Women | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA

Howie Mandel Talks About OCD

TV personality and actor Howie Mandel shares his struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a public service announcement for the ADAA campaign "Treat It, Don't Repeat It: Break Free From OCD."

Facts

From the time a girl reaches puberty until about the age of 50, she is twice as likely to have an anxiety disorder as a man. Anxiety disorders also occur earlier in women than in men.

Women are also more likely to have multiple psychiatric disorders during their lifetime than men. The most common to co-occur with anxiety is depression.

Redefining My Life

by Veronica Feeney

October 28, 2009

My struggles with emotional and mental problems began at age 12, when I experienced my first nervous breakdown. At age 20 I was diagnosed with major depression. By the time I was 30 that diagnosis had changed to chronic major depression with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Later, ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were added to my diagnoses. At age 40, and after three suicide attempts within two years, my therapist began to suspect that I suffered from bipolar disorder.

Jerilyn Ross and Dr. Blair Simpson on OCD

ADAA President & CEO Jerilyn Ross and Blair Simpson, MD, PhD, of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, discuss recognizing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

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