through having an overly concerned mother?

The consequences associated with my OCD

Growing up with mild, in fact dormant, obsessive-compulsive disorder, I would have never proposed such bizarre questions until 2002, when an exacerbated overnight onset of severe OCD mentally paralyzed me. I'd just had my wisdom teeth removed and was immediately bombarded with incessant and intrusive unwanted thoughts, ranging from a fear of being gay to questioning if I was truly seeing the sky as blue. I'm sure similar thoughts had passed through my mind before; however, they must have been filtered out of my conscious, as I never had such incapacitating ideas enter my train of thought before. During the summer of 2002, not one thought was left unfiltered from my conscious. Thoughts that didn't even matter and held no significance were debilitating; they prevented me from accomplishing the simplest, most mundane tasks. Tying my shoe only to untie it repetitively, continuously being tardy for work and school, spending long hours in a bathroom engaging in compulsive rituals such as tapping inanimate objects endlessly with no resolution, and finally medically withdrawing from college, eventually to drop out completely not once but twice, were just a few of the consequences I endured.

Seeking help

After seeing a medical specialist for OCD, I had tried a mixed cocktail of medications over a 10-year span, including escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), risperidone (Risperdal), aripiprazole (Abilify), sertraline (Zoloft), clomipramine (Anafranil), lamotrigine (Lamictal), and finally, after a recent bipolar disorder II diagnosis, lurasidone (Latuda). The only medication that has remotely curbed my intrusive thoughts and repetitive compulsions is lurasidone, giving me approximately 60 to 70 percent relief from my symptoms.

Many psychologists and psychiatrists would argue that a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacological management might be the only successful treatment approach for an individual plagued with OCD. If an individual is brave enough to undergo exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), a type of CBT that has been shown to relieve symptoms of OCD and anxiety through desensitization and habituation, then my hat is off to them; however, I may have an alternative perspective. It's not a perspective that has been researched or proven in clinical trials — just a coping mechanism I have learned through years of suffering and endless hours of therapy that has allowed me to see light at the end of the tunnel.

In my experience with cognitive behavioral therapy, it may be semi-helpful by deconstructing or cognitively restructuring the importance of obsessive thoughts in a hierarchical order; however, I still encounter many problems with this type of technique, especially because each and every OCD thought that gets stuck in my mind, big or small, tends to hold great importance. Thoughts associated with becoming pregnant , seeing my family suffer, or living with rats are deeply rooted within me, and simply deconstructing them to meaningless underlying triggers was not a successful approach for me.

In the majority of cases of severe OCD, I believe pharmacological management is a must. A neurological malfunction of transitioning from gear to gear, or fight-or-flight, is surely out of whack and often falsely fired, and therefore, medication works to help balance this misfiring of certain neurotransmitters.

Exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) is an aggressive and abrasive approach that did not work for me, although it may be helpful for militant-minded souls that seek direct structure. When I was enrolled in the OCD treatment program at UCLA, I had an intense fear of gaining weight, to the point that I thought my body could morph into something unsightly. I remember being encouraged to literally pour chocolate on my thighs when the repetitive fear occurred that chocolate, if touching my skin, could seep through the epidermal layers, and thus make my thighs bigger. While I boldly mustered up the courage to go through with this ERP technique recommended by my specialist, the intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors associated with my OCD still and often abstain these techniques. Yes, the idea of initially provoking my anxiety in the hope of habituating and desensitizing its triggers sounds great in theory, and even in a technical scientific sense; but as a human with real emotions and feelings, I find this therapy aggressive and infringing upon my comfort level.

How I conquered my OCD

So, what does a person incapacitated with OCD do? If, as a person with severe OCD, I truly had an answer, I would probably leave my house more often, take a risk once in a while, and live freely without fearing the mundane nuances associated with public places. It's been my experience with OCD to take everything one second at a time and remain grateful for those good seconds. If I were to take OCD one day at a time, well, too many millions of internal battles would be lost in this 24-hour period. I have learned to live with my OCD through writing and performing as a spoken word artist. I have taken the time to explore my pain and transmute it into an art form which has allowed me to explore the topic of pain as an interesting and beneficial subject matter. I am the last person to attempt to tell any individuals with OCD what the best therapy approach is for them, but I will encourage each and every individual to explore their own pain, and believe that manageability can come in many forms, from classic techniques to intricate art forms, in order for healing to begin.

Tiffany Dawn Hasse is a performance poet, a TED talk speaker , and an individual successfully living with OCD who strives to share about her disorder through her art of written and spoken word.

Kristen Fuller M.D. is a clinical writer for Center For Discovery.

Facebook image: pathdoc/Shutterstock

Kristen Fuller, M.D., is a physician and a clinical mental health writer for Center For Discovery.

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Here's Why An OCD Specialist Has Called Dax Shepard's Latest Comments On OCD "Grossly" Misrepresentative

Dax called OCD "super beneficial," which, in my experience, it ain't.

BuzzFeed Staff

Alright, let's talk about Dax Shepard's latest comments about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

It all started when Dax, who has previously said that he has OCD and struggled with it as a child, recently had Camila Cabello on his Armchair Expert podcast. Camila has long been candid about having OCD, saying in 2020 that she had been "experiencing what felt like constant, unwavering, relentless anxiety that made day-to-day life painfully hard."

In the interview, Camila talks about having OCD, noting that she instead calls it "obsessionality" with her therapist as she finds the term "disorder" to be triggering. Podcast cohost Monica Padman comments, "You have an obsessive nature," which Dax adds "is a superpower."

"Part of me is like, stop trying to euphemize everything," Dax continued. "It is weird to call OCD a disorder because it's a personality type and it's super beneficial."

Let's get real here: I came across this clip because I have OCD. It was posted by Alegra Kastens, a licensed therapist and the founder of the Center for OCD, Anxiety, and Eating Disorders. " Dax Shepard grossly misrepresented OCD in his interview with Camila Cabello in front of millions of listeners," she began.

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"OCD is not a personality type. It is a mental health condition. People tend to misrepresent OCD and say things like, 'Oh, we're all a little bit OCD' because they think that OCD is an adjective to describe being organized, often confusing OCD with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder," she continued.

