Howie Mandel on taking control of his mental health: 'I didn't realize until later in life how important it was'

Howie Mandel believes that like physical fitness, mental health is a continuous “work in progress.”
The 66-year-old host of Canada’s Got Talent has been outspoken about his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since reaching his 40s. “I didn’t realize until really late in life how important [mental health treatment] was,” he tells Yahoo Life. “Up until that time, there wasn’t the title. I thought my struggle was my normal.”
Mandel calls OCD “debilitating.”
“What it is is these obtrusive thoughts ... you get so obsessed with them that you can’t move forward,” he shares. “You can’t show up. You can’t be productive. It’s mind-boggling.”
An additional struggle, according to Mandel, is the way OCD patients convince themselves that their thoughts, no matter how false, are actually real. He admits to often having “negative and dark thoughts,” as well as being overly focused on rituals. “Touch the doorknob 10 times before you turn it to the left, otherwise somebody’s gonna die,” he says. “[OCD] will inhibit every aspect of your life.”
Mandel also says he has been late to appointments because of obsessive handwashing, even though he knows he should stop. “I have too much of a compulsion to just keep going,” he says. “It feels like you’re losing your mind.”