Alec Baldwin is “really seriously” struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Alec Baldwin
The ‘Saturday Night Live’ star has revealed his OCD symptoms have increased over the last few years, and said he’s keen to speak out about his condition – which is a mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations, or the urge to do something over and over again – in order to “finally remove the stigma” surrounding OCD.
Alec and his wife Hilaria Baldwin spoke to Howie Mandel – who also has OCD – and his spouse Terry Mandel on the latest episode of their ‘What’s One More?’ podcast, where Alec thanked Howie for speaking about the disorder.
He told the ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge: "OCD is something I personally struggle with. I'm grateful to Howie for opening up at a time when few people were talking about this publicly, and there was even more of a stigma about OCD and mental health than there is today. It's through empathy, understanding and being kinder to one another, that we can finally remove the stigma and change the narrative."
Alec also revealed he’s beginning to struggle with “germaphobia”, which is common among OCD sufferers.
He asked Howie: "Is germaphobia the only way that that OCD was expressed, and what was the beginnings of when you started to track that and sense that? Because I'm going through this myself now. I am, like really seriously."
While Hilaria then noted her husband’s battle has become “very personal” for herself and their children – Carmen, seven, Rafael, five, Leonardo, four, Romeo, two, Eduardo, nine months, and Lucia, four months – as they’ve been “learning a lot about OCD” through Alec’s journey.
She said: "[We’re] still very new to the journey of understanding what OCD is, but we're learning that by being open about our challenges, we find a community where we realise we are not so alone, and we can be a part of paving the way for more people to seek help."
Tagged in Alec Baldwin Howie Mandel Hilaria Baldwin