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NARRATOR: Howie Mandel is battling a crippling disorder.

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder nearly cost him his career

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and made him shave his hair.

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HOWIE MANDEL: OCD are these intrusive thoughts that keep coming in

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so much that you have no control, and you can't stop.

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Those thoughts are so strong that it stops your life.

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NARRATOR: For Howie, his fear of germs has been a living nightmare,

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not just for him but for his loved ones as well.

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HOWIE MANDEL: In my mind, this is a Petri dish.

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Otherwise, I would spend a day as I have in the past

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in my life in a men's room,

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rubbing and scrubbing and scalding.

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NARRATOR: His phobia nearly made him an absent father.

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It was so bad he couldn't bear touching his own children's hands.

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HOWIE MANDEL'S WIFE: The kids, when they're crawling on the floor,

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everything, it was so hard for him.

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NARRATOR: When his kids were growing up,

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he had a second house built in their backyard.

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Mandel would go here to escape the germs of his own family.

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He managed to keep his obsession hidden from colleagues and fans.

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His way of greeting his audience with a fist bump became his trademark.

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Until one day,

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when he spilled his secret to Howard Stern by accident.

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HOWIE MANDEL: I was incredibly embarrassed,

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and I thought I had humiliated my family.

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I thought that this is going to be the end of my career because

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people are going to know that I do have mental health issues.

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NARRATOR: After this shocking revelation,

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the comedian shared how OCD nearly ended his career.

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HOWIE MANDEL: There were many times when I wanted to back out.

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I'm not somebody who sits down with strangers as I sit here.

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NARRATOR: He even wrote a book called

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Here's the Deal, Don't Touch Me,

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which set him free from his fears and

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inspired millions of people who also battle OCD.

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Yet Howie's fight is far from over.

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He is still in therapy and on medication for the anxiety

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that goes along with this disorder.

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Therapies also would save Charlize Theron

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from becoming her own worst enemy.

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For this actress,

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it's not germs but messy cabinets that steal her sleep.

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"I will lie in my bed and not be able to sleep

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because I'll say to myself,

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I think I saw something in that cabinet

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that just shouldn't be there."

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Charlize faced the hardest challenge ever

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when she became a mom.

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She was used to a neat and tidy house,

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yet motherhood made her life chaotic.

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Whenever her kids leave the house in a mess,

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it causes her agony.

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CHARLIZE THERON: There's a lot of times

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where I'm walking through my house

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thinking I'm going senile

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because I have a little OCD thing,

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and I'm, like, where is this glare coming from?

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NARRATOR: Charlize got her life back together

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with the help of a therapist.

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Her children also lightened her load.

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CHARLIZE THERON: I've gotten a little bit better.

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My kids definitely helped me be less anxious

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about a lot of that stuff.

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NARRATOR: Her condition could have harmed her career,

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but instead, it gave her an edge.

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She channeled her OCD into many of her biggest roles,

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like in Atomic Blonde, Mad Max, and Monster.

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David Beckham's OCD took another shape.

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He says he needs to have everything in a straight line,

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or everything has to be in pairs.

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He's literally obsessed with symmetry.

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When David walks to the fridge,

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simply getting a drink can quickly become an ordeal.

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His drink labels must be lined up in a certain way.

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DAVID BECKHAM: If there's two bottles of water and two bottles of Coke

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and two bottles of Sprite,

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if there's an extra can,

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then I'd take it out and put it in the cupboard and hide it.

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NARRATOR: David's disorder made him buy three fridges,

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one for drinks, one for salads,

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and one for other food.

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Of course, all three perfectly organized.

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Beckham also admitted that he's addicted to

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rearranging hotel rooms to make everything perfect.

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Like other OCD sufferers,

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David didn't want his diagnosis to influence his career,

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so he only opened up about it later.

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His Manchester United teammates

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used this information to annoy him.

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They reordered his clothes and other stuff in hotel rooms,

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and it drove him mad.

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Although Beckham wished and tried

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to stop his obsessive behavior, he couldn't.

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Of course, his habits also complicate the lives of his family,

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but with their love and support,

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David leads a pretty normal life.

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Mandel, Theron, and Beckham

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are all living their own brand of nightmare,

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but all three of them had the courage to break the silence.

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So don't forget, whatever battle you're in, you're not alone.

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Face your fears. Speak your truth.