American Country singer Luke Combs has spoken openly about his battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), describing how it affects his daily life and career. Ahead of his concert at Sydney’s Accor Stadium last month, Combs shared that he has purely obsessional OCD, a form of the disorder that involves persistent intrusive thoughts and anxiety rather than visible compulsions.
“Probably the worst flare-up of it I’ve had in, I would say, three or four years started about two days before this trip,” Combs said in an interview with Adam Hegarty.
Living with OCD Every Day
“It’s something that in some way I at least think about every day,” Combs said. “There’s no outward manifestation of it, right? Like you’re talking about the flicking of a light switch, but for me, it’s all going on in here. It could be happening right now and you wouldn’t even realize it.”
He explained that OCD creates a cycle of distressing thoughts. “It’s thoughts, essentially, that you don’t want to have… and then they cause you stress, and then you’re stressed out, and then the stress causes you to have more of the thoughts. And then you don’t understand why you’re having them, and you’re trying to get rid of them, but trying to get rid of them makes you have more of them.”
Coping with OCD
Combs said he has learned how to manage his OCD over time. “I’m lucky to be an expert in how to get out of it now… I’m probably 90% out of my flare-up now … and in the midst of doing a world tour, right?”
He described his recent OCD flare-up as one of the worst he has had in years, noting periods where obsessive thoughts consumed him for “45 seconds of every minute for weeks.” These thoughts ranged from unsettling violent images to existential worries about his identity.
Looking back, Combs said OCD has affected his ability to achieve his goals. “It held me back so many times in my life where you’re trying to accomplish something, you’re doing really great, and then you have a flare-up, and it just like ruins your whole life for six months.”
However, he now feels more in control. “When it happens now, I’m not afraid of it because I’m not like, ‘What if I’m like this forever?’ I know I’m not going to be like this forever now.”
A Long-Running Challenge
Combs previously spoke about his OCD in a 2021 interview on AXS TV’s The Big Interview, recalling that he first experienced symptoms in middle school. He compared his obsessive thoughts to small, repetitive actions like “fixing the blinds or straightening the carpet,” except they happened entirely in his mind.
Despite his struggles, Combs continues to perform and tour worldwide. By sharing his experience, he hopes to shed light on OCD and help others understand the condition better.