Nick Cannon says he’s seeking help for narcissistic personality disorder

CNN
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Nick Cannon has spoken out about his recent diagnosis regarding narcissistic personality disorder, saying “I need help.”

The “Masked Singer” host revealed in a podcast earlier this month that he had been “clinically diagnosed” with the mental health condition.

Now he has said he accepts the label and uses it to try to improve himself.

He told People: “I still don’t quite get it, but I’ve kind of always wanted to be tested for it.”

Speaking Wednesday while serving meals at the Thanksgiving celebration of the Los Angeles Mission homeless charity, he said: “I feel like there are so many labels out there, but it’s like being able to embrace it and say , ‘Look, I’m healing. I need help. Show me.’ I just embrace mental health and therapy in such a strong way.

“To be able to say that I am an example for others, but also to be healing during the self-process also works.”

People with narcissistic personality disorder have “an unreasonably high sense of their own importance,” which causes them to seek excess attention, according to Mayo Clinic. The condition, which is generally treated with talk therapy, can cause “problems in many areas of life,” including relationships, work and finances, the clinic says on its website.

The father of 12 first opened up about being diagnosed during an episode of his podcast, Consulting Culture. In the episode, which first aired on November 8, he told psychologist Cheyenne Bryant that he had been clinically diagnosed with the condition.

He said at the time: “It’s a spectrum, and I think even that starts with confidence, overconfidence, arrogance, and that’s when you enter the space of narcissism. And in that there are markers.”

Cannon said he identified with all of the so-called markers, in addition to lack of empathy and rage. According to the Mayo Clinic, other markers—or symptoms—include taking advantage of others to get what you want, feeling superior and looking down on others, and having difficulty controlling emotions and behavior.

Cannon went on to say, “I’ve tried to do the work myself and had a lot of therapists.”

He added: “I’ve taken all the power from the term narcissism because I’ve studied it and I understand it.”

Separately, Cannon said in his interview with People that he finds time over Thanksgiving to see all of his children.

“It is very complicated. I am a busy man on Thanksgiving,” he said.