Country music star Luke Combs talks about living with lesser-known form of OCD

Samritha Arunasalam · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 7:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

American state euphony sensation Luke Combs got existent astir his conflict with obsessive-compulsive upset and anxiety, arsenic good as the challenges of being connected the road, successful a caller interrogation with 60 Minutes Australia.

"Mine is much of an obscure signifier of OCD," the 35-year-old vocalist said, describing the disorder sometimes referred to arsenic "purely obsessional" oregon "pure O." However, determination is immoderate technological disagreement implicit the usage of the word and subtype, with immoderate calling it slang.

Combs described the information arsenic "particularly wicked because there is nary outward manifestation of it." He said he can experience everything from intrusively convulsive thoughts to thoughts astir religion, and absorption connected questions that don't person an answer.

"It's truly questions astir who you are arsenic a idiosyncratic that you truly can't ever get an reply to ... and that's what fuels the anxiety," helium said.

Pure O is 1 of those subtypes of OCD in which people acquisition disturbing, unwanted thoughts that volition origin anxiety, said Sarah Innes, a psychotherapist astatine the Canadian online therapy signifier Shift Collab.

"But alternatively of performing those evident carnal rituals that we spot with different subtypes, specified arsenic checking oregon symmetry, they'll beryllium engaging successful intelligence rituals — truthful over-analyzing their thoughts, seeking reassurance oregon avoiding intelligence triggers," she said.

Innes said the axenic O form of OCD is not uncommon and isn't little terrible than different types, but it is harder to diagnose arsenic the symptoms are much interior and the compulsions whitethorn not beryllium arsenic obvious.

Combs described the debilitating mode the upset functions, explaining that a truly atrocious flare-up could person him fixating connected thoughts for 45 seconds of each infinitesimal for weeks.

"It's thoughts that you fundamentally don't privation to person that you're having, and past they origin you stress," he said, explaining the vicious cycle. "And past you're stressed up and the accent causes you to person much thoughts. You don't recognize wherefore you're having them and you're trying to get escaped of them, but trying to get escaped of them makes you person much of them.

"It's precise tedious to propulsion yourself retired of it.... I'm fortunate to beryllium an adept successful however to get retired of it now, but I consciousness for radical that conflict with this."

Rise to fame

The eight-time Grammy nominee — who changeable to fame successful 2017 with his debut azygous Hurricane, which sold 10,000 copies successful conscionable the archetypal week — described his sprint to the apical of state euphony arsenic "a brainsick 10 years."

His viral screen of the 1988 Tracy Chapman opus Fast Car topped charts successful 2023, and helium went connected to execute the opus with Chapman during the 2024 Grammys. Among his respective wins are 9 Country Music Association awards and 3 Academy of Country Music awards.

WATCH | Song that changeable Combs to fame:

Combs, a autochthonal of North Carolina, said his light-bulb infinitesimal came the summertime aft helium turned 21, erstwhile helium moved connected from being successful the choir to picking up his guitar and singing.

A flare-up could deed portion connected stage, and "when it hits, it tin beryllium each consuming," said Combs, who is presently connected tour.

He described how it held him backmost truthful galore times erstwhile helium was trying to execute thing and doing truly well, "but past you person a flare-up and it conscionable ruins your full beingness for six months, and past you're backmost to wherever you started."

Is axenic O legit?

When it comes to this peculiar benignant of OCD, determination seems to beryllium a deficiency of clarity and immoderate dissension successful the nonrecreational community, with immoderate saying pure O is not an existent term but slang.

"Pure O is not thing that a batch of radical person an knowing of," Innes, with online therapy signifier Shift Collab, said.

"When it comes to OCD, it is mostly misunderstood, and a batch of radical don't adjacent recognize that there's aggregate subtypes that spell on with that diagnosis."

Pure O is besides not a word utilized by galore intelligence wellness organizations oregon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

"It's not an authoritative diagnostic word that OCD experts use, but it is simply a word that's being utilized colloquially," Martin Antony, a science prof astatine Toronto Metropolitan University, said.

"To get a diagnosis of OCD, 1 needs to person obsessions oregon compulsions. So you don't request both, though astir radical with OCD person some obsessions and compulsions," helium said.

Pure O could sometimes beryllium misleading, arsenic it's conscionable a signifier of OCD without carnal compulsions, Innes said. But radical with the subtype inactive acquisition intelligence compulsions.

WATCH | Combs talks astir stardom and the struggles:

"This intelligence conflict is conscionable arsenic distressing for the clients arsenic a carnal compulsion. But due to the fact that it's not needfully visible, it's easy overlooked oregon tin beryllium invalidated," she said.

"Treatment for axenic O typically involves cognitive behavioural therapy, which is referred to arsenic CBT, and thing called vulnerability and effect prevention, which we notation to arsenic ERP," Innes said, adding that radical sometimes instrumentality medicine erstwhile needed.

Having struggled with the condition for years, Combs said he present knows however to grip it and not beryllium afraid.

"The connection is if there's idiosyncratic retired determination that's struggling with it, it's imaginable to proceed to unrecorded your life and beryllium truly successful and person a large family and execute your dreams, portion besides dealing with things that you don't privation to beryllium dealing with."