During their More Good Days in May feature to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, The Bubba Show on 100.7 Star in Pittsburgh tapped in to talk with Carson Daly about his own experience with mental health, from suffering in silence to becoming a mental health advocate and host of Audacy's annual I'm Listening broadcast.
LISTEN NOW: Carson Daly on his Mental Health Journey
"Really now with this diagnosis, [I] look back on almost my whole life and realize that I've been kind of suffering from this anxiety disorder, but we never talked about it and so I had no idea," Daly explains. "I had no way of articulating it, the anxiety that I was just, you know, very nervous all the time. Then I started suffering from panic attacks later in my twenties when I was at MTV and I just had no idea what was happening to me until I went and finally got some help and got this diagnosis."
"It was really the best day of my life to know that all the sort of crazy thoughts that I had had, I thought I was losing my mind or like my brain was broken, I was so happy to learn that it was a normal thing and it was a name to it."
LISTEN NOW: Carson Daly on Talking with his Family about Mental Health
Now with more tools to manage his anxiety, Daly has become a voice for more mental health conversations, including Audacy's annual I'm Listening broadcast that encourages speak up about mental health, because talk has the power to save lives.
"Once you accept it and you realize, you're not sick or you could still perform at work and you're not a complete outcast, and there are things that other people are dealing with, it actually becomes very easy to sort of manage once you realize what's happening."
It’s okay to not be OK. We know the power of talk can save lives. Audacy's I’m Listening aims to share valuable resources for those who need to connect, heal, and share their own stories. To those who are dealing with mental health issues, understand you are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.