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\n\tLuke Combs<\/a> has revealed the intense nature of his struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), describing the condition as \u201cparticularly wicked\u201d during a candid conversation on 60 Minutes Australia<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tThe country star shared that unlike common perceptions of OCD\u2014such as compulsive behaviors like flicking light switches\u2014his form, purely obsessional OCD, manifests internally with relentless anxiety and intrusive thoughts rather than outward rituals.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cProbably the worst flare-up of it I\u2019ve had in, I would say three or four years, started about two days before this trip,\u201d Combs told the program prior to his show at Sydney\u2019s Accor Stadium last month.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s something that in some way I at least think about every day. There\u2019s some tinge of it to some extent every day \u2026 The craziness of the particular disorder that I have, it\u2019s the way to get out of it,\u201d Combs told interviewer Adam Hegarty. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere\u2019s no outward manifestation of it, right? Like you\u2019re talking about the flicking of a light switch, but for me, it\u2019s all going on in here,\u201d Combs explained, adding. \u201cWhen someone else flicks a light switch, you can see it happening. But for someone like myself, you wouldn\u2019t even know what\u2019s going on\u2014it could be happening right now and you wouldn\u2019t even realise it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s thoughts, essentially, that you don\u2019t want to have\u2026 and then they cause you stress, and then you\u2019re stressed out, and then the stress causes you to have more of the thoughts, and then you don\u2019t understand why you\u2019re having them, and you\u2019re trying to get rid of them, but trying to get rid of them makes you have more of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe continued, \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be an expert in how to get out of it now\u2026 I\u2019m probably 90 per cent out of my flare-up now \u2026 and in the midst of doing a world tour, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCombs, known for hits like \u201cForever After All,\u201d described recent anxiety flare-ups as among the most severe he\u2019s experienced in years, noting periods where obsessive thoughts consumed him for \u201c45 seconds of every minute for weeks.\u201d The intrusive thoughts ranged from unsettling violent images to existential concerns about his identity.<\/p>\n \n\tThe country star admitted that his OCD significantly impacted his life, explaining, \u201cIt held me back so many times in my life where you\u2019re trying to accomplish something, you\u2019re doing really great, and then you have a flare-up, and it just like ruins your whole life for six months.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tYet, Combs has gradually learned to manage the disorder more effectively by acknowledging these intrusive thoughts without fear. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen it happens now, I\u2019m not afraid of it because I\u2019m not like, \u2018What if I\u2019m like this forever?\u2019 I know I\u2019m not going to be like this forever now.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPreviously, Combs had opened up about first experiencing OCD-related anxiety in middle school during a 2021 interview on AXS TV\u2019s The Big Interview<\/em><\/a>, likening his obsessive thoughts to \u201cfixing the blinds or straightening the carpet,\u201d but occurring entirely in his mind.<\/p>\n \n\tLuke Combs has landed four No. 1 albums on Billboard\u2019s Top Country Albums chart: This One\u2019s For You <\/em>(2017), What You See Is What You Get<\/em> (2019), Growin\u2019 Up <\/em>(2022), and The Preque<\/em>l (EP) (2019). His albums Gettin\u2019 Old<\/em> (2023) and Fathers & Sons<\/em> (2024) both peaked at No. 2.<\/p>\n