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Tag: celebs & mental health

  • Taraji P Henson Talks Therapy, Feeling Helpless

    Taraji P Henson Talks Therapy, Feeling Helpless

    “I hope that one day we can all be free to talk about mental health and be okay with seeking help,” Henson said.

    Academy Award winner Taraji P Henson has become a fierce mental health advocate in recent years. Since launching the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in honor of her late father who lived with mental illness, the Empire actress has shared her personal story in an effort to get people talking about mental health and hopefully inspiring members of the Black community to reach out for help.

    In an interview with Self magazine, the recently engaged actress got candid about mental health issues, having to be strong in the midst of helplessness and finding a good therapist with the help of a friend.

    “I hope that one day we can all be free to talk about mental health and be okay with seeking help,” she said.“There are some times where I feel absolutely helpless. That’s human. Everybody feels like that. Just because I’m a black woman, don’t put that strong-superhero thing on me.”

    Henson recognized that with a dayjob that consists of sometimes channeling negative emotions and invoking trauma, self-care is paramount so she found a productive way to recenter herself.

    Art As Therapy

    “Art is therapeutic for me,” she shared. “A lot of times when I have to reach these emotional places, I have to use things in my life, and a lot of times I’ve healed myself.”

    While art therapy has helped her deal with things, there were still other areas where Henson felt she had an opportunity to grow so she opted to enter talk therapy. 

    “I had aligned all my chakras, and I still wanted to headbutt a bitch,” she joked. “The therapy came into play out of necessity. It was [a] time where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just not feeling like myself anymore,’ and my son was going through his issues with becoming a young black male in America with no dad and no grandad.” 

    In 2003, Henson’s son’s father was murdered and three years later her own father passed away.

    “It was like, ‘Okay, I’m not a professional. We both need help,’” she said.

    So Henson went in search of a therapist but like many, finding the right therapist for her needs was not as easy as she had hoped. But it would be her Empire co-star, Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe who would recommend the perfect therapist for Henson – one that just so happened to be her own.

    Sidibe’s Therapist

    Self reached out to Sidibe about her decision to recommend and share her therapist with her co-star and friend.

    “It was extremely important for me to find a therapist who is a black woman, just because black women live in a different world than everyone else,” Sidibe wrote. “Our problems, daily interactions, and expectations are different than most other people, so I wanted a therapist who I could cut through the societal foundation of who I am with, so that we could get to my specific issues. There’s a shorthand between us. We speak the same language because we’re from the same world.”

    For Henson, finding care for herself was necessary but so is helping others in the community access help as well, something she is able to do with her foundation.

    “I think my mental health foundation picks up where my art leaves off,” Henson explained. “We have to deal with these traumatic situations [children experience], and these teachers and therapists and social workers need to be trained in cultural competency to be able to pinpoint [when a] child is having an issue that’s deeper than just wanting to be bad in class.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Frozen 2" Star Kristen Bell Talks Depression, Anxiety

    "Frozen 2" Star Kristen Bell Talks Depression, Anxiety

    “I’m like ‘bubbles, glitter!’ No, it’s not always that way. I am someone who takes a medication for her anxiety and depression.”

    Kristen Bell is in a good place. Her new movie Frozen 2 debuted at number one arround the world, bringing in an estimated $350 million globally, according to The Hollywood Reporter. During a press tour for the hit movie, Bell opened up about mental health.

    In a Sunday Sitdown interview with Willie Geist, Bell got candid about living with mental illness.

    Living With Depression In The Public Eye

    “The last few years you’ve been very open about anxiety and depression and things you struggle with that so many people in this world suffer with and I think they think there’s some shame in it,” Geist said to the Veronica Mars actress, “But if they see Kristen Bell, who projects — even sitting right here — she’s happy, she’s smart, she’s bubbly.”

    Bell was quick to add that while she may appear happy all the time, it’s not always the case.

    “I’m like ‘bubbles, glitter!’ No, it’s not always that way. I am someone who takes a medication for her anxiety and depression. I am someone who has to check myself and sometimes — if I’m feeling really low — make a checklist of good and bad things in my life to see if it’s my mental state or if we really have a problem,” Bell shared. “And me talking about that actually came from — ugh, I hate to give him credit for everything, it’s so annoying that he’s so right about everything.”

