Content warning: This article mentions substance use.
Jake Shane is your favorite influencer’s favorite influencer—and probably one of the OCD community’s favorites as well. Jake, 24, is known for his love of octopi (yes, both the food and the stuffed animals) and his hilarious reenactment skits that took the internet by storm (hello, Monica Lewinsky!).
Jake is proof that living with mental illness doesn’t mean holding back on your dreams. Whether he’s filming TikToks with Sofia Richie, working out at the Alo gym with Glen Powell, or being a red-carpet correspondent at the VMAs, Jake’s authenticity and unapologetic realness make him not just a relatable star, but a crucial Gen Z advocate for mental health awareness.
We had the chance to sit down with Jake to talk about his mental health journey—specifically his experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Through his podcast, Therapuss, and his Tiktok and Instagram accounts, Jake has shown that speaking openly about mental health can empower others to do the same, and through his honesty, he’s helping break down barriers and misconceptions about OCD.
In this Q&A, Jake opens up about some of his specific struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, how he balances mental health with fame, and why he believes authentic conversations about mental illness are so important.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Before we get into everything, is this a tents up day or a tents down day? How are you feeling?
I’m doing well. The tents haven’t risen or gone down yet. So, we’ll see. I’m sussing out the day. Like, I’m skeptical for sure. I’m pretty sure something just pissed me off. Yeah, something did just piss me off, and I’m anxious about something. So we’ll see how the rest of the day goes. I have high hopes, though, because one of my best friends is in town.
So you’re going on a sold out tour for your podcast. Are you more nervous about going live than your pre-recorded content?
I want to go now. I’m just so excited. I feel good. I used to be really nervous about it, but I love making people laugh and hearing the laughter in person. It’s really, really rewarding, so I’m really excited.
Your friends Julia, Peyton, and Brett sometimes help you on the podcast. How do they fit into your support system in terms of mental health?
There’s something to be said about going into the entertainment space. There’s a lot of different people around you at all times. Sometimes you get scared that maybe you’re losing yourself, or you’re changing and it’s nice to have people around you that are like, oh no, you’re the same. They humble you and keep you grounded.
Also, they know me very well. So when I am seeing red and I’m very anxious, it all blends together for me, but they’ll be like, no, this isn’t one of your normal freak outs. This is not serious. To have people around you that have known you for so long and have watched you grow, I think is really important.
Do you feel that your viral jump to fame, like with the Monica Lewinsky video, was a big adjustment?
It was definitely a change, but I was so grateful that it was happening. The only thing that I would complain about would be that I want to make it last, and the anxiety of making it last really stresses me out. But that week was probably the happiest I’ve ever been.
Moving from working in the music industry to being a public figure yourself, was there a mental shift for you?
I like to say that I always thought I was famous, so I always behaved that way. I was a theater kid, I acted like I was walking down the red carpet every time I left the house. So that didn’t really feel different. It felt, honestly, kind of validating. But there are definitely moments where I’m like, ooh. Like, walking into a bar, I have a little more anxiety doing that now. During the day, I could care less, but when I’m out for a night and I’m drinking and dancing, I’m a little anxious.
It’s made my anxiety worse. It’s like, “Oh, wait. What if someone got a video of me doing something embarrassing last night?” I used to have no anxiety, and I used to do really embarrassing shit, especially in college. I just feel like now my anxiety is so much worse, so I’ve been trying to drink less, honestly. I’ve always been so aware of how I’ve been perceived. It’s like a blessing and a curse.
You’ve been really open about your OCD on your podcast. You mentioned some compulsions like praying every time you swore, making sure you smile at yourself in the mirror ten times before bed, and making clucking sounds after counting to two. Have you been able to manage or work through some of them?
I’m on meds, which has really subdued them… but I definitely have compulsions still. There’s a certain way I turn on my TV every night, there’s a certain way I go to bed every night, there’s a certain way I shower every morning and those are, like, the smallest ones.
The one that came back recently was commenting and deleting it, commenting and deleting it, commenting, deleting it. Or, making sure my comment has a certain number of words in it. That [compulsion] actually used to be pretty intense in high school and early college.
