ABCLuke Combs is opening up about his history with anxiety. In an interview with Dan Rather, he reveals that he experienced anxiety from middle school through the end of college.
Luke says he has Purely Obsessional OCD, what he calls “a unique form of [obsessive compulsive disorder].” While he largely has it under control, Luke admits he still has moments “here and there.”
“It’s something that I’ve learned about and it’s something that I’ve been able to get ahold of, so it’s been great to felt free from those things for a long time now,” he says.
The singer states that Purely Obsessional OCD occurs in the form of obsessive thinking about specific issues. For him, those issues include his health, such as constantly worrying that he’s going to have a stroke or heart attack.
“It becomes this very obsessive thing that you literally can never have an answer to, and so that’s kind of the awful part of it that you…have to teach yourself to becoming comfortable with the fact that you’ll never get an answer, and that it is a super uncertain thing,” he explains of the bouts of anxiety that “comes in waves.”
“That’s particularly what I have struggled with. Sometimes that’s tough, but it’s something that you learn about yourself and arming yourself with the knowledge of exactly what’s going on is the most important thing I’ve found,” he adds.
Luke is one of the 40 million Americans who live with an anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
Luke’s full interview on The Big Interview with Dan Rather airs on January 13 at 8 p.m. ET on AXS TV.
By Cillea Houghton
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