MENTAL HEALTH
Lele Pons proudly stops biting her nails after 25 years due to OCD and anxiety: before and after
She is a champion when it comes to being open about mental health
Lele Pons has always been very open about her mental health struggles, and the singer shared an exciting update on one aspect of how her OCD and anxiety manifest. “After 25 years, the Venezuelan artist announced on Thursday that she has stopped biting her nails. She shared a candid look at before and after photos, showing just how severe it had become. “After 25 years of biting my nails due to anxiety and OCD i finally quit! Those who have this bad habit know how hard it is to stop,” she wrote in the caption.
In the photos, her nail beds were drastically visible as she had chewed through most of the nails. After two months, her nails looked strong and healthy. She encouraged fans struggling with the same issue to try to stop, emphasizing the importance of taking care of mental health. “Hopefully this post encourages those who are struggling with this habit to stop, and not feel so alone. It’s been 2 months and so far i have not broken my goal. if you take care of your mental health and make it a priority to better yourself, you will overcome many obstacles,” she wrote.
Pons has previously opened up about her struggles with OCD. OCD, which stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, can manifest in various ways for those who struggle with the disorder and typically emerges in late childhood. Pons shared photos in the gallery of her as a child, biting her nails.
It is described by the National Institute of Mental Health as a chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that they feel compelled to repeat.
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Lele Pons and her struggle with OCD
While it used to be her “deepest darkest secret,” she opened up about having OCD, Tourette syndrome, depression, and ADHD in the first episode of her documentary, The Secret Life of Lele Pons. “My OCD is very powerful thoughts that make me do things that I don’t want to do. It got to a point where I could not move. My mind and body shut down because of my OCD. It’s a struggle that is 24 hours a day,” she said.
She told Entertainment Tonight, “I do a lot of touching, a lot of checking, I touch things, everything.” “I talk to someone but I repeat myself three times and they don’t notice. I touch something three times. Sometimes I even get nervous when I say [or] do something two times and I’m like, I need to go back ... When it comes to thoughts, I have fear of, ‘If I don’t do this three times, something bad is going to happen.’”
In a 2021 discussion with MedCircle, Pons explained, “Before I was famous, I was born with a condition. Just because fame comes, I can’t take it away. I wish, you know, like that was a cure, but you can’t. I was born with this. When I was nine, I was not famous, you know? Being rich and famous and having money had nothing to do with anything,” the 27 year-old continued.
Her OCD was so severe that she was held back a grade, and it manifested in various ways, like the way she ate. Her parents noticed something was off and got her help at a neurological behavior institution in Weston.
One of the ways she’s sought help is through exposure therapy or month-long treatments away from the public. “Sometimes I eat in a ritualistic way like I have to bite three times or cut the pieces in order. I have a lot of OCD when I eat, and during exposure therapy, they make me eat in a chunk. They make me throw things away, they make me do things that I don’t want to do,” she told MedLife.
Pons has credited her husband, Guaynaa, for his support. The couple recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary, and on World Mental Health Day, she shared a post dedicated to him. “One of my biggest support systems is my boyfriend. He takes me to my therapy sessions. He reads books about OCD, Tourette’s, and depression so he can learn more about my conditions and how to help,” she captioned the post.