I’m also very superstitious. That hasn’t gone away either. So every time I make a statement, I have to knock on wood. I don’t even want to say that hasn’t come back, because I’m like, so terrified of it coming back. [The praying after cursing] hasn’t been around since I was a kid, because I curse like every other word, so that would just be a disaster.
You mentioned a compulsion around leaving comments with a certain number of words. Does this happen on social media or with friends as well?
Yes, it’s everything. It’s every, every post, every friend. Industry friends, best friends, like everything, everyone. It takes me like ten minutes sometimes [to post a comment], which sounds so stupid, but it really does take me so long.
That doesn’t sound stupid at all. It can be part of how OCD works. For me, I feel like I dramatize everything in my head. Is it the same for you?
Mine is more like, if I don’t have a certain number of words, I’ll get bad luck.
Okay, so it’s more like magical thinking?
Yeah, that’s what my entire OCD is like. Yes, there is a part of me that’s worried about how people are gonna read it, but my 90% of it is like, okay, bad luck, good luck. That’s my entire basis of OCD.
When you started noticing some of these things where you’d been using magical thinking in your childhood, did you feel like these compulsions or thoughts were normal?
Yeah, I was seven or eight, I thought I was magic. I thought I had the power to control my future. I thought, if I do this, it’ll be good luck. If I do this, it’ll be bad luck. I think I started to realize it was weird.
[When I was in] fifth grade, my dad was like, “What the fuck are you doing?” And he would be like, “Just stop.” And I’m like, well, I can’t just stop. And that’s when I realized things were not right. But before I thought I was in control. I thought I had magic powers and I could control the future.
For your own OCD, what were your first steps in seeking help?
I didn’t seek help for like, 20 years. I ended up taking meds when I was 21 because I was working at the job I had before this, and I didn’t want to do a bad job. I felt really passionate about it, and I really didn’t want to lose it. And I knew that there were moments that I was being slow at work because of my OCD. And I was like, this can’t happen.
What are your thoughts on therapy?
It should be for everyone. I think if it’s not working for someone, they just don’t have the right therapist.
What compulsions would you perform in order to control the future?
Touching things evenly. That was my biggest thing. Even today, the fact that I can touch this [the table] and not do that [have to touch it evenly on the other side]. It’s probably my biggest accomplishment, getting over that. That was horrible.
There’s this episode of Girls on HBO where Hannah, the main character, goes through the exact same thing. And I remember watching that and being like, “Oh my god, I do the same thing that Hannah does!”
Did watching that episode help you feel like other people out there were experiencing the same thing?
Yeah. I was like, “Oh, it’s a mental illness.” I’m not the only one in the world who feels this way, which is a nice feeling. OCD feels very isolating and very ridiculous. The whole premise is kind of ridiculous. It feels like you’re the only one experiencing this. Okay, I obviously know other people have depression. But some of your OCD stuff is so niche and so customizable to you that it feels like no one else in the world goes through it.
OCD feels very isolating and very ridiculous. The whole premise is kind of ridiculous. It feels like you’re the only one experiencing this. Okay, I obviously know other people have depression. But some of your OCD stuff is so niche and so customizable to you that it feels like no one else in the world goes through it.
I feel like a lot of that is also because people view OCD as a ‘neat freak’ disorder sometimes, and not something more debilitating.
Yeah, that’s my biggest pet peeve. It really grinds my gears. People are like, “I’m so OCD” and I’m like, “No, you’re just neat.” It almost diminishes what it is.
Once it becomes oversaturated, and everyone’s saying they have OCD, people take it less seriously. But it’s a pretty serious mental illness and really debilitating. I think, why it bothers me, because it feels like it isn’t taken seriously. So I kind of just had to push through it my whole life. I was never given a mental health day, you know what I mean?
It’s just frustrating. I remember someone saying,“Oh, I think I have OCD.” And I’m like, “No, you don’t.” It just invalidates it and makes it seem so much less intense than it actually is.
Since you’ve been so vocal about your journey with anxiety and OCD, was this something that you always thought you would talk about, or did it just happen with you being you?
It just happened. I remember the week everything happened [rising viral fame in 2023]. I was like, should I still talk about this stuff? And then I was like, if I take myself too seriously, this is gonna crash and burn in five seconds so I just have to be honest.