As for what ocd is, she succinctly explained, "ocd involves obsessions. so repetitive, unwanted, intrusive thoughts and images that are distressing to the person. things like, 'what if i'm attracted to animals what if i'm a pedophile i could snap and hurt someone right now.' compulsions [are] excessive and time-consuming mental or physical acts performed to alleviate anxiety, get rid of the thoughts, or prevent something bad from happening.".

She called OCD "ego-dystonic," which means it is fundamentally at odds with the person experiencing the disorder: "The obsessions and compulsions are opposite to a person's values and self-concept. They are distressing to the person. Imagine having the scariest thing that you could ever think of replaying in your head all day long. How beneficial is that to someone?"

Alegra further mentioned a 2017 Swedish study that suggested those with OCD are 10 times more likely to kill themselves than people without OCD. 

In a follow-up call with BuzzFeed, Alegra told me, "Leaving his diagnosis aside, because I don't know what it is that he struggles with, a lot of people confuse OCD with OCPD [Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder]. And I think that that is what was happening on the podcast. I can't be certain because I'm not in his head."

"OCPD can also be very distressing for a person or the people around the person. I think even characterizing OCPD as something that's super beneficial would be inaccurate," she continued. "People with OCPD, who might be preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and control, tend to align with that."

As the International OCD Foundation puts it, OCPD is characterized by" Rigid adherence to rules and regulations, an overwhelming need for order, unwillingness to yield or give responsibilities to others, and a sense of righteousness about the way things 'should be done.'"

When asked why Dax's words could be harmful, Alegra replied, "OCD is such a misunderstood condition, so much so that it often takes on average about 10 to 15 years for someone with OCD to get a diagnosis and treatments. And a lot of the misinformation stems from confusing OCD with OCPD."

"it further exacerbates misinformation that keeps people suffering in silence because they can't reconcile, 'wait, i'm having terrifying intrusive sexual thoughts about my dog' with 'this person is saying that ocd is a personality trait that's beneficial,'" she said..

Indeed, OCD is likely to make the person fear   that their intrusive thoughts might be real — such as the aforementioned unwelcome sexual thoughts — meaning that they're less likely to bring it up with another person or call it out as OCD.

"In the episode, Camila says that she doesn't consider it a disorder. I am totally fine with people using language that makes sense for them. But my problem is when language gets put on to other people when it's inaccurate," Alegra continued.

"I'm not saying that Camilla or Dax can't feel whatever way it is about OCD if they have it. But, scientifically speaking, it is just not a beneficial condition."

Personally, Dax's words reminded me of a wonderful personal essay I read in the Cut called "Could I Still Be Ambitious Without My OCD?" In it, the author poses a question I and many others have wondered: What if treating my mental illness makes me less successful? It's a way of thinking that will ultimately cause the OCD to thrive in ways that will ultimately be detrimental.

For me, I try to separate the harmful experiences (such as obsessions about losing my job) from the positive (I am also a passionate person who cares a lot about my work). I can be in OCD recovery and still keep those positive things because I am successful despite mental illness, not because of it.  

None of this even gets into how success is defined in terms of capitalism, and I would humbly argue that wealth, accolades, or praise are of little worth if you're tortured inside. 

Listen, I was hesitant to cover this as I know that the clip of Dax didn't get much attention beyond some online OCD circles. But, on the off chance that you've clicked on this and either learned something about OCD or felt affirmed, it will have been worth it.

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Juvenile obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case report

Vikas menon.

Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the more disabling and potentially chronic anxiety disorders that occurs in several medical settings. However, it is often under-recognized and under-treated. The condition is now known to be prevalent among children and adolescents. Obsessional images as a symptom occur less frequently than other types of obsessions. In this report, we describe a young boy who presented himself predominantly with obsessional images. The diagnostic and treatment challenges in juvenile OCD are discussed.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a clinically heterogeneous disorder with many possible subtypes.[ 1 ] The lifetime prevalence of OCD is around 2-3%.[ 2 ] Evidence points to a bimodal distribution of the age of onset, with studies of juvenile OCD finding a mean age at onset of around 10 years, and adult OCD studies finding a mean age at onset of 21 years.[ 2 , 3 ] Treatment is often delayed in childhood OCD as sufferers tend to view their symptoms as nonsensical and are often embarrassed to talk about it. Among the different forms of obsessions described, obsessional images are encountered less frequently in clinical practice. In this report, we discuss the case of a young boy who presented himself with predominantly obsessional images.

CASE REPORT

A 12-year-old boy studying in the 8 th grade was brought to the Psychiatry Outpatient Department with complaints of academic decline. Upon exploration the boy reported 2 years duration of symptoms that were characterized by intrusive, unpleasant and repetitive gory images of people engaged in violence or soaked in blood that interfered with his ability to study. He would have distressing palpitations, tremors and fearfulness simultaneously when he experiences these images and stated that they were contrary to his innate “peaceful nature” and “habitual thinking patterns.” He recognized these as absurd and irrational but claimed to be powerless in stopping them. Techniques to counter them like chanting hymns did not provide any tangible relief. Other repetitive behaviors like putting on switches repeatedly and counting objects in sets of five were being done by him as it “just didn’t feel right otherwise.” Of these, he clearly identified the repeated occurrence of the unpleasant images as the one that distressed him the most. When he presented to us, his scholastic performance was on the decline and this had led to strained relations with his parents. Initial explanations by the patient that he was “unable to concentrate” cut no ice with his family. It was only when the child mustered enough courage to tell his mother the details about the repeated images that his parents decided to seek help for him. The child was developmentally normal. Physical examination was unremarkable. Screening for organicity was negative. We made a diagnosis of OCD and he was started on 50 mg of fluvoxamine which was subsequently hiked to 100 mg. In addition, 0.5 mg of clonazepam was added to control the anxiety symptoms. Psychoeducation was given to the parents and child in order to alleviate their distress and reduce critical/hostile comments by the family. Currently with this regimen, the patient reports 50% improvement and his school performance has improved to their subjective satisfaction.

