TDS Time Machine | Mental Health Awareness
10:04 Share

This is an iHeart Podcast. Are you still quoting 30-year-old movies? Have you said, cool beans, in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now. It pays to discover. Learn more at discover.com slash credit card.

based on the February 2024 Nielsen Report. There's only one place where go-go beats post through the streets, where you can visit the only national museum dedicated exclusively to African American life, history, and culture. There's only one D.C. Visit Washington.org to plan your trip. American Public University is the number one provider of education to our military and veterans in the country. They offer something truly unique.

special rates and grants for the entire family, making education affordable not just for those who serve, but also for their loved ones. If you have a military or veteran family member and are looking for affordable, high-quality education, APU is the place for you. Visit APU.edu.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Yeah!

You've been doing stand-up specials, and in this last special, well, you've talked openly about how vulnerable you've become in some of your stand-up, and you even spoke openly about some of the therapy you've tackled. Oh, yeah, I love therapy. Tell me about it. I love therapy. Give it up for therapy. You get therapy, and you get therapy, and you get therapy. Talk to me about the love of therapy, because it's nice to have two men...

openly talking about therapy. Yes, it is. And those are the women that are trying to bring us down. You know something? It's changed my life in so many ways. I think it's made me a funnier comic because it's not everything from a very dark place anymore. I'm able to just pretty much talk about anything. But therapy has been so beautiful. I'm at the happiest I've ever been because I've been able to unpack things over time. You're...

You're a busy guy. Is it like phone therapy? Is it Zoom? Are you on set like, and this is the way it made me feel and that type of thing? Is it a PA knockout? Hey, hey, time. I do both actually. It depends on what my scheduling is because I do like going in person. It's just in person is always so crazy because especially if you've been crying a little bit,

It's, like, awkward when you leave. Like... You can tell the therapist wants you to go because it's time. They keep doing this. But you're like this. And so they're like, yeah, so, uh... Yeah. Yeah.

One of the things that I appreciate so much about your music and that I think sets you apart from so many other artists is the way that you juxtapose these big sort of joyful, big band, jazzy music along with lyrics that are really raw and vulnerable and about very serious issues. You talk about body dysmorphia. You talk about mental health, sexual assault.

How do you even begin building music around those lyrics? Well, you know, I do think music is medicine. I always say that. I think even sitting here and talking to you about these sort of heavier subjects, I get nervous. I don't really know how to address it or what to say. And I think music is a safe space to kind of be raw and honest. And for me, that's my safe place. It's my therapy.

Yeah, you know, I think there's a lot of us are really broken and a lot of us are hurting and a lot of us are dealing with things we don't know exactly how to speak about or express, even with the people that we love. And I think music is a safe space to do that, to find healing or talk about it or just, I don't know, process it. So that was really important to me as an independent artist. I just wanted to be honest about those things you're quiet about, you know? MUSIC

You have, you actually took quite a bit of time away from acting to spend the time with your family. You had Malcolm and you were very open about experiencing postpartum depression. Yeah, postpartum anxiety. Anxiety. Yeah, so I had been prepared for postpartum depression because we hear so much about it. But postpartum anxiety came on and it was, I don't know if anyone here has gone through that or their partners have, but it is...

It is one of the worst experiences of my life. It came on like a month or two after I had Malcolm, and I woke up at 4 a.m., my eyes just pop open, and I start going... And I...

keep breathing like that all day long and I keep waking up like that every day at 4 a.m for a year oh my god for a full year I just I couldn't breathe I just had so much anxiety and it wasn't there was no actual thoughts and thank god I didn't have any thoughts of self-harm or harming others I have so much um compassion and sympathy for mothers who are going through that and I think that people don't understand it enough and we're not compassionate enough about what it's like to be a mother and to

birth a baby and everything that happens to your body and the hormones, but it was incredibly difficult, but I did make it through to the other side. Well... For social media to keep people engaged, for news organizations to keep people watching, they have to ramp up the urgency and the existential nature of the crisis. So you're sort of torn between these two impulses. One is to not...

WHICH WOULD BE ADDICATING CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY, BUT THE OTHER WOULD BE TO BATHE YOURSELF IN THIS EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. WHAT CHOICE DO YOU HAVE? WELL, WE DO HAVE A CHOICE. SO LOOK AT ANXIETY. THERE'S PRODUCTIVE ANXIETY AND UNPRODUCTIVE ANXIETY. WHAT?

Well, think about it. If you didn't have anxiety, you wouldn't be able to be safe. That's why we have anxiety. It was like, there's a bear. You better have anxiety. Unproductive anxiety is, I'm just going to stand here. Productive anxiety is, I'm going to do something about it. See, that's so weird, because my anxiety has never saved me from bears, but it often convinces me I'm not lovable. So how... I shared too much. Thank you.

