The ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder in his late 40s
When Howie Mandel and his wife made vows to one another, “for better, for worse,” he did not plan on making his family’s lives “miserable.”
The comedian revealed that earlier in their marriage, his wife Terry issued him an ultimatum: If he did not seek treatment for his health condition, which he later learned was obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), she would leave him.
“I’d have my children and my wife spray everything down and not touch things. I wouldn’t take things that they were handed. I would remove some of their toys that I saw touch the ground. I was making their life miserable,” Mandel told Today.com.
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“My wife just gave me an ultimatum. She goes, ‘I can’t do this anymore and I can’t have the children do it anymore. And if you don’t get help, that’s it,’” Mandel recalled.
“So it was an ultimatum that made me ultimately go to therapy, and I got diagnosed (with OCD).”
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The “America’s Got Talent” judge was diagnosed with OCD in his late 40s and admitted he was “embarrassed” at first about his mental health problem, noting that “there is a stigma.”
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Despite using comedy to cope with his health struggles, Mandel slammed people who joke about OCD.
“I can’t tell you how many people come up to me and go, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m a little OCD, too. I like everything in order. If my room is not clean, I’m just not happy. I’ve got a little OCD.’ You can’t have a little OCD,” he said.
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“I’ve been really successful. I have a beautiful family and I love what I do. But inside my head, it is a war zone, and it’s a war worth fighting, and I continue to fight it,” said Mandel.
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