Howie Mandel Nearly Died While Self-Medicating During Covid: ‘I Was Just Trying to Escape’

Howie Mandel is opening up about a frightening period of self-medicating during the Covid pandemic that became so extreme he nearly died.

The America’s Got Talent judge, 70, revealed how the pandemic sent his anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder into overdrive during an interview on Hoda Kotb’s Joy 101, admitting he turned to gummies in an attempt to sleep and escape his fears. (It is unclear what kind of gummies he was referring to, however, in 2024 Mandel revealed that his wife, Terry, had suffered a severe fall in Las Vegas after she “took gummies” and “had pot,” per TMZ.)

Mandel explained to host Hoda Kotb that because his OCD already leaves him feeling as though he is living through a pandemic much of the time, experiencing a real one proved particularly difficult.

His attempts to cope soon escalated from taking gummies to smoking and drinking at the same time as he desperately tried to switch off.

“I was just trying to escape and make myself unconscious,” Mandel admitted, revealing there were times Terry was unable to wake him and considered taking him to the hospital.

“There’s no middle ground with me,” he explained. “I don’t smoke, or I haven’t had a beer, anything, I can’t do anything in moderation. It wasn’t healthy, and it wasn’t good. It’s not an excuse, but it was really bad.”

His fears surrounding germs also led to some extraordinary measures during the pandemic. Mandel revealed he had an entire guest house constructed near his main home so he had somewhere to retreat if someone in his family did something as simple as sneeze inside.

Mandel recalled his “hero” wife eventually told him, “I can’t do this, this is really tiring, go talk to somebody,” and gave him an ultimatum that pushed him to seek therapy.

The comedian said he is now sober and, rather than attempting to self-medicate, takes prescription medication under the care of medical professionals.