    Encouragement From Dax

    Bell’s husband actor/podcaster Dax Shepard is famously open about his past drug use and subsequent sobriety. 

    “He was like ‘Why don’t you talk about your anxiety and depression?’ and I had never thought about that before. And I immediately felt incredibly irresponsible,” she said.

    Bell then began publicly discussing her struggles with depression and anxiety during interviews. 

    Bell went in-depth about her mental health in a 2016 interview with Sam Jones for an episode of Off Air With Sam Jones.

    “I’m extremely co-dependent. I shatter a little bit when I think people don’t like me,” Bell explained. “That’s part of why I lead with kindness and I compensate by being very bubbly all the time because it really hurts my feelings when I know I’m not liked. And I know that’s not very healthy and I fight it all the time.”

    She also revealed some advice that her mother gave her when she was experiencing mental health issues at age 18.

    “[My mom’s] a nurse and she had the wherewithal to recognize that in herself when she was feeling it and when I was 18 said, ‘If you start to feel like you are twisting things around you, and you feel like there is no sunlight around you, and you are paralyzed with fear, this is what it is and here’s how you can help yourself,” Bell said.

     

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Comedian Gary Gulman: Opening Up About Depression Has Been "A Reward"

    Comedian Gary Gulman: Opening Up About Depression Has Been "A Reward"

    “The easiest way and the most comfortable way for me to address anything real is to make jokes about it.”

    Back in October comedian Gary Gulman released a vulnerable and inspiring HBO special called The Great Depresh where he discussed his lifelong struggles with depression. Critics and fans alike applauded Gulman for being so open and honest about what depression looks like and how it has changed his life.

    Gulman recently sat down with People magazine to discuss how the special has affected his life and how he treats his chronic depression.

    “The easiest way and the most comfortable way for me to address anything real is to make jokes about it,” the comedian explained.

    “Depresh” is a cutesy nickname that Gulman gave depression to make it easier to digest for those who have never battled the mental health disorder. For Gulman, it’s all about starting a conversation about mental illness in an effort to end the stigma surrounding it.

    “I had called it that to sort of lighten the impact of the illness,” Gulman said. “I mean, I either consciously or subconsciously figured out that people would feel more comfortable if you were immediately making fun of it.”

    Normalize It

    Gulman feels as though using his voice to normalize the disorder that affects more than 300 million people globally. 

    “I got such a reward for opening up about this,” the 49-year-old told People. “I thought that this was a great way to sort of redeem the experience and exact some revenge on the time lost and that it was actually a way to, I guess, make the two-and-a-half years that I had suffered not be just useless.”

    Though Gulman has lived with depression since his childhood, the disorder hit him hardest in 2015 when he was placed in a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

    “By the time I did go in, there was no question that that’s where I belonged. I wasn’t functioning on any level.”

    Sleep changes are one of the most common symptoms of depression. During his lowpoint with the disorder, he was sleeping 18 or 19 hours a day and when he wasn’t sleeping, he was experieincing anxiety and suicidal ideation.

    His Darkest Moments

    “I was spending every moment I was awake — which was sometimes only like five or six hours a day — … in pain from anxiety and also just contemplating painless suicides and ruminating on mistakes and regrets,” he detailed.

    Electroconvulsive therapy, meds, talk therapy and support from loved ones, Gulman was able to make it through his darkest days to tell his tale. 

    If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org. 

     

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lady Gaga Talks To Oprah About PTSD, Working Through Trauma & Self-Harm

    Lady Gaga Talks To Oprah About PTSD, Working Through Trauma & Self-Harm

    “I have PTSD. I have chronic pain. Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive,” Gaga said.

    Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey dove deep into mental health, healing from deep-rooted trauma and the benefits of getting treatment on a recent episode of Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast. The power duo have both been outspoken mental health advocates throughout their careers.

    Living With Trauma

    The Bad Romance singer has long been a champion of inclusivity and owning your truth and her sitdown with her mogul hero was exceptionally open and honest. The founder of the Born This Way Foundation discussed her past trauma and how she manages it.

