Nick Cannon is embracing a new mental health diagnosis. In an interview with People magazine, the 44-year-old entertainer, entrepreneur and father of 12, who already identified as neurodivergent, explained that he’d recently been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.
“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,” said Cannon, adding, “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.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is “a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance” — and, accordingly, constantly seek attention and admiration. “People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others,” the clinic’s explainer continues. “But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.” The disorder is more commonly diagnosed in men than women and is typically treated by talk therapy.
As for how Cannon is processing his diagnosis, he told People that he’s leaning into acceptance as he seeks to heal.
“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.’ 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.”
As People noted, Cannon first revealed his diagnosis on the Nov. 8 episode of his “Counsel Culture” podcast as he hosted psychologist Dr. Cheyenne Bryant. According to Cannon, he was “clinically diagnosed” after identifying with most of the “markers” for narcissistic personality disorder. Nevertheless, he refuses to consider being labeled a narcissist a negative.
“I’ve taken all the power away from the term narcissism ’cause I’ve researched it and I understand it,” Cannon told Bryant. “Call me whatever you want… now, if I didn’t know what it was, then I have [an] issue with it.”
