Jenna Ortega Reveals OCD Compels Her To Climb Stairs Six Times at Night To Feel 'Safe'

Jenna Ortega has opened up about how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects her daily life, revealing that the condition can leave her exhausted and disrupt her sleep. The 'Wednesday' star also shared how she sometimes feels compelled to climb the stairs six times at night to feel safe in her own home.

Jenna Ortega Reveals How OCD Affects Her Sleep

Ever since Jenna Ortega rose to mainstream fame with Netflix's horror-comedy series 'Wednesday', she's been busy filming movies left and right.

However, her busy schedule isn't the only thing contributing to her exhaustion. The 24-year-old actress lives with OCD, which can keep her awake at night and compel her to climb the stairs six times to feel safe at home.

'When I'm tired, I have pretty intense OCD,' she revealed in an interview with Vogue.

She explained that her symptoms involve repetitive thoughts, counting things multiple times and repeating actions. Ortega has experienced these symptoms since childhood. Some nights, she finds herself repeatedly climbing up and down the stairs six times because she fears someone might break into her home.

'Sometimes my nights consist of just being really exhausted and going up and down the stairs six times because that's what I think I need to do to make sure no one breaks into my home,' she said.

Jenna Ortega's Earliest OCD Symptoms

Aside from her bizarre nighttime ritual, the Disney Channel alum has other strange habits she developed when she was only seven years old.

She even had one specific sequence of actions that she recalled doing very early in the morning before her family could even wake up. 'I had to open the bedsheet a certain way, and open the drawer one way, and brush my hair in a slow-paced way,' she said.

Ever since she received her diagnosis, she has come to terms with how the condition affects her day-to-day living. She has also gained a better understanding of how her mind works, describing it as having 'a lot of different trains rolling in my brain at the same time.'

However, she has also admitted that her compulsions can be too much some days, leaving her with no other option than to 'just bite the bullet and do the routine.'

How Ortega Manages Her OCD While Balancing Her Career

OCD is a mental health condition characterised by unwanted, recurring thoughts known as obsessions and repetitive behaviours or mental acts known as compulsions. These can cause significant distress and interfere with daily life.

Ortega is well aware that her symptoms are irrational, but she's not shy about letting the world know about them, like how she always has to step on set with her left foot first, or how she would always put her clothes in a specific order. She also does this thing where she holds her breath and counts to 71.

'I count to a certain number in the shower. I put my clothes on in a certain order,' she said in a 2025 interview with the same magazine. 'If I'm having a bad day and I don't know why, it's because I put the wrong sock on the wrong foot. I'm very aware of stuff like that. And while it may come across as silly, and I can acknowledge that, it also brings me some sort of comfort.'

Rather than viewing her condition as a hindrance to living her life to the fullest, Ortega has admitted she's learned to view it like a game. Ortega has tried medication and has worked with a therapist to help manage her OCD.