Howie Mandel went "insane" when he had to quarantine after contracting COVID-19.

Howie Mandel had COVID-19

Howie Mandel had COVID-19

The 'America's Got Talent' judge - who has spoken openly about his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety - admitted the "mental pain" of being isolated away from his loved ones was far worse than the physical symptoms after he tested positive for the virus earlier this month.

Speaking to TMZ Live, he said: "I got locked away for 10 days. I'm vaxxed, and I'm boosted, so my symptoms weren't terrible. But ... the mental pain of me being locked in a room for 10 days, not going near anybody ... I went insane.

"I still feel like I'm recovering from that, the insanity. And I'm not joking. I got incredibly depressed, incredibly neurotic.

"My only panacea to my physical health and my mental health is distracting myself. You can't distract yourself for 10 days alone in a room."

The 66-year-old star - who has Jackie, 38, Alex, 32, and Riley, 30, with wife Terry - still thinks there is a "stigma" attached to mental health issues, but he finds it helpful to talk about his problems.

He said: "I'm in therapy, and I take medication and I do things. But for years and years, there was a stigma — and I think there still is — a stigma attached to mental health.

"What I've learned is the first life preserver that's thrown to yourself is the ability to talk about it. It is kind of healing to talk about it.

"And it's just good to be out of the room!"

Howie previously admitted the pandemic had been "absolute hell" for him.

He said: "There isn't a waking moment of my life when 'we could die' doesn't come into my psyche.

"But the solace I would get would be the fact that everybody around me was okay. It's good to latch onto okay. But [during the pandemic] the whole world was not okay. And it was absolute hell."

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