People think that when they look at celebrities, they see someone who is living a perfect life filled with fame and riches, but for many stars, their lives are far from perfect as they have to continually deal with mental and physical health problems that are hard to deal with when living in the spotlight. Not only do they have paparazzi and screaming fans trying to attack them everywhere they go but they also have to deal with specific issues like anxiety and depression as well as dealing with Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD).
For those who don’t know what OCD is, it is another form of anxiety. Individuals who suffer from the disorder experience frequent, upsetting thoughts which can also be like an obsession. To find relief from the anxiety that the compulsions bring, they feel they have to repeat certain rituals or situations like washing their hands or locking doors multiple times, which are known as compulsions. This can affect daily lives of those who suffer from it especially those in the spotlight because they must learn how to deal with it in the public eye, while still learning to maintain their compulsions.
Many actors such as Emma Stone have found that acting is a great way to help deal with this and have managed to use their career paths to help them have some control. There is no way to cure OCD, but there are ways to help that are soothing for the mind and body such as therapy, medication and group therapies where people can share their own experiences.
Not a lot of people feel comfortable sharing what it’s like to deal with OCD and prefer to keep their personal health issues aside from the public eye. There are some that do like to share so anyone watching them speak about dealing with OCD can relate and maybe learn from those celebrities ways they can cope with it as well.
Here are some Celebrities who share their own experiences dealing with Obsessive Compulsion Disorder.
Leonardo Dicaprio
VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images.
The Oscar Winning actor recalls how when he was a child he would deal with OCD just by walking to school. Mainly since he played Howard Hughes in The Aviator and Hughes had dealt with anxiety in the past. “I remember as a child, stepping on cracks on the way to school and having to walk back a block and step on that same crack or that gum stain,” he told About.com in an interview about the movie.
David Beckham
Getty Images | Anthony Harvey
The Famous Soccer player admitted in 2006 that he has the need and obsession for everything to be in a proper place. “I’ll go into a hotel room, and before I can relax, I have to move all the leaflets and all the books and put them in a drawer,” he said in an ITV1 interview. “Everything has to be perfect.” He also revealed that while dealing with the disorder is a challenge; he is continuously working on managing it.
Jessica Alba
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A couple of years ago “The Honest Company” CEO explained that she has OCD about checking doors and appliances and how it used to bring intense anxiety, ABC News reported. “It was like a panic come over me, and I had to do something, and once I did it, I was Okay It was me needing to control something,” she said.
Justin Timberlake
WENN
Man of The Woods singer Justin Timberlake has spoken out saying that his OCD makes him need for everything to be organized correctly and in a certain way. He also has this problem with food he doesn’t allow certain foods to be in his refrigerator.
Katy Perry
Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
The pop singer and American Idol judge says she wishes the letters in OCD were spelled in alphabetical order, CDO that’s how much of it she has. She also admitted that she brushes her teeth 4-6 times a day which she revealed to US Weekly for the magazines 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me column.
Camila Cabello
Getty Images | by Frazer Harrison
Cabello recently did an interview for Cosmopolitan UK where she spoke about living with OCD. “And, for me, if I get really stressed thinking 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 about to happen if I don’t keep thinking about it. I didn’t know what it was and when I found out, and [learned] how to step back from it, it made me feel so much better. I feel so much more in control of it now. To the point where I’m just like, ‘Aha! OK, this is just my OCD.’ I’ll ask my mom a question for the fourth time, and she’ll be like, ‘That’s OCD. You’ve got to let it go.'”
