Country music star opens up about struggle with rare type of OCD
Country music superstar Luke Combs is sharing details about his struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, a struggle that he says can be "all consuming" in his life.
"When it hits, man, it can be all consuming," Combs said in an interview with "60 Minutes Australia." "If you have a flare up of it, right, it could be you could think about it 45 seconds of every minute for weeks."
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a disorder marked by "uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions), repetitive and excessive behaviors (compulsions), or both," according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. The disorder impacts around 2% of adults in the U.S. in their lifetimes, according to the NIMH.
Combs, who spoke with "60 Minutes Australia" while touring in the country earlier this year, said he struggles with a specific type of OCD known as purely obsessional OCD, or Pure O, that affects him mentally but not physically.
While Pure O is not classified as an official diagnosis according to the American Psychiatric Association, it is a term some mental health professionals use to distinguish from the physical compulsions of OCD.
"The variant that I have is particularly wicked because, you know, there's no outward manifestation of it," he said, adding, "So for someone like myself, you don't even know it's going on. It could be going on right now."
Combs, a married father of two sons, said he has struggled with OCD since the age of 12, describing the disorder as "tedious" and "debilitating," adding that at times it can cause anxiety and disturbing thoughts.
The Grammy-winning musician has spoken out about his mental health struggles previously, sharing in November that he had noticed improvements in his mental health after making diet changes.
He also said after the birth of his son Tex in 2022, his perspective shifted.
"There's stuff that used to matter, as far as the things that you worry about, you just don't really worry about that stuff anymore," Combs said in an interview with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country, adding that "almost instantly, you're just kind of like, 'Don't care about that. Don't care about that.' And I was fine before, but I did tend to have pretty tremendous anxiety at times in my life."
Combs told "60 Minutes Australia" that he hopes to use his experience to help kids dealing with OCD, saying the disorder held him back many times in his life.
"I want to be an example for those kids who don't have any hope," Combs said. "You can you can still go on and do great things even though you're dealing with something that's really tough."
