Howie Mandel on Managing His OCD

Kudos to Howie for being open about his mental illness. Good man

“Right now, you’re happy?” “I’m distracted.” Oh Howie… as a fellow OCD sufferer, I understand. Also, we OCD sufferers know what it’s like to live on the brink of insanity.

As someone with OCD, it really means a lot to hear someone so well known speak about their own struggles. Gives me hope

Howie, I feel for you and please know that while it’s a struggle, you make so many people laugh and feel good.

I have OCD and once I found out from a meditation practice that my OCD stemmed from a false belief that “I could think my way out of every problem,” it changed the game for me. I discovered that my incessant ruminations and checking patterns were my brain’s way of thinking it could get out of every problem I was having. Wrong. OCD people have a very strong internal voice…. So it’s imperative that we get out into reality and away from our inner voice. We also have to stop believing we can stop problems from happen by just obsessively thinking about them. It takes action, not just thinking!

I hear him screaming out for help and I pray that his family and friends are able to give him the support he needs to survive. If you read this Howie, thank you for decades of laughter and I hope you'll shine your light into this dark world for decades more! Please keep fighting🙌🏼✌🏼

I am right there with Howie. Being in my head is torture. Intrusive thoughts are no joke. I'm thankful that he shares his struggle. Makes me feel like somebody else understands me.

Very relatable and not talked about enough!! Thanks for speaking on this!

I’m thankful howie is talking about the reality of ocd. It’s actually hurtful when people make it a joke. OCD is really so misunderstood and can really torture you mentally. The o in ocd stands for obsession as in obsessive thoughts. The c stands for compulsion. The compulsion is motivated by the relief you get temporarily of the obsessive thoughts. The thoughts can be so dark and painful. Thoughts you would never ever want to think. Thoughts that you don’t believe or agree with. They torment you again and again almost like a kid on the playground teasing you. Oh you don’t like that? I’m doing it again. All day long. Howie is right the worst time is when you are alone. Other people around can ground you a bit and distract you so much they get quiet but when you are alone they are loud. 😢

My whole life I’ve had OCD but I didn’t know until visiting a psychiatrist recently. Watching this made me feel not alone but also sad because I am like Howie in the sense of I seem so happy but I am just distracted. I hope the best for Howie & will pray for us all ☹️💚

Thank you for your transparency, Mr. Mandel. It’s a beautiful gift to others who struggle.

Howie you seem to be a great human. It can not be easy to know how big of a platform Joe has and go on there and share your most personal stories and thoughts. Thank you for sharing.

It's scary how much I relate to this and the fact that it's coming from someone as likable and successful as him is really touching to me.

If you're reading this, I really appreciate your insight on your condition, Howie. As a sufferer myself, hearing your story is very relatable.

Howie , thanks for sharing in such detail, brother . I'm right there with you, the ability to show so much strength and hold up so well on the outside is so impressive. nothing but love

I needed to hear this today. Thank you Howie for being so honest and transparent about what you go through on a daily (minute to minute) basis. I deal with the same thing and it seems like I'm always waiting for the end of something and it keeps me in a constant state of worry. Even if it's just sub conscious, i live on the verge of worry and depression at all times. It's nice to know there are others out there (very successful others) who are going through the same type of thing as myself

OCD is no joke,my brother had it..He would have to do certain things all the time, like it was his daily job,it made him depressed and sluggish

As someone who suffers from OCD as well Howie really nails how you're basically always on that "thin line" between being out and about and having a full blown OCD attack.

thank you Howie for being so open about your struggles . Its good to know i am not alone

There comes moments when I find something that I needed to hear, this was one of those moments. Thank you Howie, I feel ya.