Nick Cannon Reveals Narcissistic Personality Disorder Diagnosis (Exclusive)

Nick Cannon gets candid about his mental health journey.

Earlier this month was Masked singer host, 44, shared that he had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. For the star, being open about his struggles is part of how he manages his day to day.

“I still don’t fully understand it, but I kind of always wanted to be tested for it. I did a lot of testing,” Cannon told PEOPLE exclusively on Wednesday, Nov. 27, while serving meals at Los Angeles Mission‘s Thanksgiving celebration.

“I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. Even as a kid it was dyslexic, but just knowing that I’m just a neurodivergent individual, I kind of always knew,” he adds.

Now, Cannon says he accepts his recent diagnosis and uses it as a tool to improve himself.

“I feel like there’s so many labels out there, but it’s like being able to embrace that and say, ‘Look, I’m on the mend. I need help. Show me. I just embrace mental health and therapy in such a strong way,” he says. “Being able to say that I’m an example for others, but also being healing during the self-process works, too.”

Cannon first opened up about his diagnosis on a Nov. 8 episode of his Consulting Culture podcast. After confirming with Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, a doctor of psychology, that he had been “clinically diagnosed” with narcissistic personality disorder, explained to Cannon that he identifies with almost all the “markers” of the disorder.

“I’ve taken all the power away from the term narcissism because I’ve studied it and I understand it,” Cannon said of the episode. “Call me what you want… now if I didn’t know what it was, I have a problem with it.”

Cannon — who has welcomed 12 children since 2011 — also opened up to PEOPLE about how he spends time with all of his kids during the holidays.

“It’s very complicated. I’m a busy man on Thanksgiving,” he says of visiting multiple homes on the holiday. “I’m going to be full by the end of the day, but everybody specializes in certain things, you know what I mean? Some people got good sweet potato pie, some people got great roast turkey. So I know every house that need to have the things I really like.”

The star will also be “all over” in December – and hopes to spend time with her children in the snow. “Everywhere from Aspen to Santa’s Village, all those things,” he says. “Every kid wants to go to the snow. So a little bit of East Coast, a little bit of Aspen, a little bit of Big Bear.”