Howie Mandel, Daughter Talk Struggles With Anxiety, OCD: 'I'm Living In A Nightmare'

Howie Mandel and his daughter Jackie Shultz are opening up about their mental health struggles.

Mandel, 65, and Shultz, 36, spoke about their struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during an interview with People. According to the "America's Got Talent" judge, he was "not proud of that gift I've given" Shultz, who started exhibiting signs of OCD — which can be characterized by intrusive or repetitive thoughts or fixations — when she was a preteen.

"But our coping skills are to find the light," said Mandel, who first exhibited symptoms of his OCD as a child.

Discussing his nearly lifelong struggle with anxiety and OCD, Mandel said, "I'm living in a nightmare."

"I try to anchor myself. I have a beautiful family and I love what I do. But at the same time, I can fall into a dark depression I can't get out of," he said of how he copes with his afflictions.

The TV personality, who was diagnosed in his 40s, went on to admit that he initially felt that he'd "embarrassed" his family when he first opened up about his mental health issues in 2006. Mandel said that at the time, he also feared nobody would hire him because he "isn't stable."

Meanwhile, Schultz said the COVID-19 pandemic only worsened her intense fear of germs and getting sick, an issue Mandel also struggles with.

"It was really, really hard," Mandel's daughter explained. "My anxiety sometimes leads to depression. I went through the extreme and I just locked myself in. I've been isolated and scared for a year and a half and now that things are starting to open back up, I'm really not at the same place that most people are. I'm working with a therapist to get back out into the world," she continued.

But according to Shultz, having a father who understands what she is going through does help.

"My dad is very open about going to therapy and erasing the stigma," Shultz said. "Whenever I was upset or sad or having a bad day, I knew I could reach out."

While the father and daughter now have a close relationship, this wasn't always the case. The Canadian comedian said he is so fearful of germs that he had a guest house built where he could stay whenever a family member was sick. According to Shultz, she had trouble getting along with her dad, whom she said used to be controlling.

"There were a lot of control issues about me being safe, like, where was I, what did I get into, what did I touch? He was strict. And there was a lot of hovering. We had trouble getting along in those times," Shultz said.

But Mandel and Shultz have moved past their issues and now co-host the "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast, which they launched during the pandemic.

"It came out of a necessity of trying to connect with my child," said Mandel, who was separated from his daughter for over a year during the lockdown. "We spend hours a day trying to make each other laugh."

Aside from Shultz, Mandel and his wife Terry are also parents son Alex, 31, and daughter Riley, 28. Meanwhile, Jackie and her husband Alex Shultz share Abbey, 6, and Axel, 5.