The above case is being reported for its rather unique and different presentation and to highlight the issues involved in diagnosis and management of pediatric OCD cases. Washing, grooming, checking rituals, and preoccupation with disease, danger, and doubt are the most commonly reported symptoms in childhood onset OCD.[ 4 ] However, in this case, obsessional images were the predominant symptom. OCD in children often takes inordinate time to come to clinical attention because patients may not readily describe their symptoms and family may not be willing to consider psychological causation as in the present case. Often family may inadvertently reinforce the compulsive behaviors of their off springs by compensating/participating in them and thus allowing them to continue functioning thinking that these behaviors will die a natural death. This phenomenon has been referred to as “family accommodation” in OCD and has been found to be correlated with poor family functioning and negative attitudes towards the patient.[ 5 ] Therefore, it is important to interview the parents and other associated family members about the context and burden of the obsessive-compulsive symptoms in children. This must be combined with a detailed assessment of the dysfunction in various areas – scholastic/self-care and socialization in order to elicit the true impact of symptoms. Structured instruments like the Children's Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale[ 6 ] are available to measure the symptom severity in young. Recently, a self-report version has been developed and found to correlate well with the original version.[ 7 ] This may be beneficial in settings like ours where clinician time and resources are limited. It has been proposed that juvenile OCD may be a developmental subtype of the disorder with its own unique correlates that differ from adult OCD. Some of the differences noted are the higher male preponderance, increased familial loading, frequent lack of insight, comorbidity with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders, major depression, tic disorders, and poorer response to treatment with antiobsessional medications in juvenile OCD.[ 3 , 8 ] This could have important implications for case management and research. More work needs to be done to outline the course of juvenile OCD and to ascertain the persistence of clinical features into adulthood.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a common disabling psychiatric condition that occurs across the life span. The diagnosis and management of pediatric OCD cases offer unique challenges. Clinicians must be alert to the possibility of obsessive-compulsive symptoms when evaluating children with emotional and behavioral disorders. We propose that screening questions to rule out OCD must be a part of routine mental status examination in children and adolescents. The management must include a combination of pharmacologic and behavioral treatments that are likely to have variable success rates.

Source of Support: Nil

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

The truth about OCD – separating fact from fiction

Despite many people saying we are all ‘a little’ OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a serious condition which can have a major impact

There’s a myth that obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is simply straightening up cans in the kitchen cupboard, Sleeping With The Enemy style, or that it revolves mainly around fanatical hand-washing.

A term often used in jest to describe someone who is particular and organised, in reality, OCD is an anxiety-related condition. It affects around 1.2 per cent of the population and manifests in repetitive behaviors and intrusive thoughts that can be debilitating.

Among many misconceptions about OCD, we take a look at what’s true and what’s not. 

OCD is just a fixation with being clean and tidy

This could not be further from the truth, says David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, a visiting professor in cognitive behavioural psychotherapies at King’s College London and the co-author of Overcoming OCD .

“OCD is often misconceived as a bit of a joke but there are several different types of OCD, including feeling excessive responsibility for causing harm – for example, fear and doubt about being responsible for a fire or a road traffic accident – which can lead to frequent checking or seeking reassurance,” he explains.

“People with OCD can also become overwhelmed by unacceptable thoughts, doubts and images – for example, an irrational fear of being a paedophile or rapist or blasphemous thoughts – and a need for order, symmetry or completeness in objects.”

These symptoms are driven by fear and anxiety about the worst-case scenario that they will be responsible for causing harm in some way, says Veale.

OCD is usually manageable and easy to overcome

Barbara Sahakian, a professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, says OCD can take many different forms and be debilitating to some.

“Many people with severe OCD are trapped in their house or flat for fear of being contaminated if they touch anything outside, for example on public transport, or in shops or restaurants,” Prof Sahakian notes.

Difficulty with excessive checking can lead to some people needing to try to leave for work hours before it is necessary so that they can repeatedly check windows and doors or whether the oven is switched off, says Prof Sahakian.

“Children at school and students at university often take much longer to complete tasks as a result of checking behaviour, which can have a detrimental impact on their day-to-day lives.”

OCD is easy to diagnose

Veale says that OCD usually develops during adolescence but is often not picked up or diagnosed until much later. “It usually takes another 10 years or so after adolescence for someone with OCD to be referred to mental health services, when it has become distressing and started interfering in a person’s life,” he notes.

For example, it might have impacted someone’s ability to study or work, or had a negative impact on their friendships and relationships with their partner or family.

There is no effective treatment for OCD

Alex Sergent, the founder of TinTClub, an investment club for entrepreneurs, diagnosed himself with OCD while at university when he became so worried about forgetting things he became obsessed with writing post-it notes and kept writing the same things down on repeat.

CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is often prescribed as a treatment for OCD but Sergent didn’t find it very effective. It was EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) therapy, a new technique which helps you process trauma through eye movement, that helped him manage it much better. He was also on anti-depressants for a time. 

“I used to experience negative thoughts on a loop and spend half an hour at a time going over the same thought again and again but, through EMDR, meditation and exercise, I have learned to try and see my OCD as a positive in some ways too. I often tell people I have it to help them understand my behaviour,” he notes.

OCD is a personality quirk

Often put down to being a minor personality quirk or trait, the psychologist Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley says that trivialising such a complex condition as a quirk or foible is harmful. “In fact, it is a clinically recognised mental health disorder that significantly impairs daily functioning and quality of life. It can cause significant distress and disruption in various areas of life, including work, relationships and social activities.”

It’s essential to differentiate between typical behaviours or quirks and the clinically significant symptoms of OCD, says Dr Goddard-Crawley.

We are all ‘a little’ OCD

While it’s true that OCD may – similar to other neurodiverse conditions such as ADHD or autism – be on a spectrum, it’s not fair or reasonable to say that we are all “a little” OCD, says Veale.

“It’s very demeaning to people living with OCD to say we all have it and what that phrase actually relates to is an obsessive compulsive personality – i.e. a person who is a perfectionist, tidy, likes order, is very conscientious or, perhaps, someone who has difficulty being playful or creative,” Veale says. “But that is not OCD, which is driven by fear and anxiety.”

OCD is just something people have to live with

Sometimes known as the “secret illness”, the idea that people should just soldier on with it and not seek help for treatment is damaging, says Dr Goddard-Crawley.

“OCD can lead to feelings of shame, embarrassment and isolation, as individuals may attempt to conceal their symptoms or avoid triggering situations. But the distress caused by OCD profoundly affects mental health and overall quality of life.”

If someone thinks they may be suffering with OCD, they should seek treatment, ask for a referral from their GP or find out more from OCD UK .  

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Case Study of a Middle-Aged Woman’s OCD Treatment Using CBT and ERP Technique

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Research Article | DOI: https://doi.org/10.31579/2690-8794/102

• Deepshikha Paliwal 1*
• Anamika Rawlani 2

1 M.Sc. Clinical Psychology, Dev Sanskriti University, Ranchi, India. 2 M.Phil Clinical Psychology, RINPAS Ranchi, India.

