Lewis Pullman has spoken candidly about his long-running battle with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
The Top Gun: Maverick star opened up about living with the chronic mental health condition in a recent interview with British GQ, explaining that his symptoms first became noticeable when he was around 12 years old.
Lewis recalled that his teachers became concerned after noticing him repeatedly spitting into bins and napkins. He told the publication that he began performing the rituals because he believed his saliva contained bad thoughts and feared that if he did not spit, something bad would happen to one of his loved ones.
Although his condition has improved over time, the actor admitted that OCD remains something he continues to manage.
"They say you never really get rid of it, you just get better at managing it," the Thunderbolts star explained. "This little voice that I think is helping me has to go away, and I don't want it to go away, because it's saying, 'You can't survive without me.'"
Describing one of his compulsions, Lewis told the interviewer, "I've done something probably 100 times that you probably haven't noticed," explaining that while speaking, he was repeatedly looking to the right of a pillar in his line of sight, swallowing, and then shifting his vision to the left.
Elsewhere in the interview, Lewis - the son of actor Bill Pullman - reflected on what he described as an unconventional upbringing. He revealed that he and his siblings were not allowed mobile phones or television, except when they were ill.
"You show up to school and everyone's talking about Hey Arnold!, Dawson's Creek or The OC or whatever and you're like, 'I can't contribute here,'" the 33-year-old shared. "I was like, 'Why can't I have a cellphone or laptop until I'm in 10th grade?' I don't know why I didn't, like, run away or anything. I guess because the other options they laid out for us felt so good."
