Drinking Tea with Monsters: OCD, Mental Health, Pop Culture & Ghost Stories

The most exhausting OCD compulsions are the ones no one can see. Here's what they look like.

This week, Leela and Pri explore the hidden side of OCD. The invisible mental compulsions that are just as powerful (and draining) as the ones you can observe. Ruminating, reviewing, reassurance-seeking, avoidance. The rituals that happen entirely inside your head, and why they're so hard to stop.

Plus: did Avril Lavigne actually die in 2003 and get replaced by a look-alike called Melissa? Leela and Pri go deep on one of pop culture's wildest conspiracy theories, compare it to similar mysteries surrounding Paul McCartney and Elvis, and debate the entire pop-punk legacy while they're at it.

And to close: a visit to Himeji Castle, perched on Mount Himeyama in Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage site with a genuinely chilling history.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

Tangent Stuff

Stay at home daughter: @daphnimarina

Kerrygold: Still the best cheese

Authentic Connections

The relationship between OCD and ADHD: Are they connected?

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Avril Esta Morta

OCD

The International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

OCD Mental Compulsions: When OCD is hidden (NOCD)

DTWM

Himeji Castle

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Halloween special with folklorists, a rom-com obsession, and one guest's honest account of growing up with OCD.

This week Leela and Pri welcome special guests Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman, folklorists and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. Brittany shares her lived experience of growing up with OCD, what triggered the onset, how she got help, and the tools she uses to manage it every day. Sara reflects on supporting her, and both talk about building a business that plays to their individual strengths.

Plus: Florence and the Machine's Everybody Scream, the Netflix rom-com Nobody Wants This starring Adam Brody and Kristin Bell, and the full Hallmark Halloween breakdown.

And to close: Sara and Brittany treat us to a fairytale to be truly afraid of: The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn About Fear.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. 🎃

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Everybody Scream by Florence and the Machine - out October 31, pre-order now!

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Haul Out the Halloween (Hallmark)

OCD

The International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

DTWM

The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

Pre-order Fairylore by Brittany Warman and Sara Cleto

Socials: IG: @carterhaugh.school | Pinterest: @carterhaughschool | YT: @carterhaughschool | FB: @carterhaughschool

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If someone you love has OCD, this episode is for you, and for them.

This week, Pri shares her personal experience supporting Leela through OCD. What's actually helped? What should you never say? Why do you have to protect your own mental health as a supporter, too? And how do you help someone in a flare without accidentally making it worse?

Plus: the Roy Kent spiral is real. Pri goes deep on Brett Goldstein: Ted Lasso, Shrinking, All of You, and his early work SuperBob (celebrating its 10th anniversary). We have no notes.

And to close: Leela tells the ghostly tale of Belcourt Castle in Rhode Island, its opulent Gilded Age roots, its haunted antiques, and the question everyone wants answered: can secondhand treasures carry spirits?

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...Brett Goldstein and all of his works

Superbob (Amazon, Roku, & Tubi)

All of You (Apple TV)

Ted Lasso (Apple TV)

Shrinking (Apple TV)

OCD

If you are suicidal or in emotional distress, consider using the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Call or text 988 or start a chat online  to connect with a trained crisis counselor. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Living with someone with OCD: How to help and support them (NOCD)

Living With Someone Who Has OCD. Guidelines for Family Members (IOCDF)

Families: “What Can I Do to Help?” (IOCDF)

Helping someone with OCD (MindUK)

DTWM

Belcourt Castle

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"You probably like your OCD though, right?" No. Let's fix that, and a few other myths while we're here.

Think OCD is just being super neat? Think again. This week, Leela and Pri tackle the most common OCD misconceptions head-on:

• "I'm so OCD"
• "You probably like your OCD though, right?"
• "Why can't you just stop thinking about it?"

They also walk through how to open up a conversation about OCD with your support network, the words that help, and the ones that really don't.

Plus: a deep dive into the world of late night comedy, the careers, the scandals, and the recent cancellations of Colbert, Kimmel, Conan. And yes, they get real about Fallon.

And to close: Pri shares the eerie true story of the Fox Sisters, the 19th century mediums who helped ignite the Spiritualism movement. Frauds, or genuinely tuned into something else?

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

OCD

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

IOCDF on Instagram

Sign-up for the webinar on ADHD, OCD, and Anxiety by Authentic Connections Counseling on October 17th

DTWM

The Fox Sisters

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Living with OCD can feel isolating. Community changes that. Here's why it matters and how to find it.

This week, Leela and Pri talk about the power of OCD community: why connection is essential to the healing journey, how the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) is building it through events like One Million Steps for OCD, and how you can get involved.

Plus: Leela and Pri give their very necessary, very delayed hot takes on Taylor Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl. Are they the last people on Earth to share their thoughts? Probably. Are the takes still hot? Absolutely.

And to close: a gothic detour to Strawberry Hill House in England, the whimsical castle that inspired The Castle of Otranto and gave birth to gothic literature as we know it.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Lauren Graham's Walk of Fame Ceremony.

The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift

OCD

International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

One Million Steps for OCD

Tangent

The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic! 

Profs and Pints

DTWM

Strawberry Hill House

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OCD compulsions: what they are, why they feel impossible to resist, and the tools that help reduce their grip.

This week, Leela shares her experience with OCD compulsions, the rituals, the loops, the exhaustion, and the specific strategies that have helped her manage and reduce their intensity over time.

Plus: it's fall reading season and Leela and Pri have the perfect witchy, magical list to get you through it. Practical Magic, Rules of Magic, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, cozy, enchanting, and absolutely the right energy for autumn.

And to close: a spooky trip to the White House to uncover the eerie history of its most famous ghostly residents, and the celebrities who've reportedly encountered them.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

P.S. — join the DTWM team for the IOCDF One Million Steps for OCD Walk!

