Lili Reinhart has slammed critics who claimed she has "no right" to talk about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
The 23-year-old actress received negative backlash from critics earlier this month when she mentioned having an "OCD thing" in an interview, as some people thought she was using the mental health condition – in which people have uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts or behaviours that they feel the urge to repeat over and over – as a general term, rather than actually suffering from it.
But the ‘Riverdale’ star has now hit back at her haters, insisting she has been an OCD sufferer since she was in elementary school.
She tweeted: "I just want to put out there re: my Fallon interview – I actually do suffer from OCD, it wasn’t just a little quip I made on a talk show. I’ve had OCD since I was in elementary school. So, yes. I do have the right to talk about it. Thanks."
Lili made her initial comments during an appearance on ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’, when talking about her character in ‘Hustlers’, who would throw up every time she got nervous.
The actress said the fake vomit they used for the movies would trigger her OCD, because she can’t stand seeing "floaters in water".
She explained: "It was actually animal crackers and Sprite mixed together. I thought I was going to have a problem here because I have this really like, OCD thing with floaters in water and in drinks. Like if my drink has a little floater in it, I’m like [gags], get it out. That’s when I want to throw up! So having a cup of something that basically looked like ‘floaters’ in water was like my worst nightmare."
Lili has been open with her mental health battle in the past, and recently spoke about the different ways she has been affected by depression.
She said: "Depression has affected me in so many ways. It’s something that never goes away. I’ve experienced depression and anxiety. Not constantly, but I’m still experiencing it. I have spells of time where I feel completely unmotivated, I don’t want to do anything and I question myself. I don’t know how to handle stress very well."
And the actress credits therapy for helping her.
She added: "Seeing the therapist allowed me to be understood. The goal for me has been to always leave therapy feeling a couple of inches taller. Feeling like I’ve alleviated myself of a problem by learning how to solve it. Not everything has a straight answer – it’s not just going to take one session – but I start to think, ‘I’ve grown, I’ve done this, I’ve figured this out, now can I go off into the world and try to put what I’ve learned into action.’ That’s how I look at therapy. I am not crazy, and I am not problematic. I am just a human who’s feeling something in a different way than some other people would."
Lili Reinhart slams critics over OCD comments