    “I have PTSD. I have chronic pain. Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive,” Gaga said. “I would also beckon to anyone to try, when they feel ready, to ask for help. And I would beckon to others that if they see someone suffering, to approach them and say, ‘Hey, I see you. I see that you’re suffering, and I’m here. Tell me your story.’”

    Then the singer revealed that she self-injured for a number of years in the hopes of helping another person who self-harm see that they’re are not alone.

    “I was a cutter for a long time, and the only way that I was able to stop cutting and self-harming myself was to realize that what I was doing was trying to show people that I was in pain instead of telling them and asking for help. When I realized that telling someone, ‘Hey, I am having an urge to hurt myself,’ that defused it. I then had someone next to me saying, ‘You don’t have to show me. Just tell me: What are you feeling right now?’ And then I could just tell my story.”

    Using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy To Heal

    The Grammy award-winning singer no longer self-harms – she also clarified that her admission is not meant to glamorize it any way.

    “One thing that I would suggest to people who struggle with trauma response or self-harm issues or suicidal ideation is actually ice. If you put your hands in a bowl of ice-cold water, it shocks the nervous system, and it brings you back to reality.”

    Gaga went on to rave about her experience with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). With DBT, patients are encouraged to explore the emotions surrounding their trauma so they begin the path to accceptance.  

    “I think that DBT is a wonderful, wonderful way to deal with mental health issues,” Gaga pined. “It’s a really strong way of learning how to live, and it’s a guide to understanding your emotions.” And for Gaga understanding and acceptance are important keys to life.

    “I believe life is asking of us to accept the challenge. Accept the challenge of kindness. It’s hard in a world the way that we are; we have a very, very grave history. We’re in trouble, and we have been before. But I think life asks us amid these challenges, this hatred, this tragedy, this famine, this war, this cruelty: Can you be kind and can you survive?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Julie Andrews: Therapy “Saved My Life, In A Way”

    Julie Andrews: Therapy “Saved My Life, In A Way”

    The icon detailed her experience with therapy on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

    The legendary Julie Andrews revealed that seeking therapy during a difficult time in her life “saved my life, in a way.”

    While promoting her new memoir Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, out this month, Andrews shared her experience with therapy during a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

    Mike Nichols Nudged Her Into Getting Help

    The Sound of Music star said that a famous friend inspired her to seek help after separating from her first husband, set designer Tony Walton, in 1967.

    “Sadly, I separated from my lovely first husband. And separations were always inevitable and the marriage was over and my head was so full of clutter and garbage,” she told host Stephen Colbert. “Believe it or not, it was Mike Nichols who really tipped me into wanting to go to therapy.”

    Nichols, who directed The Graduate and The Birdcage, among others, had a certain quality that resonated with the young actress. “He was so sane, and funny and clear. He had a clarity that I admired so much. I wanted that for myself. And I didn’t feel I had it, so I went and got into it and it saved my life, in a way,” she told Colbert.

    She said there was no harm in sharing her experience with therapy, especially if it could help someone else. “The truth is, Stephen, why not [share it], if it helps anybody else have the same idea? And these days, there’s no harm in sharing it. I think everybody knows the great work it can do, and anybody that is lucky enough to have it, afford it, and take advantage of it, I think it would be wonderful, yeah.”

    “I’d Felt Like I Lost My Identity”

    Losing her voice in 1997 was also difficult to cope with, she said in the October/November issue of AARP The Magazine. “When I woke up from an operation to remove a cyst on my vocal cord, my singing voice was gone. I went into a depression. I felt like I’d lost my identity,” she said.

    The surgery resulted in permanent damage to Andrews’ iconic singing voice. She sued the hospital, Mount Sinai in New York, for malpractice in 1999 and settled with the hospital in 2000 for an undisclosed amount. The actress has tried to repair her singing voice through more surgeries, but had no success, according to the Daily Mail.

    “That was just an extremely, acutely painful time. Not physically, but emotionally,” Andrews recently told Oprah Magazine. “The thing that I felt defined me, always, was that I was a soprano… I finally thought, ‘If I don’t do something else, I’m just going to go crazy.’ Because I’m not one to ever just be idle. I’m far too curious and interested.”

    She found a different calling in writing children’s books with her daughter Emma. “So along came a brand-new career in my mid-60s,” Andrews told AARP. “Boy, that was a lovely surprise. But do I miss singing? Yes, I really do.”

    Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years is now available.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rachel Maddow On Cyclical Depression: "You Sort Of Disappear"

    Rachel Maddow On Cyclical Depression: "You Sort Of Disappear"

    “I still can’t tell when I’m depressed because part of depression is not being able to have emotional cognizance.”

    MSNBC host Rachel Maddow opened up about her long-term struggles with depression, how it affects her, and what helps her get through it in an interview with comedian Marc Maron on his biweekly podcast, WTF With Marc Maron. 

    Maddow described her experience with the mental illness as cyclical, hitting her for a few days at a time every few weeks.

    “And when it happens, I sort of lose the will to live,” she said. “Nothing has any meaning.”

    This has been going on more or less since she was 10 years old. Though Maddow has trouble recognizing it in the moment, her partner Susan Mikula has learned how to spot it and has been crucial in Maddow’s ability to get through each episode.

    Finding Ways to Cope

    “Even after living with it for 36 years, I still can’t tell when I’m depressed because part of depression is not being able to have emotional cognizance,” she explained. “Having a partner who can tell me that’s what’s going on, even if I can’t emotionally process it, like I can’t hear it, it can remind me to make sure you exercise, make sure you sleep, make sure you don’t do anything dumb.”

    Exercise is one of the main ways that Maddow combats her depression, which she does without the benefit of medication. She has also increasingly been using prayer to the point that she now considers herself to be religious.

    “The act of stopping what your brain is otherwise going to do to do a deliberate thing which is based around giving thanks, I think is a reset that’s like a psychic pause, but I also think it helps you get your head on straight.”

    She also experiences periods of mania, though she says that these episodes have lessened in frequency: “It’s like one-sixth of what it used to be.”

    You Just Don’t Connect with Anything — You Sort Of Disappear

    Maddow has spoken on her depression in interviews in the past. In 2012, she spoke with Terri Gross of NPR on the subject and how it relates to her struggles with imposter syndrome.

    “People are going to realize that I’m a great fraud and it’ll end, so I better make sure this is a good show because it’ll be my last,” she admitted. “Part of me feels that way every day.”

    After so many years, however, the renowned political commentator has become used to the ups and downs, scheduling her life around it when she can tell it’s coming on and powering through her difficulty focusing when she has to. Her experience has also allowed her to come up with an unusual, yet accurate, metaphor for depression.

    “And you know, when you are depressed, it’s like the rest of the world is the mothership and you’re out there on a little pod and your line gets cut, and you just don’t connect with anything, you sort of—you sort of disappear.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Alanis Morissette Describes Third Bout With Postpartum Depression

    Alanis Morissette Describes Third Bout With Postpartum Depression

    “I have been here before. I know there is another side. And the other side is greater than my PPD-riddled-temporarily-adjusted-brain could have ever imagined.”

    Singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette is in the midst of her third bout with postpartum depression—but she was better prepared for it this time around, she revealed in a recent blog post.

    “I wasn’t sure if I would have postpartum depression/anxiety this time around,” said Morissette, who gave birth to her third child, Winter Mercy Morissette-Treadway, on August 8.

    Morissette had previously shared that she struggled with depression after the births of her son Ever Imre in 2010 and daughter Onyx Solace in 2016.

    “I have been here before. I know there is another side. And the other side is greater than my PPD-riddled-temporarily-adjusted-brain could have ever imagined,” she wrote in her October 6 post on her website. “I saw how things got richer after I came through it the last two times.”

    Learning From Past Experiences

    This time around, the “Ironic” singer was better prepared for the impending “postpartum tar-drenched trenches” that came with sleep deprivation, hormones, physical pain, isolation, anxiety, marriage and “all kinds of PTSD triggers,” she wrote.

    “There is so much more support this time. I knew better so I set it up to win as much as I could beforehand,” she wrote. “Support. Food. Friends. Sun. Bio-identical hormones and SSRIs at the ready… PPD is still a sneaky monkey with a machete—working its way through my psyche and body and days and thoughts and blood work levels.”