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Fall books

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alex Dumas (Goodreads)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Goodreads)

The Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella (Goodreads)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Goodreads)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

OCD

NOCD

IOCDF

Tangent

You’re Got Mail (IMDb)

When Harry Met Sally (IMDb)

Everything We Know About the ‘Practical Magic’ Sequel (Rolling Stone)

Things we're excited for

Hacks HBO

All of You Apple TV

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

Join us for the One Million Steps for OCD Walk.

DTWM Team page

DTWM

The ghosts of The White House

Contact Us

IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OCD flare-ups happen. Here's what triggers them, what makes them worse, and what you can actually do.

This week, Leela and Pri dive deep into OCD flares, the sudden intensifications that feel like everything is getting worse at once. What sets them off? What accidentally fuels them? And what are some strategies to get through them without completely losing it?

Plus: Leela is obsessed with the old Hollywood friendships she loves most, the love language of teasing, and Only Murders in the Building Season 5. There are also fall TV, book, and podcast recommendations, cross-cultural identities, and Punjabi music going mainstream in America.

And to close: a visit to the impressively lazy ghosts of Scotney Castle, who've been haunting the place for centuries with minimal effort.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

TV

Only Murders in the Building is back for Season 5 on Disney+/Hulu

High Potential on Hulu

The Paper is available on Peacock

Wednesday is out now on Netflix

PODCASTS

Off Menu

Films to Be Buried With

BOOKS

The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

OCD

Resources used for this episode:

• OCD Flare-ups: What Causes Them & How Long They Last (NOCD)
• Understanding your OCD triggers and compulsions (HealthLine)
• What causes OCD to get worse? (IOCDF)

Drinking Tea with Monsters

Scotney Castle

Tangent Stuff

Karan Aujla and One Republic

Contact Us

INSTAGRAM: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media can be a resource for OCD, and a trap. Sometimes on the same day.

This week, Leela and Pri take a close look at the plusses and pitfalls of social media when you live with OCD: from the mental health knowledge-sharing communities that genuinely help, to the triggers that sneak up on you, to the compulsive doomscroll that steals hours from your life. TikTok, we see you.

But first: it's fall, and Pri has a cozy recipe she's been enjoying that's basically apple pie for breakfast. Pumpkin spice lattes. The Gilmore Girls Emmys moment. We're ready.

And to close: Leela takes us to a haunted grocery store in a tiny village in a Norwegian forest. The ghosts there have a surprisingly active social life.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Apple Pie Oatmeal recipe

The Kerrygold cheese we like

The oats we like

OCD

To learn more about OCD and the various common subtypes, visit the International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/

How Social Media Can Trigger OCD and 3 Ways To Respond (A NOCD resource)

The Intricate (and New) Link Between OCD and Social Media (Northlake Behavioral Health System)

Brick for your phone

Drinking Tea with Monsters

A haunted grocery store in Norway

Tangent Stuff

The Dish Podcast

Good Hang Podcast with Amy Poehler

Gilmore Girls reunion at the Emmys

Contact Us

INSTAGRAM: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

Music

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/crooked-old-shrew

https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OCD doesn't have to be the defining part of your story. Here's proof, featuring some famous company.

This week, Leela takes a hopeful look at OCD, sharing a calming exercise that has genuinely helped reduce anxiety in panic moments, and exploring the stories of

celebrities who have thrived despite living with debilitating OCD themes. What triggered their symptoms? What helped?

Plus: 90s heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas is back! Leela and Pri dive into the Home Improvement reunion, Tim Allen's career, and a controversial take on the sitcom. There's also a detour into the fever dream that was American Gladiators.

And to close: Pri tells the story of Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan, India, so haunted it's actually illegal to visit at night.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

Home Improvement - the reunion

Watch Home Improvement on Disney+ and Netflix

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Watch Shifting Gears on Disney+ and ABC

OCD

To learn more about OCD and the various common subtypes, visit the International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Watch My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Apple TV

NOCD therapy resource

Drinking Tea with Monsters

Rajasthan 

Bhanghar Fort

Tangent Stuff

Watch American Gladiator on Amazon Prime or Roku

Watch Muscles & Mayhem, An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators on Netflix

Brick for your phone

Contact Us

INSTAGRAM: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

Music

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/crooked-old-shrew

https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Therapy for OCD: the challenges, the breakthroughs, and why we're sticking with it.

This week, Leela and Pri get real about their therapy journeys. The hard parts, the helpful parts, and the reason they've both kept going even when it's been difficult. What's worked, what hasn't, and what they wish they'd known at the start.

But first: Pri is deep in The Dish, a foodie podcast from the very posh British grocery store Waitrose, and it's her current favourite comfort listen. There's also a waffle-vs-pancake debate that we need your help to settle!

And to close: Leela shares the haunting of Château de Brissac in France, and why French love is, apparently, forever.

Here's hoping your tea is hot and your monsters are chill. ☕

LINKS TO STUFF

I'm, like, totally obsessed with...

The Dish Podcast

OCD

To learn more about OCD and the various common subtypes, visit the International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/

NOCD therapy resource

The Chutney Life List of South Asian Therapists 

Drinking Tea with Monsters

Chateau de Brissac

Tangent Stuff

Waffle (and pancake) recipe from Ambitious Kitchen

Contact Us

INSTAGRAM: @drinkingteawithmonsters

EMAIL: [email protected]

Music

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/crooked-old-shrew

https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales

OCD Resources

IOCDF

Psychology Today

Looking for another cozy listen?

🎧 Check out Leela's other podcast, No Dating Till You're Married, an audiobook podcast. Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.

Contact Us

📱 IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters

📧 EMAIL: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.