David Beckham- Celebrity Success Stories

"I've got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs." It's hard to imagine that a superstar and ace footballer Devid Beckham suffers from OCD. Actually it shouldn't be. But considering he had to hide his suffering from the whole world for so many years, makes us realize that even superstars are not immune to the stigma surrounding OCD.

Extremely talented, famous and philanthropic Beckham is a cult on his own. For the first time in 2006, Beckham spoke about his obsession to have everything inadvertently line or in pairs. "It's like a weird compulsion", he says. He has an addiction to rearranging objects in hotel rooms, arranging Pepsi cans and matching clothes all the time. The mega star mentions that the obsession started as a kid, but he didn't know it was very stressful till his wife Victoria Beckham pointed it out. "I'll go into a hotel room and before I can relax, I have to move all the leaflets and all the books and put them in a drawer. Everything has to be perfect", he mentions. The perfect example of his condition would be his habit of arranging food, salads and drinks in3 fridges at home! His wife Victoria says that it's baffling how her husband manages the compulsions with ocd along with his work and football. Throughout his magnificent career he has struggled with ocd and come out on the top every time Beckham said that his teammates at Real Madrid didn't know about his condition, but his Manchester United teammates used to keep things in a disorderly fashion to unhook me! Even though it was in jest, Backham admits feeling there was something wrong with him. Beckham was one of the very few professional players to admit suffering from OCD or any other mental illness in 2006. The official spokesperson at Charity OCD UK admitted, that over 3 million people suffer from some form of OCD at one point in their life. "People are hesitant to accept it. Especially young men, who see it as a sign of weakness." He says it's really great that someone like David Beckham has come forward and accepted it.

Other than his football career, David has worked as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and is a part of many wonderful charities. His philanthropic endeavors have been a product of his own struggles with mental health according to him and his wife.

Well, we definitely think it has served as an inspiration to many youths suffering form OCD throughout the world. The world definitely needs to learn how to "Bend it like Beckham" and move forward in our attempts to make OCD destigmatized and treatable.

-Nishtha Dani