Nick Cannon is opening up about his plans to “embrace mental health” after recently discovering he has narcissistic personality disorder.
The singer and actor discussed his diagnosis with People magazine during a Thanksgiving gathering Wednesday hosted by the Los Angeles Mission, a downtown shelter, where he told the magazine how he’s committed to his mental health journey.
“I still don’t understand it all the way, but I kind of always wanted to get tested for it. I did a bunch of tests,” Cannon said while serving meals at the charity event.
The star shared that he always suspected his brain worked differently.
“I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD,” the former child star added. “Even as a kid it was dyslexia, but just knowing that I’m just a neurodivergent individual, I kind of always knew.”
Cannon, a father of 12, said he’s working hard to “embrace” his new diagnosis without stigma.
“I feel like there’s so many labels out there, but it’s like, to be able to embrace it and say, ‘Look, I’m healing. I need help. Show me,’” he explained.
Nick Cannon serves food Wednesday at the Los Angeles Mission’s 88th Thanksgiving Celebration. At the event, he told People magazine about his recent diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder.
Hollywood To You/Star Max via Getty Images
“I just embrace mental health and therapy in such a strong way,” the host of “The Masked Singer” continued. “To be able to say I’m an example for others, but also be healing during the self-process works too.”
Cannon first went public about having narcissistic personality disorder on the Nov. 8 episode of his podcast, “Counsel Culture,” when he explained that he plans to rise above the negative associations that come with the diagnosis.
“I’ve taken all the power away from the term narcissism because I’ve researched it and I understand it,” he told life coach and psychology expert Cheyenne Bryant. “Call me whatever you want. Now if I didn’t know what it was, then I have issue with it.”
Cannon began his mental health journey long before this diagnosis.
He said he premiered his Amazon Prime Video version of “Counsel Culture” in spring in an effort to “destigmatize male mental health.”
“It’s a safe space and a brave place to allow men to discuss their emotions and allow themselves to learn, grow and heal,” the “America’s Got Talent” host said in a press release. “Instead of canceling each other, we are counseling each other. … Nothing is off limits.”
