Chance the Rapper is getting candid about his mental health struggles.
While chatting with Taraji P. Henson and Tracie Jade on Peace of Mind With Taraji, Chance talked about how his family dealt with mental health and if they ever discussed it at home.
"Wellness wasn't something that we knew, you know?" he said.
"There's probably a ton of situations where people you know, we just wrote them off as crazy, or like they were tweaking, but they were actually going through a chronic mental health disorder.”
"I feel like this is something that we're all, as a mainstream, we're starting to be like, 'OK, yeah health is beyond just our physical,’” Chance continued.
Growing up in Chicago as a young Black man, Chance said he’s experienced “a lot of dark days” and is still trying to make sense of everything that’s ever happened to him.
"Obviously I deal with PTSD,” he said. “I saw my friend killed in front of me when I was 19, and I've seen people I didn't know get killed, too.”
"You become kind of numb to it; like somebody else died last week, but it stays with you, you know what I mean? And you don't realize until later — like I have lasting effects,” the rapper added.
Chance’s episode, titled "Why Black Men Don't Cry With Chance the Rapper," will air on Facebook Watch on Nov. 1. There, he'll talk more about having to “man up” as a Black man in America.
I, for one, can’t wait for his episode to be released.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
