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

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

By: Leela Dua
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Summary

OCD is exhausting, isolating, and wildly misunderstood, so we made a podcast about it.


Drinking Tea with Monsters is a weekly mental health podcast hosted by sisters Leela and Pri. Every episode, we get honest about what it actually feels like to live with OCD and anxiety: the intrusive thoughts, the compulsions, the ERP therapy wins, and the really hard days.


But because OCD is heavy, we balance it with two other things we love: pop culture obsessions — books, TV binges, viral trends, celebrity deep-dives — and a true ghost story or paranormal tale to close every episode. Because nothing quiets an anxious brain like a good scare.


If you have OCD, love someone who does, or you've ever Googled 'is this OCD or am I just anxious?' at 2am, this show is for you.


New episodes every Wednesday.


Topics we cover: OCD subtypes, intrusive thoughts, ERP therapy, OCPD, dissociation, OCD in children, religious scrupulosity, relationship OCD (ROCD), contamination OCD, harm OCD, magical thinking OCD, postpartum OCD, anxiety management, the gut-brain connection, neurodivergence, ADHD, and how to find the right therapist — plus ghost stories, pop-culture, trends, celeb gossip, conspiracy theories, Broadway, book clubs, and very strong opinions about TV.

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

Leela Dua Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Walt Disney's secret double life? Club 33, MCR and The Black Parade Curse & Emotional Contamination OCD

    Walt Disney's secret double life? Club 33, MCR and The Black Parade Curse & Emotional Contamination OCD
    Nov 4 2026
    Drinking Tea with Monsters’ Halloween episode is here and we’re just surviving our pre-ghost era.This week we investigate Walt Disney: the man who built the happiest place on earth spent nearly thirty years in cahoots with the FBI. But was he on the right side of history? And that’s just where it starts. We also uncover Club 33, the secret members-only club hidden inside Disneyland that Disney officially denied existed for decades.Then we cover emotional contamination OCD, the subtype where the fear isn’t physical. It’s the belief that contact with a person, place, or object can transfer their qualities onto you. Their bad energy. Their moral corruption. Their darkness.We close with the ghost story we’ve been saving: My Chemical Romance moved into the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles to write The Black Parade, a haunted Mediterranean estate. But there was more than music within those walls. The whole band experienced paranormal happenings. Gerard Way had night terrors so severe he wrote a song about them. Mikey Way slept in the most haunted room in the house. Did the hauntings follow them beyond the mansion?Happy Halloween. 🎃We're Obsessed...Club 33 Club 33 WikiOCDWhat is emotional contamination OCD and how is it treated? (NOCD)The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Bruce Hyman Ph.DThe Mindfulness Workbook for OCD: A Guide to Overcoming Obsessions and Compulsions Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Jon Hershfield MFT Spooky StorytimeThe Paramour Estate (Official website)The Paramour Estate (Michelin Guide)TANGENT STUFFFood Allergy Research & Education (FARE) Teal Pumpkin ProjectOCD Resources IOCDFPsychology TodayLooking 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    58 mins
  • Real Event OCD, Criminals and Comedians & Koffee with Karan is Back One Final Time

    Real Event OCD, Criminals and Comedians & Koffee with Karan is Back One Final Time
    Oct 28 2026
    Drinking Tea with Monsters is back! This week we open with the ant hill sugar conundrum taking over social media, declare our obsession with Target’s Thanksgiving stuffing pretzels and Trader Joe’s seasonal range, because fall is for grocery stores and snacks.Then, we're obsessed with:You Can See Everything: the Nathan Fielder Elizabeth Holmes documentary that is genuinely one of the most disorienting things we’ve watched this yearPrimetime: the To Catch a Predator movie starring Robert Pattinson as Chris HansenKaran Johar is the Andy Cohen of Bollywood: The final season of Koffee with Karan with Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Karisma KapoorThe new voice of Apu on The SimpsonsAnd the Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez dating rumours.This week’s OCD segment covers real event OCD, what it is, how it differs from regular guilt or regret, why the brain fixates on things that actually happened, and why “but it really did happen” makes it one of the most misunderstood OCD subtypes.We close with St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, saint of chronic illness, her life, her Story of a Soul, and why a 19th-century Carmelite nun’s philosophy about small acts of love is one of the most quietly radical things we’ve covered on this show.LINK TO STUFFRandom mentions:Ainmane (for chocolate, coffee, and spices from Bangalore, India)Ember cookwareGhost and Bat chips (Trader Joes) Lentil Potato Crunch Curl chips (Trader Joes)Double Chocolate Muffins (Trader Joes)Obsessed with:Stuffing pretzels (Target)You Can See Everything: The Elizabeth Holmes Documentary with Nathan FielderPrimetime: To Catch a Predator, Chris Hansen MovieKoffee with Karan (Hulu)Shah Rukh KhanThe Problem with App (Fandango)The Simpsons | The Revenging (The Return of Apu) (Hulu and Disney+)OCDReal Event OCD (NOCD)Spooky StorytimeSt. Thérèse of LisieuxStory of the Soul by St. Thérèse of LisieuxCausesPalestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)OCD Resources IOCDFPsychology TodayLooking 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    52 mins
  • It’s OCD Awareness Week: We’re Aware, We’re Very Aware! + Kelly Clarkson Tried to Buy a $15,000 Robot Bird & It Did Not Go Well

    It’s OCD Awareness Week: We’re Aware, We’re Very Aware! + Kelly Clarkson Tried to Buy a $15,000 Robot Bird & It Did Not Go Well
    Oct 14 2026
    Kelly Clarkson walked into a Brooklyn magic shop, saw a $15,000 singing robot bird named Molly, and decided she wanted it. The shop said no! Big mistake! Big! Huge! But was it what they said or the way they said it? Clarkson said it had a price tag. The post got 43 million views. Leela and Pri have very specific thoughts about everyone involved, including Molly. And does this have parallels to Ellen DeGeneres' downfall? Ellen DeGeneres announced her retirement from entertainment after her Netflix special, and the comparison writes itself! Or is Kelly Clarkson truly an American Idol? 🎧☕Then: it's OCD Awareness Week 2026, October 13–19, and October is OCD Awareness Month. Do you know where your OCD is? Leela shares an honest check-in on what it's like to go through an OCD spike, what does it feel like and what she wishes people understood about OCD. Plus the sisters share the OCD resources that have actually helped, the tools they recommend when people ask what to do first.And to close: Pri tells the story of Purceville, the 140 year old ghost with secrets and his seven-year-old bestie. It's spooky season.Pour your tea. You are not alone this OCD Awareness Week. ☕OCD Resources🔗 IOCDF OCD Awareness Week: https://iocdf.org/programs/ocdweek/🔗 NOCD: https://www.nocd.com🔗 OCD Action (UK): https://www.ocdaction.org.uk🔗 Find a therapist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/ocd🔗 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988In This Episode🔗 Art of Play, Brooklyn: https://www.artofplay.com🔗 Ellen’s Last Stand...Up Tour (Netflix): https://www.netflix.com🔗 Ellen and Dakota🔗 4AM Clean Sheets Facial Cleansing Skincare Wipes - Fragrance-Free: https://www.target.com🔗 Carrie (Prime Video)📱 Instagram: @drinkingteawithmonsters📧 drinkingteawithmonsters@gmail.comOCD Resources IOCDFPsychology TodayLooking 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
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