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

Leela Dua
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

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.

  1. 22h ago

    OCD AV Club: Ted Lasso (Spoilers!)

    Ted Lasso isn't just a feel-good show. It's one of the most thoughtful explorations of mental health, therapy, and OCD-adjacent thinking on television. This week Leela and Pri launch the DTWM OCD AV Club: because sometimes the most important conversations about mental health happen through the media we love. In part one of two, they unpack the therapy and mental health themes running through Ted Lasso: the way the show portrays anxiety, avoidance, the resistance to getting help, and what it actually looks like when someone starts to do the work. Plus the complicated, beautiful mess that is Ted Lasso's own mental health journey, and why Dr. Sharon Fieldstone is one of the best fictional therapist on television. Next week: Shrinking. Two shows, one question, what does good mental health storytelling actually look like? Spoilers throughout. You've been warned. ☕ 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Sep 2

    Clinical OCD vs. OCD Tendencies: Does Pri Have OCD? + Leah Remini on RHOBH, My Chemical Romance & Vampires with OCD

    Pri is back and the sisters waste no time getting into the lore behind MCR, whether their South Asian culture has influenced their mental health and Pri's relationship with vampires. Pri returns from trips to England and Florida, and we get the full debrief. Then Leela shares what she's been obsessing over while Pri was away: Leah Remini joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and My Chemical Romance on tour, specifically their extraordinary storytelling and the way they build a world around their music. Then we get into the real business of the week: does Pri have OCD? Leela and Pri investigate Pri's OCD tendencies, dig into the difference between having OCD tendencies and having OCD, and ask the questions that don't get asked enough: What actually causes OCD? Can culture influence OCD? And can the causes exist separately from the condition itself? And to close: Pri tells us about her fear of vampires. Which is ironic. Because in Eastern European folklore, vampires were believed to suffer from arithmomania, a compulsive need to count. Villagers scattered seeds, grains of rice, and poppy seeds at their doors and graves, knowing the vampire would be compelled to stop and count every single one before sunrise. It's the reason Sesame Street's Count von Count exists. And it means that Pri's most feared creature and her potential OCD tendencies have more in common than she'd like to admit. Pour your tea. Count your seeds. Welcome back, Pri. ☕ We're Totally Obsessed... Leah Remini on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills King of Queens (on CBS and Paramount+) Kevin Can Wait (IMDb) Kevin Can F**k Himself (on AMC+, Sling TV, Prime) My Chemical Romance Tour Rooster (HBO Max) Spooky Storytime Count Von Count (Sesame Street)  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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Aug 26

    Death Anxiety & OCD: The Fear Beneath the Fear + Remembering Dolly Parton

    Remembering Dolly Parton. Leela is flying solo this week, and she's holding space for Dolly Parton, the rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the whole world to see. A woman who rose from the Smoky Mountains to become one of the most beloved, generous, and joyful humans who ever lived. We talk about what she meant, what she leaves behind, and why losing her feels personal even if you never met her. Then, because we're talking about death, Leela dives into death anxiety in OCD, one of the most universal and least discussed OCD themes. Sitting with the intrusive thoughts about mortality and how we can process these fears on a topic where certainty doesn't exist. And to close: something lighter this week. Leela reads sinister affirmations for every sign, earth, air, water, and fire. The dark motivations you need to hear! Pour your tea. Put on a Dolly song. You're going to be okay. ☕ 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Aug 19

    OCD Check-In: Leela updates us on her journey + Shahid Kapoor's Cocktail 2, Lena Dunham's new musical, Rosie O'Donnell returns and the Ghost Story That Started It All

    Pri is on vacation. Leela is flying solo. What could possibly go wrong? This week it's just Leela, and she's doing what any self-respecting podcast host does when left unsupervised: she's giving us all the juicy details. From classic Americana pumpkin spice coffee to Bollywood's Cocktail 2, Leela's tried them both and she's got thoughts. Then we deep dive into the world of pop-culture, Rosie O'Donnell is back in the conversation in the best possible way, and our old friend Lena Dunham has just announced a Broadway musical of 10 Things I Hate About You with Carly Rae Jepsen writing the music. Then Leela gets honest. A personal OCD check-in: where she is right now, how the journey has been feeling lately, what's shifted, what hasn't, and what it actually looks like to live with OCD in real time. And, of course, Leela being Leela, there are pop-culture tangents, and we get to hear all about My Chemical Romance and how her relationship is with them today. And to close: the first ghost story Leela ever heard at a slumber party in elementary school. Someone turned off the lights and turned up the spookiness. And she has thought about it ever since. Some monsters stay with you. ☕ I'm, like, totally obsessed... Cocktail 2 (Netflix)Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ft. Shah Rukh Khan (Netflix)Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge ft. Shah Rukh Khan (Netflix)Hilary Duff TourTed Lasso (Apple TV)Lena Dunham musical announcement (Playbill)10 Things I Hate About You (Disney+)Rosie O'Donnell on Good Hang with Amy PoehlerRosie O'Donnell on Jimmy KimmelMy Chemical Romance Tour 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Aug 12

    Emotional Contamination OCD: When Feelings Become the Fear + DTWM's First Anniversary, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Drama, Hilary & Haylie Duff's Feud, the Gilmore Girls Documentary & the Hellfire Club of Ireland

