Nick Cannon Makes Striking Confession About Mental Health After Clinical Diagnosis: 'Still Don't Understand It'

Nick Cannon is still coming to terms with his recent mental health diagnosis.

The TV personality and father of 12 opened up about his mental health journey while attending a Thanksgiving celebration in Los Angeles on Thursday, Nov. 28, just weeks after announcing his clinical diagnosis with narcissistic personality disorder. 

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While volunteering at the Los Angeles Mission’s annual Thanksgiving event, Cannon spoke to PEOPLE about his recent diagnosis, stating, “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.” 

“I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. Even as a kid it was dyslexia, but just knowing that I’m just a neurodivergent individual, I kind of always knew,” he added, before explaining how accepting the diagnosis has helped him to prioritize self-improvement. 

“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,'” the Masked Singer host explained to the publication.

“I just embrace mental health and therapy in such a strong way,” he said. “To be able to say I’m an example for others, but also be healing during the self-process works too.”

Cannon, 44, first opened up about his diagnosis during an episode of his Counsel Culture podcast titled “I Am a Narcissistic” earlier this month. At the time, he revealed he had been “clinically diagnosed” with the disorder, which is “characterized by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration and lack of empathy,” according to the American Psychiatric Association’s website. 

Cannon previously said he identifies with almost all “markers” for the disorder, and that he now has a better understanding of the diagnosis after doing his research. 

“I’ve taken all the power away from the term narcissism ’cause I’ve researched it and I understand it,” he said in the Nov. 8 podcast episode. “Call me whatever you want… now if I didn’t know what it was, then I have issue with it.”

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