    Morissette described the anticipation of PPD ahead of Winter’s birth in a previous interview with SELF from June. “I have said to my friends, I want you to not necessarily go by the words I’m saying and as best as I can, I’ll try to be honest, but I can’t personally rely on the degree of honesty if I reference the last two experiences.”

    History Of Depression

    She revealed in the same interview that she had a history of depression, so while PPD was no joke, it was a somewhat familiar experience for her.

    “For me I would just wake up and feel like I was covered in tar and it wasn’t the first time I’d experienced depression so I just thought ‘Oh well, this feels familiar, I’m depressed, I think.’ And then simultaneously, my personal history of depression where it was so normalized for me to be in the quicksand, as I call it, or in the tar. It does feel like tar, like everything feels heavy.”

    Morissette added that her nature of “over-giving, over-serving, over-do-ing, over-over-ing”—i.e. her “work addiction”—set an unsustainable standard for her after each birth.

    She also noted, “This culture is not set up to honor women properly after birth,” seemingly referencing the lack of priority given to allowing women a healthy period of recovery and bonding after giving birth in the United States.

    “I see it changing, which is so heartening,” she added, “but the general way is bereft of the honoring and tenderness and attunement and village-ness that postpartum deeply warrants.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jesse Eisenberg Talks Childhood Anxiety

    Jesse Eisenberg Talks Childhood Anxiety

    Eisenberg described how the anticipation of being bullied caused him to feel extremely anxious growing up. 

    Actor Jesse Eisenberg struggled with anxiety as a child, making it difficult for him to relax around other children, he said in a conversation with Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, president of the Child Mind Institute.

    The conversation was titled “Great Minds Think Unalike 2.0” and was a part of Advertising Week, a gathering of media professionals. Eisenberg, who has his Zombieland sequel coming out on October 18, said that he anticipated being bullied as a child, putting him on edge around other children.

    “I kept one tissue for crying and one for bleeding,” he told Koplewicz. “I was prepared for battle, but nothing ever happened, which was almost worse.”

    Acting Offered Eisenberg A Safe Space

    He also described how acting has been cathartic by providing a controlled space to experience emotion.

    “Acting is a very visceral experience,” he said. “It is a cathartic way to have an emotional experience that is safe and contextualized. [It’s] different form real-life experiences [like] when I ran out of middle school hysterically crying due to my anxiety.”

    The Academy Award-nominated actor, who says his anxiety surfaces “just in the morning, afternoon and evening,” said that if his younger self had witnessed the increasing discussion of mental health awareness that we are seeing today, it would have provided him some sense of relief. “If 12-year-old me was able to see something like this, it would show me that life ebbs and flows. It helps destigmatize something that is incorrectly stigmatized,” he said.

    Being Mindful Around His Son

    Speaking about his two-year-old son, Eisenberg said he tries not to project his anxiety around him. “To me, there’s nothing better for one’s mental health than to worry about things that are real, and when you have a child, you can only worry about something that’s real,” he said.

    “I resist all of the temptations I have to make [my son] neurotic because I know it’s not helpful. I know that what might feel good in the moment of consoling a kid who appears nervous may be detrimental in the long term,” he added.

    In 2017, Eisenberg shared a video for the Child Mind Institute’s #MyYoungerSelf series, in which he shared what he would tell his younger self about dealing with anxiety and nervousness.

    “I think I would probably tell myself two things. One is that it’s not the worst thing in the world to have those feelings. Even though it might feel like the worst thing in the world… actually having that anxiety might be indicative of other beneficial positive characteristics like sensitivity to the world or an empathy or maybe a kind of interesting or unusual perception of life that could benefit you over the long term,” he said.

    He said the second thing he would tell his younger self is to get involved with charitable work sooner than later.

    “I worked with people with terminal illnesses and volunteered at a domestic violence shelter, and you realize very quickly that other people have bigger problems than you and it puts your life in perspective in a healthy way. And it also gets you out of your own bad, cyclical thinking patterns. And of course, more importantly, it’s helping somebody else.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Selena Gomez Honored With McLean Award For Mental Health Advocacy

    Selena Gomez Honored With McLean Award For Mental Health Advocacy

    The pop star has been open about her struggles with depression and anxiety throughout her career. 

    Selena Gomez is being honored for her willingness to speak out about her own mental health, as the singer and actress recently was awarded the 2019 McLean Award from McLean Hospital in Massachusetts. 

