10 Celebrities Who Suffer From OCD

Marc Summers

It seems impossible that somebody who dealt with cascading green slime and other gak every day on the set of "Double Dare" would have an obsessive fear of germs, but Marc Summers somehow managed to survive it. The Nickelodeon mainstay’s OCD led him to shower immediately after each show, and then again at home the same day. His home was arranged along strict rules and he became upset when anything was out of place. Combinations of behavioral therapy and medication have helped him get it under control.

Cameron Diaz

One of the most public stars in Hollywood when it comes to obsessive-compulsive disorder, Cameron Diaz’s condition manifests itself as an overwhelming fear of germs, especially on doorknobs. In her home, the polish is worn off of every knob because she insists on opening them with her elbows. She also cleans her house daily and washes her hands multiple times every day. Diaz has generally had success controlling her OCD symptoms and it doesn’t affect her work on the set.

Justin Timberlake

It’s interesting that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz dated for so long, considering they both have struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Timberlake is self-diagnosed as having a mixture of OCD and attention-deficit disorder, which seems like a very difficult thing to deal with on a daily basis. Some of the behaviors that he has admitted publicly include making sure things are lined up at perfect right angles and ensuring that certain food items are always present in his fridge.

Howie Mandel

The host of "Deal or No Deal" is one of the most public OCD sufferers in the entertainment industry. His makeup artists are required to use fresh sponges every day, he never touches handrails, and he won’t put money in his hands until after it’s been washed. Howie’s crippling fear of germs kicks off endless, circular loops of panic around the possibility of getting a disease from any surface. If you meet him, you’ll notice that he refuses to shake hands, preferring a slightly more hygienic fistbump.

David Beckham

OCD affects people in the world of sport as well, and one of the most high-profile athletes to suffer from it is soccer star David Beckham. Beckham becomes agitated if objects aren’t arranged precisely, and odd numbers also upset off his obsessive-compulsive mind. He’s even been known to rearrange hotel furniture if it doesn’t line up neatly enough for him. Beckham admits that living with OCD can be quite tiring, but he claims that not giving into his compulsions is even more exhausting because he can’t stop thinking about it.

Related: Athletes With Weird Phobias

Leonardo DiCaprio

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies first became apparent when he was a child, as he was constantly forcing himself to step on every gum stain he saw on the sidewalk while avoiding cracks. With time, he managed to overcome that compulsion for the most part, but he admits that it sometimes comes back to plague him. DiCaprio actually used his OCD tendencies when he played Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," as Hughes had some pretty serious germaphobia and would only make physical contact with specially selected Mormon aides.

Howard Stern

It’s kind of funny that a man who has made a very good living plumbing the depths of human depravity could have OCD, but Howard Stern’s battle with the condition was no laughing matter. When he was first getting his start in broadcasting just out of college, Stern’s anxiety manifested itself as a series of obsessive rituals that he had to perform, including tapping his car radio dial a certain number of times with his right hand before turning it on.

Billy Bob Thornton

The iconoclastic actor has dealt with a lot of issues in his life including dyslexia, but obsessive-compulsive disorder is one of his biggest worries. His abusive childhood instilled a number of mental safety valves. Thornton’s OCD manifests itself in repetition – he’s talked about having to take his mail out of his mailbox and put it back in three times, and he also assigns numbers to individual people and mentally refers to them by those numbers. On one of his band’s albums, there’s a song called “Always Countin’” about the condition.