Howie Mandel's lifelong struggle with OCD inspired him to help others who have experienced similar suffering. During his guest appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show, Howie used his platform to open up about his own experiences and bring attention to the widespread stigma that remains around OCD, other mental health struggles, and mental healthcare. Watch Howie talk about his own struggle with OCD and why he partnered with NOCD to combat stigma and make mental healthcare more accessible at https://learn.nocd.com/HowieMandel_JHud

@Jay19 What? Omg 😱 I haven’t watched this yet. Why is he even sharing that! Maybe it’s because it’s how own urine.

@Jay19 Yes!

@jgumucio I wish he would talk about it more.

@Anonymous What NOCD posted here is just a small part of Howie’s entire segment on the Jennifer Hudson show; so what I am talking about won’t be in this video they posted. But if you watch the entire segment, when he comes on stage he immediately throws thw pillows on the ground as a joke and starts “pretend falling” on them. He then puts his shoes on the coffee table, accidentally knocks over a filled water glass, and also made a comment about how he urinates in the shower while his wife is showering…🤷🏻‍♀️. So to me, it was really weird as I would never do any of those things especially throwing pillows on the floor (because then you lay your head on them and they’ve touched the dirty floor) and put my shoes on the coffee table as people touch it with their hands or eat from it and now your dirty shoes have been on it) Try watching the entire segment maybe on YouTube?

@Jay19 Ok I will thank you! I always knew he didn’t shake hands and had a phobia but I didn’t have OCD back then but I would have figured him out by now. What amazes me is the way he always seems so happy of course he’s on stage but I think I’m all his years he had to tell someone he works with. This also could be for publicity too. I know a few famous people and this is what happens.

@Jay19 How are you doing?

@Anonymous Yea it seemed really strange to me that he would display all of this within 20 minutes. I am doing okay. Have been seeing an in person therapist for awhile now and very slowly getting a grasp on ERP and really trying to not give into compulsions, which is so hard but I feel like after a really long time I may be making some progress, but it’s just not fast enough (I am too hard on myself most of the time so I know I need to give myself more credit as well) How are you doing?

@Jay19 I want to watch this! Hope I can find the whole segment. About those antics—everyone’s content even surrounding contamination OCD can vary so what bothers one person with contamination OCD may not bother another with it.

@Jay19 It affects everyone differently. I have it and am not a germaphobe

@Jay19 I mean it is odd, but as someone who struggles with a few different themes, including contamination, some types of contaminates are issues and others are not. Even some of the ones that someone would expect to be issues.

@Miamermaid Thank you for your comment. I am reading that from a lot of people, that it can vary even if it’s contamination OCD, some things can be bothersome and others not.

@jgumucio I have no idea. But like I said above, I would never throw pillows on the floor because you use them to lay your head on or touch them and expect them to be clean, but now they were on the dirty floor. I would also never put my shoes on the coffee table because well, I would expect the table to not have the nasty things from the bottom of someone’s shoe on it. And lastly I would never pee in the shower, ESPECIALLY when there’s someone else in there lol. Plus that’s just gross and if you have contamination OCD all of these things would be things you would totally avoid or fear of happening 🤷🏻‍♀️.

@Jay19 I think the point he was trying to make is that in order for you to “overcome” those compulsions, you need to do the opposite of what your OCD is telling you to do. You have to expose yourself to those “contaminations” and eventually you will get use to it. A person without contamination OCD would not see the big deal of pillows on the floor or even peeing in the shower (for a lot of people)

@quinncowden Yes, that could be. I just wish that maybe he would say something like “See? Even though I have struggled with contamination OCD, with therapy I have been able to expose myself to triggers and do actions like this that would normally be unthinkable, and eventually be able to resist any compulsions..etc.” or some sort or explanation that would help people with OCD understand why or how he is able to do those things.