*Corresponding Author: Deepshikha Paliwal, M.Sc. Clinical Psychology, Dev Sanskriti University, Ranchi, India.

Citation: Deepshikha Paliwal and Anamika Rawlani (2022) Case Study of a Middle-Aged Woman’s OCD Treatment Using CBT and ERP Technique. Clinical Medical Reviews and Reports 4(3): DOI: 10.31579/2690-8794/102

Copyright: © 2022, Deepshikha Paliwal, This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: 01 September 2021 | Accepted: 04 December 2021 | Published: 10 January 2022

Keywords: OCD; CBT; ERP; salkovskis’s model

Introduction : This is a case report of a middle-aged woman, who was experiencing “obsessive” thoughts related to the “Bindi” (decorative piece wear by women on the forehead) and cleaning “compulsions”. Present case report discusses the patient’s assessment, case formulation, treatment plan and the effectiveness of the CBT and ERP sessions in reducing OCD symptoms.

Methodology: The patient was treated with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) along with Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) technique. The assessment of the case was done with the Y-BOCS rating scale, Beck’s Depression Inventory, Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire, and Behavior Analysis Performa which suggested the higher severity level of the patient’s symptoms. Parallel to the assessment sessions, detailed case history related to the onset of the problem, difficulties faced because of the disorder, childhood incidences, family chart, marital issues, and medical history were discussed with the patient. Based on the reported details, the case was formulated according to the Salkovoskis inflated sense of responsibility model.  After the case formulation, the treatment plan was designed which involved ERP sessions and restructuring of the cognitive distortions (beliefs, thoughts, and attitude). 

Results: After the completion of the twenty-five therapy sessions, the patient reported improvement in the coping of anxiety-provoking thoughts and reduced level of the washing compulsions. The effects of the therapy were checked and found maintained up to two months follow up.

Conclusion: CBT and ERP technique is an effective treatment in reducing obsessive and compulsive symptoms of the patient. 

Have you ever felt like a sudden urge to hurt somebody? What if such urges continuously appear in your head? What would you do to stop these urges? Would you be able to continue your day to day life normally with such urges?  Clinical Psychologists studied the repetitive occurrence of unwelcoming thoughts, urges, doubts, and images which create anxiety. They gave it the term “Obsessions”. These obsessions are dreadful, frightening, and intolerable to the extent that they might hinder the natural flow of one’s personal, professional, and social life. The person who suffers from such anxiety-provoking thoughts tries to deal with the distress caused by such ‘obsessions’ by adopting some behavior or activity which temporarily relieve them from the anxiety and the feared consequences. This behavior could be anything like washing hands, cleaning, repeatedly checking the door, or repeating some phrases in the head. Psychologists called such repetitive behaviors or activities as “Compulsions”. According to APA (1994), if the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions is time-consuming (more than an hour a day), cause major distress, and impair work, social, or other important functions then the person will be diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Recent epidemiological studies suggest that OCD affects between 1.9 to 2.5% of the world population at some point in their lives, creating great difficulties on a professional, academic and social level (DSM-IV-TR, 2001). OCD affects all cultural and ethnic groups and, unlike many related disorders, males and females are equally affected by this disorder (Rasmussen & Eisen, 1992). OCD is one of the most incapacitating of anxiety disorders having been rated as a leading cause of disability by the World Health Organization (1996).  The major cause of OCD is still unknown; there could be some genetic components responsible for it (DSM-5). Child abuse or any stress-inducing event could be the risk factor involved in the history of OCD patients. The severity of the symptoms related to obsessions and compulsions provides the basis of the diagnosis in OCD which rules out any other drug-related or medical causes. Clinical Psychologists use rating scales like Y-BOCS (Fenske & Schwenk, 2009), self-reports, and Behavior Analysis Performa to assess the severity level of the symptoms. Based on the severity, the treatment plan is designed. Treatment of OCD involves psychotherapy and antidepressants. Psychotherapy such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an effective psycho-social treatment of OCD (Beck, 2011). In CBT, a “problem-focused” approach is used to treat the diagnosed psychological disorder by challenging and changing core beliefs, negative automatic thoughts, and cognitive distortions of the patient. CBT involves Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) as a technique to treat OCD in which the patient is exposed to the cause of the problem and not allowed to repeat the ritual behavior (Grant, 2014).  ERP has promising results with 63% of OCD patients showing favorable responses after following the therapy sessions (Stanley & Turner, 1995). 

This is a case of a 31 years old woman, who belongs to a middle socio-economic background, currently living with her in-laws, husband, and daughter. The patient was experiencing obsessive thoughts related to the contamination spread by ‘bindi’ along with the compulsive behavior of washing and cleaning from the last five years. The patient reported that she always tried to check the contact of ‘Bindi’ with anything because that contact makes her incapacitate to control the situation. She took two and three hours (on daily basis) in washing and cleaning her home, scrubbing her daughter, cleaning the daughter’s school bag after returning from school, husband’s bag, and other usable items, so that she can stop the contamination from spreading everywhere. The patient has a history of facing interpersonal issues with family members since her childhood. Her father was alcohol dependent and the mother was the patient of depression. The financial condition of the family was not good. When the patient was 17 years old, her father died due to kidney failure, and her mother got hospitalized because of depression. From a very young age, the patient had to bear the responsibility of the family by taking tuitions. At first, she developed the fear of contamination at the age of 19, when she was in her graduation’s first year, for that she was taken to the Psychiatrist. She responded well to the medicines and stopped showing all the symptoms. At the age of 25, when the patient got pregnant she again developed the fear of contamination, which made her husband and in-laws uncomfortable and family disputes began. Her husband took her to the psychiatrist who referred her for the psychotherapy but she didn’t attend the psychotherapy sessions properly and continuously lived with the obsessions and compulsions up to the present referral where the patient was assessed with Y-BOCS rating scale, BDI, EBQ, and Behavioral Analysis Performa. Based on the assessment, she was diagnosed with OCD having symptoms of obsessions related to the contamination by ‘Bindi’ and washing compulsions. Detailed case history related to the onset of the problem, childhood incidences, family history, marital history, medical history, and other relevant information were also collected. The case was formulated according to Salkovoskis’s inflated sense of responsibility model as the patient’s reported details were signifying the negative interpretations of her responsibility for self and others. After the case formulation, the treatment plan was designed which involved sessions of ERP technique along with the alteration of cognitive distortions (ideas, beliefs, and attitudes) through the cognitive restructuring method of CBT. 

1. Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS): 

In cognitive-behavioral studies, Y-BOCS is used to rate the symptoms of OCD. This scale was designed by Goodman et al. (1989) to know the baseline and the recovery rate of the ‘severity of obsessions’, ‘severity of compulsions’ and ‘resistance to symptoms’. This is a five-point Likert scale that clinicians administer through a semi-structured interview in which a higher score indicates higher disturbances. The excellent psychometric properties of this scale quantify the severity of the obsessions and compulsions as well as provide valuable qualitative information which makes it very useful for both diagnosis of the OCD and the designing of its treatment plan. 

2. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI):

Aaron T. Beck (1988) developed BAI as a four-point Likert scale which consists of 21 items of ‘0 to 3’ scores on each item (Higher score means higher anxiety). If the Patient’s scores are from 0 to 7 then interpret as ‘minimal anxiety’, 8 to 15 as ‘mild anxiety’, 16 to 25 as ‘moderate anxiety’, and 30 to 63 as ‘severe anxiety’.  BAI assesses common cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety disorder and is considered effective in discriminating between the person with or without an anxiety disorder. This scale provides valuable clinical information but is not used by clinicians for diagnostic purposes. 

3. Obsessive Belief Questionnaire (OBQ):

OBQ is used to assess the beliefs and appraisals of OCD patients which are critical to their pathogenesis of obsessions (OCCWG, 1997, 2001). This scale consists of 87 belief statements within six subscales which represent key belief domains of OCD. The first subscale is ‘Control of thoughts’ (14 items), the second is ‘importance of thoughts’ (14 items), third is, responsibility (16 items), fourth is ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ (13 items), the fifth is an overestimation of threat (14 items), and sixth is ‘perfectionism’ (16 items). Response on this measure is the general level of agreement of the respondents with the items on a 7 point rating scale that ranges from (-3) “disagree very much” to (+3) “agree very much”. On the respective items summing of the scores is done to calculate the subscale scores.

4. Behavior Analysis Performa

This study used ‘Behavior Analysis Performa’ to do the functional analysis of the patient’s behavior. This Performa collects the details of the patient’s behavioral excess, deficits, and assets, his or her motivational factors behind maintaining and reinforcing ill behaviors, as well as, the medical, cultural, and social factors which contributed to the development of the illness. 

Based on the reported details and the assessment, the case was formulated according to the Salkovoskis model (1985). This model suggests that the patient’s main negative interpretation revolves around the idea that his or her actions might have harmful outcomes for self or others. This interpretation of responsibility increases selective attention and maintains negative beliefs (Salkovskis, 1987). Here, in this case, the patient had to face the disturbing family environment which significantly has a role in the formation of maladaptive schemas related to her negative view of self, the world, and the future. The patient’s beliefs assessment reports signified that her major dysfunctional assumptions were ‘if harm is very unlikely, I should try to prevent it at any cost’ and ‘if I don’t act when I foresee danger then I am to blame for any consequences’. Intrusive thought for her was that ‘bindi contaminates dirt’ and neutralizing action for this intrusive thought was ‘washing and cleaning things’. She paid her keen attention to the thought that ‘I should not be get touched with bindi’ and misinterpreted and over signified it by avoiding bindi and preventing the contamination. Her safety behavior included avoiding going out, (especially beauty parlors and cosmetic shops), and getting touched with anyone on roads and market places. The result of such avoidance was tiredness, anxiousness, aggressiveness, and distressed mood state. The graphical representation of the case formulation is shown in Appendix 1 at the end of this paper.

After the case formulation, the treatment plan was designed. The patient had dysfunctional assumptions related to her responsibility for self and others. She had obsessions related to the contamination spread by ‘Bindi’ associated with washing and cleaning compulsions. As she was taken by her husband for the therapy, so it was important to socialize her and her family with the OCD to develop insight for the disorder. After socializing them with OCD, they were taught the basic structure of the cognitive behavior model that how patient’s thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behavior all are interrelated and affect each other in a vicious circle. 

In the preparatory phase, the patient was introduced with the ERP technique, how does it work and how much her cooperation and will power are required for the success of this technique. After introducing the ERP technique to her, behavioral analysis was done with the patient by using a down-arrow method to make the list of the situations she uses as safety strategies and maintains her negative beliefs.

In the next session, the patient was told to imagine her exposure with different situations which she avoids and asked her to rate the level of anxiety in all the situations on a scale of 1 to 10. After this imaginary exposure, a hierarchy was made from the least anxiety-provoking event to the high anxiety-provoking event. Here is the list of different situations which the patient rated based on the level of anxiety:

In this phase, the patient was gradually exposed with the least anxiety-provoking situation to the highest-anxiety provoking situation. The patient’s husband worked as a co-therapist and accompanied her in all the situations and observed her anxiety levels and other behaviors. The patient was asked to rate her anxiety level on a scale of 1 to 10 after every exposure.