    Happy first anniversary to us, and to everyone who's been drinking tea with us since the beginning. ☕ One year in, and we are celebrating the way we know best: with a pop culture roundup so packed it needs its own episode. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place has just wrapped its four-part finale on Disney Channel, and the behind-the-scenes drama is almost more interesting than the show itself.Then there's Hilary Duff, who is back with new music, a sold-out tour, and songs about her estrangement from sister Haylie, including "We Don't Talk," which she's confirmed is about their rift, calling it, in her own words, an "emotional eviction."And as if this week couldn't get more millennial: an official Gilmore Girls documentary is headed to HBO Max, directed by Bonni Cohen, featuring Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, and Lauren Graham herself, with never-before-seen outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, and script pages. Stock up on coffee.  Then we get into this week's OCD topic: emotional contamination OCD, the subtype where the fear isn't germs or harm, but feelings. The dread that a person, place, or object carries a negative emotional residue that will transfer to you. The ex's jumper you can't wear anymore. The friend whose bad luck feels contagious. The song that played during the worst moment of your life and can never be listened to again. One of the most personal and least talked-about OCD subtypes, and one of the most relatable. And to close: high up in the Dublin mountains, the ruins of the Hellfire Club sit atop Montpelier Hill, a 5,000-year-old site built over by Ireland's wealthiest man in 1725, who destroyed a prehistoric cairn to do it. Ghost hunters have reported screams, apparitions, and traces of rituals ever since, but the most notable spirit is much darker. Pour your tea. Happy anniversary. Don't go up the mountain after dark. ☕ We're totally obsessed... Wizards of Waverly Place (Disney+)Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (Disney+)Hilary Duff on Tourluck...or something, Hilary DuffLauren Graham on Gilmore Girls doc'Gilmore Girls' Documentary In The Works For HBO Max (Deadline) OCD What is emotional contamination OCD and how is it treated? (NOCD)Emotional Contamination (IOCDF) 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Aug 5

    False Memory OCD: Can You Trust Your Own Mind? + The Wisecrack Podcast & the Ghosts of the Paris Catacombs

    Did that actually happen or did your brain make it up? False memory OCD is one of the most disorienting subtypes there is. This week, Leela and Pri dive into false memory OCD, the creeping, relentless doubt that you can't trust your own recollections. Did you do that terrible thing you're convinced you did? Did that conversation actually happen the way you remember it? The harder you try to be certain, the less certain you become. If you've ever found yourself mentally replaying an event over and over trying to confirm what actually happened, this episode is for you. And we are completely obsessed with Wisecrack! The true crime comedy podcast named Apple Podcasts' Best of 2025. Stand-up comedian Edd Hedges returns to his hometown for a charity gig and finds himself at the centre of a double homicide investigation. Despite all odds, it's funny, it's dark, it's brilliantly told, and it feels like it was made for our listeners specifically. And to continue the theme of the day, wait, no seriously, did that actually happen? We head to the Paris Catacombs, where six million people are buried beneath the streets. Bones are stacked in endless walls, forming corridors of skulls and femurs that stretch for miles. Cataphiles take to the maze under the iconic city of lights to explore and find out for themselves if any ghosts truly haunt this labyrinth. Some things stay buried. Some don't. Get cozy. Pour your tea. And try to remember don't go underground unless you're willing to uncover the ancient secrets of Paris. ☕ 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Jul 29

    Somatic OCD: When Your Own Body Becomes the Obsession + Mindy Kaling's Start, Situationship & Not Suitable for Work & the Emotional Hauntings of Zagreb's Museum of Broken Relationships

    What if the obsession isn't a thought, it's your own heartbeat? This week, Leela and Pri dive into somatic OCD, also known as sensorimotor OCD, the subtype where your brain fixates on automatic bodily sensations you're not supposed to consciously notice. Your heartbeat. Your blinking. The way you're breathing right now. The moment you become aware of it, you can't stop. It's one of the most disorienting OCD subtypes because the thing your brain has latched onto is completely inescapable. You can't put your body down. And we are completely, unapologetically obsessed with Mindy Kaling. Her career from Matt and Ben to The Office to The Mindy Project to Never Have I Ever to Running Point. Her situationship with BJ Novak spanning all of these eras. And her newest Hulu show Not Suitable for Work — the final chapter of what Kaling calls her trilogy of shows about young people, this time based on her experience moving to New York City in her 20s, being super ambitious, and figuring out personal happiness alongside professional success. We have thoughts. Strong ones. And to close: a trip to the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia — a museum that collects, preserves and exhibits the ghosts of relationships past, offering a cathartic outlet for both donors and visitors. Inside: a tiny bottle filled with a woman's tears, an axe used to, and a prosthetic leg. This is not a traditional ghost story. It's something much more haunting. LINKS TO STUFF I'm, like, totally obsessed with...Mindy Kaling and everything she does Not Suitable for Work (Hulu) The Office (Peacock) Running Point (Netflix) The Mindy Project (Hulu) Matt and Ben (Amazon) OCD IOCDF What is Somatic OCD? Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment (NOCD) DTWM Museum of Broken Relationships Contact Us IG: @drinkingteawithmonsters EMAIL: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Jul 22

    OCD Book Club: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Spoilers!)

    How are a failed bank robbery, a hostage situation, and a bridge connected? Through OCD and mental health. This week it's OCD Book Club, and Leela and Pri are reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman — a novel about a group of strangers thrown together by accident who turn out to be hiding extraordinary amounts of pain beneath very ordinary lives. It's funny, it's devastating, it's about the way obsessions, compulsions, anxiety and fear shape every decision we make. But first: Leela and Pri, share the story of how they met. Specifically, the day Pri was born. There was a three year old Leela, innocently watching the classic British children's TV show, Rainbow, eating her tiny ham sandwich, and along came Pri. And then there's the World Cup Final and the half time show. No ghost story this week because there's nothing scarier than human emotion and anxiety. Pour your tea, pick up the book, and maybe call your sister. ☕ OCD Book Club Pick: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 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: drinkingteamwithmosters@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About

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.

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