    According to Today, the 27-year-old accepted the award on September 13 and in doing so, shared her own personal experiences with depression and anxiety. 

    Getting Mental Health Treatment

    Last October, Gomez checked into a treatment facility for her own mental health. 

    “It felt as though all of my pain, anxiety and fear washed over me all at once, and it was one of the scariest times of my life,” Gomez said upon accepting the award. 

    Checking into treatment came a year after Gomez received a kidney transplant, a result of her battle with the autoimmune disease lupus. Gomez said that receiving her diagnosis lead her to feel “equal parts terrified and relieved.”

    She added that she felt “terrified because the veil was lifted but relieved that I finally had the knowledge of why I had suffered with various depressions and anxieties for so many years. I never had full awareness or answers about this condition.”

    For the past year, Gomez has been working to regain control of her emotions and learn how to put her health first. 

    “Although this does not mean that it has all gone away, I can say that after a year of a lot of intense work I am happier, I am healthier and I’m in control of my emotions and thoughts more than I have ever been,” she said.

    Talking About Mental Health In The Public Eye

    In speaking at the award ceremony, Gomez said it  “feels right to share” about her experience with depression and anxiety, but added that it’s not necessarily easy to do so. 

    Others expressed appreciation for Gomez’s transparency, including Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. 

    “Thank you @selenagomez for being so open about your #mentalhealth,” he tweeted. “Your bravery in seeking help and speaking out will inspire others to do the same. @RudermanFdn was honored to hear your story last Friday at @McLeanHospital.”

    “I have feared being misunderstood and judged,” Gomez said. “I know that I have been given experiences and people and opportunities that have made my life exceptionally beautiful and sweet — and yet I struggle with my own thoughts and feelings at times. But this doesn’t make me faulty. This does not make me weak. This does not make me less than. This makes me human. We need help, and we need each other.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Bam Margera Sent To Hospital Because Of Bipolar Meds

    Bam Margera Sent To Hospital Because Of Bipolar Meds

    Margera took to Instagram to clarify the reasons behind his hospital visits.

    Former Jackass star Bam Margera was reportedly hospitalized twice in one week after a fall that he says was caused by side effects from a new medication for his bipolar disorder.

    According to the reality star, he was sleepwalking when he fell and hit his head, resulting in a laceration that required six staples. 

    According to unCrazed, he suffered a kick to the wound while playing in the pool with his son, sending him back to the hospital. “I got karate kicked in a pool in the neck surgery playing with Phoenix with community kids by accident,” he said.

    Margera was unable to remember the name of the medication he was given, saying that it “starts with a Z” in an Instagram video he made to dispel rumors that his trips to the hospital meant that he was once again using drugs. 

    “I am in treatment in Huntington Beach,” he explained. “I’ve been in treatment for a long, long time, and I’m gonna be here for a longer, longer time. And I’m gonna miss all of autumn in Pennsylvania.”

    In & Out Of Treatment

    Margera has been in and out of rehab for most of 2019, most recently agreeing to enter treatment after an intervention staged by his wife and talk show host Dr. Phil. He appeared to have left the rehab facility and may have been intoxicated in a video taken in August that showed the troubled celebrity refusing to leave a hotel lobby after allegedly harassing bar patrons, claiming someone had paid him to catch one of them cheating.

    After the police were called, Margera was arrested and taken back to the rehab facility, where he was allowed to return after agreeing to commit to the program.

    He appears to have stayed out of trouble since then. He was in the news in September, but only for an appearance on Dr. Phil in which he opened up about his mental health and credited his son, Phoenix, for keeping him from ending his life.

    Baring All To Dr. Phil

    “I had such a mental breakdown that I really thought like I… could just go to the lake and be free,” he said. “I was like the pain was gone and I had to beg for pain back. I was like, ‘Please just give me back my pain so I could stay because I want to be with him.’”

    Phoenix turns two in December, and Bam has only good things to say about him.

    “He is the raddest kid ever,” he told Dr. Phil. “He’s so interested in skateboarding. I have all these toys everywhere and he just goes right to the skateboard. He’s like my best friend and I’ve known him for not even two years.”

    View the original article at thefix.com