• In the first step of exposure, patient was instructed to go out with the husband in the market area where ‘Bindi’ was hanging on the walls , she was instructed to watch them from some distance and observe her level of anxiety varying with time . She was strictly instructed not to avoid the situation and to face the anxiety levels without skipping. In the next session, she was asked what she exactly felt when she was watching the bindi packets, she replied that at first sight of bindi she felt disgusted and wanted to go away but she gave self instructions to her that these are very far and cannot contaminate her so she kept sitting there and with time her anxiety level also came down.   
• In the second step of the hierarchy she was instructed for sitting at a distance from the cosmetics shop and observe the ladies entering and purchasing bindi there , her husband was told to work as a co-therapist and checks the anxiety levels and reactions of his wife during the exposure. In the next session, she was again asked for the thoughts and levels of anxiety during the observation, husband reported that at first she showed some anger and was looking very anxious while observing the ladies with bindi but when he reminded her about the nature of therapy, she managed to sit there and sometime later became relaxed.   
• In the third step of the hierarchy patient was instructed to enter into the cosmetic shop and remain stand there for a short while without purchasing anything and to face the levels of anxiety varying with time. In the session, she was asked to report the anxiety level. She reported that just when she entered the shop she was trying to not get touched with anything and felt like she would lose her control and became very anxious but with self instructions she managed herself to stand there after sometime anxiety level came down and she felt little relaxed.   
• In the fourth step, the patient was instructed to enter into the cosmetic shop and to purchase some common items other than ‘Bindi’ . In the next session, husband reported that she was attentively noticing the shopkeeper’s movements. Though, she purchased some ribbons but denied to touch them and asked him to put them in his bag and told him to give only the fixed amount of ribbon’s cost to the shopkeeper so that exchange could not be needed from shopkeeper’s contaminated hands. The husband also observed that during the whole exposure, the patient was looking very distressed and anxious and was involved in safety strategies and managed to calm down only when he reminded her about the process of therapy. The patient was then asked to report her anxiety level in this step of exposure.  
• In the fifth step, patient was instructed to go into the market and purchase a packet of small colorful bindi and face the anxiety levels . In the next session, she was asked to express the anxiety and rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. The patient reported that when she was purchasing the bindi, she felt dreadful and thought that she would take bath after returning home. Somehow, she purchased the packet and gave it to the husband to put it in his bag. After returning home, she got involved in her daughter’s work but thoughts of washing and bathing were going on in her mind. Later on, she could not get the time for bathing and she instructed herself to bath in the morning, after this thought she felt very relaxed and had this feeling of winning over her obsessions.   
• In the sixth step, patient was instructed to purchase some colorful bindi packets and try to keep them with herself and strictly prevent herself from hand-washing for one hour. In the next session, she reported that this time she was not that anxious while purchasing bindi packets but after putting them in her bags she was trying to avoid getting touched with her daughter and mother in law because her mother in law would enter into the kitchen and contaminate everything. Meanwhile, her daughter ran towards her and hugged her. Immediately, she became very restless and angry with the daughter and thought about to wash her. However, she felt incapacitated as her daughter ran everywhere in the house and touched everything. She got anxious but managed this thought of contamination and decided to not wash anything. After this, she felt relaxed.   
• In the seventh step of the hierarchy, the patient was instructed to apply a small bindi on her forehead and restricted to not wash her hands for at least four hours . In the next session, she reported that she applied the bindi and her husband and her mother-in-law were feeling very happy but she felt anxious and closed her fist for not touching anything till hand-washing. After some time, in other household works, she forgot about it but suddenly when she realized that she had applied bindi, she immediately washed her hands but even then kept wearing it for the whole day.   
• In the eighth step, the patient was instructed to apply red color velvet medium size Bindi and prevent hand washing for minimum of two hours . In the next session, she reported that now her level of anxiety has fallen down and now she feels less anxious after applying bindi and managed to not wash her hands for two hours without any much restlessness.   
• In the ninth step of the hierarchy, the patient was instructed to apply red color velvet medium size Bindi and prevent hand washing for minimum of four hours and try to make herself normal and gradually start touching things in these hours. In the next session, she reported that now she feels capable to face her feelings of disgust with bindi and manages to make her mind for not washing things after getting touched with the bindi. Though some thoughts of contamination keep coming in between but she immediately reminds herself that ‘Bindi’ can’t contaminate anything.  
• In the tenth step of hierarchy, the patient was instructed to apply bindi on her forehead and keep some of them in her bag preventing washing her hands for maximum hours possible. In the next session, she reported that now she feels more capable to conquer over her thoughts of contamination and more determined to not washing and cleaning after such obsessions.

With each ERP session, the patient came to realize that the nature of anxiety is that it goes up with the triggering event but with the passage of time, automatically comes down. She also developed the insight that she had fear from the thoughts of contamination and with its associated anxiety more than ‘Bindi’ itself. 

After the ERP sessions, the patient was given two booster sessions in which she was taught the ways to deal with the anxiety after the termination of therapy in her day to day life situations. In those sessions, she was asked to imagine her home, her room, and herself with Bindi on her forehead and doing household chores like cooking, cleaning the things, etc. When the patient was asked to express herself during the imagination, she reported that she is feeling more confident now to stick on her thought that bindi can’t contaminate, it’s her idea and there is no use of washing hands and other things because of the fear of contamination. Her husband and mother-in-law were also instructed to remind her again and again about the things she learned during the therapy sessions. After the declaration of the patient that she is feeling better now and ready to face the anxiety on her own, therapy sessions were terminated.

One month later, the patient was contacted for the follow-up and asked about her coping with the anxiety through telephonic conversation. She reported that thoughts of contamination came in her mind but she is in better condition than previous after taking the ERP sessions.

After two months, the patient came for the session again with the complaints that sometimes she became weak and washed her hands with the thought of contamination. After washing, she repented on her behavior which lowers down her confidence in conquering over the illness. Then she was instructed that washing hands strengthens the thought of contamination so she should avoid it as much as possible but this doesn’t mean that she has not gained anything with the therapy, she was reminded about her previous condition that how much it was unbearable for her to even think about the bindi but now she is applying it on her forehead which shows that only the traces of the illness left, most of it is already recovered. In this way, the patient became relaxed and felt more determined to continue with the learnings during the sessions.

After the termination of the therapy sessions, the patient’s obsessive and compulsive symptoms were found reduced on the Y-BOCS symptom checklist:

With the graded exposure sessions, her anxiety level also came down from the rating of 10 in the beginning sessions to the rating of 4 in the endings sessions on a scale of 1 to 10.

The patient’s BAI score was also fallen down from pre-intervention- 36 (Extreme level of anxiety) to post intervention- 13 (mild level of anxiety) which suggests 36% reduction in the anxiety level of the patient.

