Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an unending battle for Luke Combs. During a recent appearance on Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard, the musician dismissed the idea that some elements of the condition could be seen as beneficial, rather than a relentless internal unraveling. “I don’t think it’s part of my success at all,” he said. “If I just never had it that would be awesome. There’s no good parts of it other than when you don’t have it.”
Combs has detailed his experience with OCD in the past, explaining that he struggles with a form of OCD called “Pure O,” or primarily obsessional OCD. While this specification is not a distinguished diagnosis in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it has been used to describe the presence of obsessional mental symptoms resulting in “intrusively violent thoughts” and extreme, constant anxiety.
“It’s like a bird flying by. You just go, ‘Oh, there’s a bird,’ and then you’re like, ‘What was that bird? Why did that bird fly by?’ And then the more you wonder why the flew by, the more it starts flying by,” Combs said in an example of the rapid thought patterns that can occupy his mind for extensive periods of time. “Your brain’s like, ‘I need to send that thought again, because you’re worried about it and you being worried about it must mean something.’ Really, it doesn’t mean anything. Then the more you think about it, the more it starts showing up.”
Combs was initially diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder as a teenager, but felt that it didn’t encompass his experience. “Once I found the Pure O thing, it was like, oh my God, this is what I have,” he said. It eventually became easier to notice manifestations of the disorder.
“It preys on everything you’re not, and it makes you feel like you are that,” Combs said. “In some ways, your deepest fear is being something that you’re not. That’s rooted in this somehow.” The condition has caused him to experience what he calls “relationship OCD.” “One of the themes of Pure O is like, do I really love my wife? Do I really love my kids?” he continued. “And obviously you do. You wouldn’t be worried about it if you didn’t.”
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While there isn’t a perfect solution, Combs has studied the patterns of how his OCD presents itself in order to take preventative measures against it, like removing gluten from his diet to reduce inflammation. “For me it was like, man, how can I just change what I’m eating, what I’m doing, just everything,” he said. “My life revolves around preventing it.”
Combs has found that his symptoms have been alleviated over time, saying, “It’s been something that’s gotten better for me.”
