Despite struggling with a disorder for years, Leonardo DiCaprio rarely talks about his condition.

Leonardo DiCaprio began his career as a kid, appearing in commercials in the late 80s. He found success early on, appearing in successful movies such as This Boy’s Life (1993) and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). His performance as a developmentally disabled boy in the latter even earned him his first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. A couple of years later, he became Hollywood’s heartthrob after starring in romantic comedies such as Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997).

Over the years, DiCaprio has become one of the biggest actors and producers in Hollywood. His films have collectively grossed over $7.2 billion worldwide, for which he’s been named one of the world’s highest-paid actors ever.

Throughout his career, DiCaprio has struggled with a major mental health problem. He only opened up about his condition after a role in a popular film caused him to relapse.

Leonardo DiCaprio Was Diagnosed With OCD As A Child

Leonardo DiCaprio was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) when he was still a kid. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, this is a “chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over. For some, medications work well to help control symptoms, but many people do not respond to traditional medications.”

This can make OCD very difficult to treat.

Although DiCaprio rarely speaks about the issue, the actor has admitted that his condition is not that serious. Despite his diagnosis, he’s gone on to have a normal life.
Moreover, he’s gone on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest actors of all time, appearing in numerous movies that have grossed over $100 million at the box office.

Leonardo DiCaprio Had A Mental Health Relapse While Working On The Aviator

In the 2004 Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator, Leonardo DiCaprio portrays billionaire pilot Howard Hughes who, despite having a successful career, starts growing more unstable due to his severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. As someone with OCD himself, DiCaprio found it easy to connect with this character.

While Hughes’ OCD included things such as a severe fear of germs, wearing tissue boxes for shoes and never cutting his nails, DiCaprio’s experience with this disorder was much different. “My thing was not stepping on cracks, or not stepping on certain things,” the actor explained. So, he had to learn more about OCD in order to portray Hughes.

Ultimately, DiCaprio contacted Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, an expert on OCD, to help him. The psychiatrist agreed on the condition that he would not simply teach DiCaprio the mannerisms of people with OCD. Instead, he would try to show the actor “how to become a person with OCD,” so his brain would work “like the brain of a person who has the disease.”

Unfortunately, his fixation on perfectly portraying someone with OCD caused DiCaprio’s symptoms to worsen.

“During filming I let it all go and I never listened to the other voice, so I remember my make-up artist and assistant walking me to the set and going, ‘Oh, God, here he goes again. We’re going to need 10 minutes to get him to the set today because he has to walk back and step on that thing and touch the door in a certain way and then walk in and walk out again,’” the actor told The Telegraph in 2004.

“I let myself do it because I wanted that to come out. I was trying to be the character. It became real bothersome, even after the filming.”

As his condition worsened, DiCaprio became incredibly reclusive, as he stopped attending social events altogether. Moreover, his OCD made it difficult for him to concentrate at work. He’d often have to take breaks in between filming to calm himself down.

Leonardo DiCaprio Became An Advocate For Mental Health Awareness

The Aviator was a huge success, making more than $213 million at the box office worldwide. Moreover, Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance was highly praised by critics. He even received his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor — Motion Picture Drama, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Plus, his OCD symptoms greatly improved after filming wrapped.

At the time, DiCaprio used the success of The Aviator to publicly talk about his struggles with OCD. “I can talk myself through it, you know, whereas Howard Hughes couldn’t do that and people with hard-core OCD can’t,” the Titanic actor told The Telegraph.

“I’m able to say at some point, ‘OK, you’re being ridiculous, stop stepping on every gum stain you see. You don’t need to do that. You don’t need to walk 20 feet back and put your foot on that thing. Nothing bad is going to happen.’”

Over the years, DiCaprio has become an advocate for mental health awareness and has helped raise millions of dollars for research on disorders such as OCD.