Previous research findings considered CBT as the most promising treatment of OCD (Stanley & Turner, 1995; Foa et al, 1999). CBT emphasizes the integration of cognitive-behavioral strategies like discussion techniques (Guided Discovery) and behavioral experiments (ERP) to formulate the problem and direct the treatment. Therapists try to identify the key distorted beliefs along with patients and allow them to test their beliefs which develop and maintain compulsive behaviors. This case identified the contamination with ‘Bindi’ as the pathological belief which was maintaining the compulsive behaviors of washing and cleaning. The cognitive hypothesis of Salkovoskis (1985) proposed that the origin of obsessional thinking lies in normal intrusive ideas, images, thoughts, and impulses which a person finds unacceptable, upsetting, or unpleasant. The occurrence and content of these intrusive cognitions are negatively interpreted as an indication that the person may be ‘responsible for harm’ or ‘prevent the harm’. Such an interpretation is likely followed by emotional reactions such as anxiety or depression. These emotional reactions lead to discomfort and neutralizing (Compulsive) behaviors like washing, cleaning, checking, avoidance of situations related to the obsessive thought, seeking reassurance, and attempts to exclude these thoughts from the mind. The present case supported this hypothesis of Salkovoskis’s model as intrusive thought of the patient was contamination spread by ‘Bindi’ which negatively interpreted as ‘I can avoid the likely harms by avoiding the contamination spread by Bindi’, such negative interpretation was raising her anxiety levels, making her attentive selective towards the ‘Bindi’, maintaining her compulsive acts and complying her to adopt the safety strategies.

Rachman (1983) predicted that behavioral experiments, in which the patient is exposed to the feared object, these intrusive thoughts are challenged by changing the pattern of thinking and behaving. Hodgson & Rachman (1972) initiated the series of clinical studies on patients with contamination and predicted that immediate washing reduces the anxiety. In one of their experimental study, they noted a similar degree of anxiety reduction when the patient was asked not to perform a compulsive act for one hour.  They termed this phenomenon as ‘spontaneous decay’ which was established as the basis of ERP. Also, Foa & Kozak (1986) proposed that exposure techniques activate the network of cognitive fear and patients get new experience which is different from the existing pathological beliefs. This case confirmed this hypothesis as the patient initially thought that her exposure with ‘Bindi’ might cause some uncertain consequence with her but prolonged exposures provided her new experience that she could manage with her fear and anxiety which resulted in the improved coping with obsessional beliefs about contamination and urge to wash and clean. Her improved coping is evident in the statistically significant reduction of her scores on the standard measures like the Y-BOCS symptom checklist, BAI, and OBQ. 

The results of this case study add on the value of CBT (that involves ERP technique) in the treatment of obsessive thinking related to the ‘fear of contamination’ and compulsive behavior of ‘washing and cleaning’. However, there is a need for more such case studies with more precision and effective treatment designs to provide valuable information related to the nature of OCD and its treatment.

In this case of OCD, patient’s symptoms were reduced to a manageable level and found maintained for two months which provides an evidence of the effectiveness of CBT and ERP technique in the treatment of OCD.

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We would like to thank the Journal of Thoracic Disease and Cardiothoracic Surgery because of the services they provided us for our articles. The peer-review process was done in a very excellent time manner, and the opinions of the reviewers helped us to improve our manuscript further. The editorial office had an outstanding correspondence with us and guided us in many ways. During a hard time of the pandemic that is affecting every one of us tremendously, the editorial office helped us make everything easier for publishing scientific work. Hope for a more scientific relationship with your Journal.

Layla Shojaie

The peer-review process which consisted high quality queries on the paper. I did answer six reviewers’ questions and comments before the paper was accepted. The support from the editorial office is excellent.

Sing-yung Wu

Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery. I had the experience of publishing a research article recently. The whole process was simple from submission to publication. The reviewers made specific and valuable recommendations and corrections that improved the quality of my publication. I strongly recommend this Journal.

Orlando Villarreal

Dr. Katarzyna Byczkowska My testimonial covering: "The peer review process is quick and effective. The support from the editorial office is very professional and friendly. Quality of the Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions is scientific and publishes ground-breaking research on cardiology that is useful for other professionals in the field.

Katarzyna Byczkowska

Thank you most sincerely, with regard to the support you have given in relation to the reviewing process and the processing of my article entitled "Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of The Prostate Gland: A Review and Update" for publication in your esteemed Journal, Journal of Cancer Research and Cellular Therapeutics". The editorial team has been very supportive.

Anthony Kodzo-Grey Venyo

Testimony of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology: work with your Reviews has been a educational and constructive experience. The editorial office were very helpful and supportive. It was a pleasure to contribute to your Journal.

Pedro Marques Gomes

Dr. Bernard Terkimbi Utoo, I am happy to publish my scientific work in Journal of Women Health Care and Issues (JWHCI). The manuscript submission was seamless and peer review process was top notch. I was amazed that 4 reviewers worked on the manuscript which made it a highly technical, standard and excellent quality paper. I appreciate the format and consideration for the APC as well as the speed of publication. It is my pleasure to continue with this scientific relationship with the esteem JWHCI.

Bernard Terkimbi Utoo

This is an acknowledgment for peer reviewers, editorial board of Journal of Clinical Research and Reports. They show a lot of consideration for us as publishers for our research article “Evaluation of the different factors associated with side effects of COVID-19 vaccination on medical students, Mutah university, Al-Karak, Jordan”, in a very professional and easy way. This journal is one of outstanding medical journal.

Prof Sherif W Mansour

Dear Hao Jiang, to Journal of Nutrition and Food Processing We greatly appreciate the efficient, professional and rapid processing of our paper by your team. If there is anything else we should do, please do not hesitate to let us know. On behalf of my co-authors, we would like to express our great appreciation to editor and reviewers.

As an author who has recently published in the journal "Brain and Neurological Disorders". I am delighted to provide a testimonial on the peer review process, editorial office support, and the overall quality of the journal. The peer review process at Brain and Neurological Disorders is rigorous and meticulous, ensuring that only high-quality, evidence-based research is published. The reviewers are experts in their fields, and their comments and suggestions were constructive and helped improve the quality of my manuscript. The review process was timely and efficient, with clear communication from the editorial office at each stage. The support from the editorial office was exceptional throughout the entire process. The editorial staff was responsive, professional, and always willing to help. They provided valuable guidance on formatting, structure, and ethical considerations, making the submission process seamless. Moreover, they kept me informed about the status of my manuscript and provided timely updates, which made the process less stressful. The journal Brain and Neurological Disorders is of the highest quality, with a strong focus on publishing cutting-edge research in the field of neurology. The articles published in this journal are well-researched, rigorously peer-reviewed, and written by experts in the field. The journal maintains high standards, ensuring that readers are provided with the most up-to-date and reliable information on brain and neurological disorders. In conclusion, I had a wonderful experience publishing in Brain and Neurological Disorders. The peer review process was thorough, the editorial office provided exceptional support, and the journal's quality is second to none. I would highly recommend this journal to any researcher working in the field of neurology and brain disorders.

