Carson Dalynever planned to talk publicly about his struggles with mental health.
“I’ve suffered for over 20 years with, at times, debilitating anxiety and panic, and never knew it. I never knew how to define it,” says Daly. “After finally opening up to friends, one of them had a history of anxiety, and looked at me and was like, ‘You have anxiety.’ "
For more on Carson Daly, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.
Carson Daly with wife Siri and their kids.Gigi DeBoer
The father of fourunderwent a 14-week cognitive therapy course and began to educate himself about his mental illness, eventually learning how to manage it.
“It felt so good to get that diagnosis, because for so long I would be driving in my car and start to get nervous and wonder if I should pull over. And now I know, ‘Oh, this is happening, and wait 10 seconds and it will go away.’ Being diagnosed and then talking about it just feels good,” he says.
Daly is now working to help others struggling with mental illness and has joined forces withProject Healthy Minds.
“It’s a great non-profit organization with a diverse group of people who are coming together to try and help break the stigma of mental health and also help people have access to resources through technology,” says Daly. “Anyone can use their phone to find a 7-Eleven and get a Slurpee within seconds, so these tools need to be used in the same way to help people find the mental health resources they need. We’re now working on building out that technology.”
“It bothers me that anybody could feel that they’re less than normal if they also have something about them that they’re unsure about as it pertains to their mental health. It doesn’t have to be anxiety. It can be depression, it could be PTSD, or any number of things. I want to hold their hand and go, ‘It’s okay to not be okay.’ "
If you or someone you know need mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
