Rachel Griffin-Accurso, known to millions as Ms Rachel, has opened up about her long-running battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition she says has been so severe at times that she couldn't leave the house. The American songwriter and YouTube sensation, whose early childhood educational videos have billions of views, shared her experiences during an appearance on Ilana Glazer's podcast, It's Open with Ilana Glazer.
A rise to fame amid a pandemic
Ms Rachel first became popular in 2020 when parents discovered her content during the global pandemic. She started her YouTube channel, initially under the username Songs for Littles, in 2019 after her own son experienced a speech delay and didn't speak his first word until nearly three years old. Her big break came as parents looked for slow-paced, educational screen time to help their children develop.
Six years on, Ms Rachel now has her own brand of toys and books in stores across the world and has signed a non-exclusive streaming licensing deal with Netflix to bring her educational children's videos to the platform.
Opening up about OCD
On the podcast, Ms Rachel discussed the "cruel" way her mind would talk to her. She said: "As I've been in therapy for so many years and had such a hard time with my mind being like, very cruel. I mean, OCD is very cruel. The most intrusive thoughts... I don't take my thoughts seriously at all, and I don't invest in them."
She added: "I'll be like, 'I'm not engaging that thought,' or I'll be like, 'That's not me, that's OCD'. Because for me, with an OCD thought, my brain can be like, 'What's the meanest thing I could say to her right now or have her think or the thing she'd be most like, freaked out about?' My brain throughout time has just been really hard to live with. And it's not who I am. I'm such a kind, loving person."
Coping techniques and therapy
During the podcast, where Ms Rachel also spoke about activism and facing public scrutiny, she shared one of her main coping techniques learnt from therapy. She said: "I heard your mind can be like an attorney that argues the hurtful side, and you have to be an attorney kind of arguing the other side. Say I forget something for my child for school, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm the worst mom'. I'll be like, 'I'm a great mom', and then I find three reasons why I'm a great mom."
Ms Rachel also shared a clip from the podcast on her own TikTok account, where she admitted she could not leave the house on some of her darkest days. She said: "Did you know I have OCD? It's been so severe at times I couldn't leave the house. I'm lucky that medication and therapy have helped me thrive with OCD. Sending anyone with OCD so much love."
Understanding OCD and its treatment
According to the NHS, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition that involves a cycle of unwanted, intrusive thoughts and repetitive physical or mental actions performed to ease the resulting anxiety. OCD can affect men, women and children, with some people having symptoms from as early as 6 years old.
OCD can be distressing and significantly interfere with life, but treatment or medication can help people keep it under control. Treatments include talking therapy – usually cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which helps people face their fears and obsessive thoughts without "putting them right" through compulsions.
Ms Rachel has dropped hints about going to therapy in some of her children's songs, including I'm So Happy. The clue lies in the lyric: "My joy is in the way I choose to think". The line reflects ideas associated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). Ms Rachel said: "Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is so great - I think the book on it is called 'feeling good'."
