Luke Combs Tells Dan Rather About His OCD

Luke Combs opens up to Dan Rather about having anxiety and obsessive thoughts in a new installment of The Big Interview With Dan Rather.

Luke tells Dan, "It's something that I always struggled with, and always affected me. The first time I can remember is probably middle school up to the end of college, and I still have my moments here and there."

Combs says he lives with a lesser-known form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) known as Purely Obsessional OCD, which is marked by intrusive, distressing thoughts that come in waves.

He explains, "Essentially, my version of messing with the blinds or straightening the carpet are thoughts that I play over and over in my head. [For example,] it'll be something about my health. I'll be worried that I'm ... about to have a heart attack, or a stroke. It becomes this very obsessive thing that you literally can never have an answer to."

Luke said the key to taking control of his anxiety has been in arming himself with knowledge. He said, "You have to teach yourself to be comfortable with the fact that you will never get an answer, and that it is a super uncertain thing. That's what I particularly have struggled with. Sometimes that's tough, but it's something that you learn about yourself."

The Big Interview With Dan Rather airs on Wednesday (Jan. 13) at 8PM ET on AXS TV.