You talking about this has a huge impact, because even as a fan myself with friends who watch your podcast, a lot of them weren’t really aware about OCD and other mental illnesses in the mainstream media.
A lot of people don’t know [about OCD], and I wish I had someone when I was younger that was like, “I have this and this is what I do to make myself feel better.” Because as I said,the first time I saw it, it was Hannah on Girls, and that was it.
I feel like it’s nice to talk about in a casual way, too. I try to talk about everything. That’s the only way you can make something feel normal. If you weave [mental health issues] into a conversation naturally, people will listen and they won’t feel as weird about it.
You’ve shared a lot about your mental health publicly on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Do you feel like sharing your experiences with a big audience helps ease some of the pressure compared to sharing with just one person?
A part of OCD, I’ve learned, is the over-transparency. You feel the need to tell everybody every side of every part of who you are. Every side of the situation. I have this fear of people hating me and people leaving me, so I sometimes feel like if I can just tell everybody how I feel all the time, then they’ll get to know me more. It’s just this overcompensation.
Do you have any intrusive thoughts that are new from when you first recognized your OCD, especially after you’ve kind of stepped into this career path?
I like to say they’re all the same in different fonts. So let’s say I’m nervous about something today. Until it is over, my intrusive thoughts will be about that. They do seem a little more dire, but then I think about it and even before, they always seemed dire.
I always thought I was getting fired. That was a big intrusive thought of mine, and I do still have that same intrusive thought. It just manifests differently because it’s a different type of firing. You know, it’s like being fired by the public instead of by a company. Even saying that gives me anxiety.
So how do you deal with that fear of being disliked by everyone when you’re currently so loved. Is there something that you have to remind yourself of?
I smoke a lot of weed and then I hang out with my friends and I overcompensate and just try to make people laugh and constantly entertain. Because I think if I’m entertaining, then they can’t hate me. If I’m being a jester, they can’t hate me.
Is that hard for you sometimes in terms of overexertion and feeling drained?
It is. And sometimes I’ll snap to the people closest around me, and I’ll have a really big meltdown. Yesterday I had a literal meltdown. I was like, “Oh my god, I’m burnt out.” But at the same time I feel so grateful that my career is getting to entertain people. There’s pros and cons to everything, and I will take the cons gladly because I love the pros so much.
In terms of your tour coming up, I know you said that you’re super excited and ready to go, but do you have any plans in place to cope with moments of anxiety?
I mean, there’s some stuff where I’m like, it’s happening and we’re gonna just have to deal with it at the moment. But [for the tour] I’m just like, it’s happening, we’re doing it, and I gotta figure it out.
If there’s one thing that you could change about the way people perceive OCD, what would it be?
I would appreciate a bit more grace. Yeah, I think that’s important. Just a little bit more grace. I wish people understood that I believe what I’m thinking, right? I know it’s crazy to some people, but I believe it, and it’s very debilitating.
I think people are very harsh on each other today, and I just wish there was just a little more grace in general, you know. It’s very hard to be in your own brain in the digital age. We’re the first generation that grew up with social media, we don’t really know how it’s gonna affect our brains. We don’t know how it’s gonna affect who we are as adults. Everyone’s kind of figuring it out. It’s important to show compassion.
Learn More about OCD
Jake’s openness about his experiences with OCD and anxiety not only shed light on what it’s like to live with these conditions, but also provides a sense of solidarity for those who feel isolated by them. Whether he’s on tour, making people laugh, or performing funny skits on TikTok, Jake’s commitment to being authentic about his struggles makes him a voice of encouragement for anyone navigating mental health challenges.
At NOCD, we work on reducing the stigma around the illness and encourage as many people as possible to get the proper help they need. NOCD is a platform that offers access to licensed mental health providers that are specifically trained in OCD treatment. Our therapists are extremely sensitive to the nature of OCD and the difficulty of intrusive thoughts. We also offer a content library where you can learn more about OCD, as well as an online support community.
If you think you are experiencing OCD symptoms, book a free call with a licensed NOCD Therapist today. Our therapists all specialize in using exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, an evidence-based OCD treatment that works by interrupting the cycle of obsessions and compulsions.
Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up to date with our ongoing work in OCD recovery.