Dr Shiming Tang

Dear Agrippa Hilda, Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery, Editorial Coordinator, I trust this message finds you well. I want to extend my appreciation for considering my article for publication in your esteemed journal. I am pleased to provide a testimonial regarding the peer review process and the support received from your editorial office. The peer review process for my paper was carried out in a highly professional and thorough manner. The feedback and comments provided by the authors were constructive and very useful in improving the quality of the manuscript. This rigorous assessment process undoubtedly contributes to the high standards maintained by your journal.

Raed Mualem

International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews. I strongly recommend to consider submitting your work to this high-quality journal. The support and availability of the Editorial staff is outstanding and the review process was both efficient and rigorous.

Andreas Filippaios

Thank you very much for publishing my Research Article titled “Comparing Treatment Outcome Of Allergic Rhinitis Patients After Using Fluticasone Nasal Spray And Nasal Douching" in the Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology. As Medical Professionals we are immensely benefited from study of various informative Articles and Papers published in this high quality Journal. I look forward to enriching my knowledge by regular study of the Journal and contribute my future work in the field of ENT through the Journal for use by the medical fraternity. The support from the Editorial office was excellent and very prompt. I also welcome the comments received from the readers of my Research Article.

Dr Suramya Dhamija

Dear Erica Kelsey, Editorial Coordinator of Cancer Research and Cellular Therapeutics Our team is very satisfied with the processing of our paper by your journal. That was fast, efficient, rigorous, but without unnecessary complications. We appreciated the very short time between the submission of the paper and its publication on line on your site.

Bruno Chauffert

I am very glad to say that the peer review process is very successful and fast and support from the Editorial Office. Therefore, I would like to continue our scientific relationship for a long time. And I especially thank you for your kindly attention towards my article. Have a good day!

Baheci Selen

"We recently published an article entitled “Influence of beta-Cyclodextrins upon the Degradation of Carbofuran Derivatives under Alkaline Conditions" in the Journal of “Pesticides and Biofertilizers” to show that the cyclodextrins protect the carbamates increasing their half-life time in the presence of basic conditions This will be very helpful to understand carbofuran behaviour in the analytical, agro-environmental and food areas. We greatly appreciated the interaction with the editor and the editorial team; we were particularly well accompanied during the course of the revision process, since all various steps towards publication were short and without delay".

Jesus Simal-Gandara

I would like to express my gratitude towards you process of article review and submission. I found this to be very fair and expedient. Your follow up has been excellent. I have many publications in national and international journal and your process has been one of the best so far. Keep up the great work.

Douglas Miyazaki

We are grateful for this opportunity to provide a glowing recommendation to the Journal of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. We found that the editorial team were very supportive, helpful, kept us abreast of timelines and over all very professional in nature. The peer review process was rigorous, efficient and constructive that really enhanced our article submission. The experience with this journal remains one of our best ever and we look forward to providing future submissions in the near future.

Dr Griffith

I am very pleased to serve as EBM of the journal, I hope many years of my experience in stem cells can help the journal from one way or another. As we know, stem cells hold great potential for regenerative medicine, which are mostly used to promote the repair response of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissue using stem cells or their derivatives. I think Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics International is a great platform to publish and share the understanding towards the biology and translational or clinical application of stem cells.

Dr Tong Ming Liu

I would like to give my testimony in the support I have got by the peer review process and to support the editorial office where they were of asset to support young author like me to be encouraged to publish their work in your respected journal and globalize and share knowledge across the globe. I really give my great gratitude to your journal and the peer review including the editorial office.

Husain Taha Radhi

I am delighted to publish our manuscript entitled "A Perspective on Cocaine Induced Stroke - Its Mechanisms and Management" in the Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery. The peer review process, support from the editorial office, and quality of the journal are excellent. The manuscripts published are of high quality and of excellent scientific value. I recommend this journal very much to colleagues.

Dr.Tania Muñoz, My experience as researcher and author of a review article in The Journal Clinical Cardiology and Interventions has been very enriching and stimulating. The editorial team is excellent, performs its work with absolute responsibility and delivery. They are proactive, dynamic and receptive to all proposals. Supporting at all times the vast universe of authors who choose them as an option for publication. The team of review specialists, members of the editorial board, are brilliant professionals, with remarkable performance in medical research and scientific methodology. Together they form a frontline team that consolidates the JCCI as a magnificent option for the publication and review of high-level medical articles and broad collective interest. I am honored to be able to share my review article and open to receive all your comments.

Tania Munoz

“The peer review process of JPMHC is quick and effective. Authors are benefited by good and professional reviewers with huge experience in the field of psychology and mental health. The support from the editorial office is very professional. People to contact to are friendly and happy to help and assist any query authors might have. Quality of the Journal is scientific and publishes ground-breaking research on mental health that is useful for other professionals in the field”.

George Varvatsoulias

Dear editorial department: On behalf of our team, I hereby certify the reliability and superiority of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews in the peer review process, editorial support, and journal quality. Firstly, the peer review process of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is rigorous, fair, transparent, fast, and of high quality. The editorial department invites experts from relevant fields as anonymous reviewers to review all submitted manuscripts. These experts have rich academic backgrounds and experience, and can accurately evaluate the academic quality, originality, and suitability of manuscripts. The editorial department is committed to ensuring the rigor of the peer review process, while also making every effort to ensure a fast review cycle to meet the needs of authors and the academic community. Secondly, the editorial team of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is composed of a group of senior scholars and professionals with rich experience and professional knowledge in related fields. The editorial department is committed to assisting authors in improving their manuscripts, ensuring their academic accuracy, clarity, and completeness. Editors actively collaborate with authors, providing useful suggestions and feedback to promote the improvement and development of the manuscript. We believe that the support of the editorial department is one of the key factors in ensuring the quality of the journal. Finally, the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is renowned for its high- quality articles and strict academic standards. The editorial department is committed to publishing innovative and academically valuable research results to promote the development and progress of related fields. The International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is reasonably priced and ensures excellent service and quality ratio, allowing authors to obtain high-level academic publishing opportunities in an affordable manner. I hereby solemnly declare that the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews has a high level of credibility and superiority in terms of peer review process, editorial support, reasonable fees, and journal quality. Sincerely, Rui Tao.

Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions I testity the covering of the peer review process, support from the editorial office, and quality of the journal.

Khurram Arshad

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