I was just going to say. How do you separate? I didn't want to watch the debates tonight, but I do work once a week now, so I have to. Because it's toxic to me. I know that. I have to participate. But how does that anxiety of watching it, how is that a relic of something that's good for me? It's good for you because then you can take action. By the way, I hope you're taking action on the unlovable thing. I hope you're getting some help with that. Little thing called mushrooms, baby. Microdose away.

Sorry. But it's helpful because you say, "Okay, there are two ways you can respond to this." You can say, "I'm gonna put my head in the sand and not engage," which is, I hope, not the option that people here are taking. -Correct. -Um, and you can also say, "Oh, I'm just spinning in anxiety. I'm doom-scrolling. I'm just, you know, getting all worked up." -Yes. -That's not helpful. That's unproductive anxiety. And then there's productive anxiety where you say, "What can I do?" Well, you can get involved in a campaign. You can volunteer. You can please vote.

You can get the people around you to vote. There are things that you can do. The thing that you want to do is you want to say, what can I control here? And that's where you take your anxiety and you say, it's going to motivate me to do something productive.

Something happened in the early 2010s. And my argument in the book is a tragedy in two acts. The first act is the loss of the play-based childhood. It's what anybody over 40 in this audience had. You were out with your friends after school. There was nobody supervising. You had to learn how to work out conflicts, how to face adversity. So that's what kids have had for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years. It's part of being a mammal. You play, you develop skills.

We began to crack down on that, to lock kids up in the '90s, to not let them out. So we're restricting what they most need, which is play, from the '90s through the 2000s. But mental health doesn't collapse then. It's actually pretty stable. Then we get act two, which is the arrival of the phone-based childhood.

And what that is, is in 2010, everybody had a flip phone. The iPhone had come out, but most teens had a flip phone. No front-facing camera, no social media on the phone, no high-speed data. And by 2020, '15, everyone's got all those other things. Now suddenly everyone has a smartphone.

front-facing camera, high-speed internet, social media, especially Instagram on the phone. And almost like someone turned a switch in 2013, girls in America and many other countries suddenly become very anxious, depressed, and self-harming.

You mentioned that you've talked very openly about struggling with anxiety and depression. How did that feel to share that? Did that, were you surprised by the reaction that you got? 100% surprised. And here's the thing, it didn't feel weird to share because I live in Los Angeles amongst a group of artists where this is just dinner table conversation. Totally. We're all anxious and depressed and we're always talking about it all the time. We're trading therapists. Oh yeah. My therapist is right under the set right now. She's just waiting on call. Exactly.

Yeah, and so it's like, what medication are you on? Well, I'm switching over to Celexa now. These are our conversations. But what I didn't realize is that, as you well know, because I don't know if you guys know, Desi was with me on The League like 10 years ago as a guest star. It was amazing.

It's a great show and a lot of the men who watch that show are not the men who are comfortable with talking about their mental health because they're football dudes and whatnot. And so when I started going on my social media, I got this outpouring, particularly from men, just being like, I can't believe you're saying this out loud. And...

It makes me feel really good to know that someone that I view as somewhat successful is still on their feet despite this and it offers hope in that way. So I never really planned on being some sort of mouthpiece for it. I was just sort of whining on social media. And then it kind of had this effect. So I'm like, oh, well, this is something. So not only brave, it's a generous thing for you to do to help support others. So it's really meaningful that you did that.

Explore more shows from the Daily Show Podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount+. Paramount Podcasts.

There's only one place where go-go beats post through the streets, where you can visit the only national museum dedicated exclusively to African American life, history, and culture. There's only one DC. Visit Washington.org to plan your trip. Balancing work, family, and education isn't easy, but American Public University makes it possible.

With online courses, monthly start dates, and flexible schedules, APU is designed for busy professionals who need education that fits their lives. And affordability matters, too. APU offers the Opportunity Grant, giving students 10% off undergraduate and master's level tuition, helping you reach your goals without breaking the bank. Plus, they provide career services and 24-7 mental health support at no extra cost.

Visit apu.apus.edu to learn more. That's apu.apus.edu. Love starts with you. Celebrate your unique story with Pandora jewelry, crafted with meaning, love, and exquisite artistry. From sparkling lab-grown diamonds to vibrant enamels, personalized engravings, and iconic charms, Pandora's

Pandora offers endless ways to express what's in your heart. Style your favorites with hand-finished designs and playful cuts that reflect your individuality. Pandora is more than jewelry. It's a celebration of you. Shop Pandora today, in-store or online at pandora.net. Every day is a chance to be love. Let Pandora Jewelry remind you that love starts with you. This is an iHeart Podcast.