.
KENNEDY: I WROTE THAT SONG FOR
THEM.
SO LOVELY.
DO ELECTIONS STRESS YOU OUT?
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY 25,%
OF YOUNG ADULTS FOUND THAT 2016
ELECTION PSYCHOLOGICALLY
TRAUMATIC WITH WOMEN, DEMOCRATS
AND MINORITIES SUFFERING THE
MOST STRESS IN THE AFTERMATH OF
DONALD TRUMP'S VICTORY.
MY NEXT GUEST NO STRANGER TO
GUEST AND PTSD AND WRITTEN
ANOTHER PHENOMENAL BOOK, THIS
ADDRESSES ANXIETY AND
ENCOURAGES THERAPY.
HE'S HERE TO ALTER THE STIGMA
THAT ACCOMPANIES MENTAL HEALTH.
THE HOST OF THE BREAKFAST CLUB
AND THE AUTHOR OF ANXIETY
PLAYING TRICKS ON ME.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD.
>> WHAT'S UP, KENNEDY.
KENNEDY: I HAVE SUFFERED
PARALYZING ANXIETY.
>> I KNOW.
KENNEDY: SOMETHING I LIKE TO
TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT BECAUSE I
FOUND A WAY OUT OF IT THROUGH
THERAPY, BUT THE WAY I CAME TO
THERAPY WAS THROUGH A SERIES OF
TRAUMATIC PANIC ATTACKS THAT
SENT ME TO THE ER.
YOU HAD A VERY DIFFERENT
EXPERIENCE, YOU WENT TO
ANGUILLA, YOU WANT LIFE TO
ALWAYS BE LIKE THAT.
THAT IS VASTLY DIFFERENT THAN
MOST PEOPLE WHO GO TO THERAPY
FOR ANXIETY.
TELL ME ABOUT THAT.
>> I HAD PANIC ATTACKS MY WHOLE
LIFE UNTIL ONE OF THE TRIPS TO
THE ER WHEN THE DOCTOR SAID TO
ME, YOU KNOW, DO YOU SUFFER
FROM ANXIETY?
NO.
SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD A PANIC
ATTACK.
ANYTHING STRESSING YOU OUT?
YES, I HAD BEEN FIRED FOR THE
FOURTH TIME FROM RADIO.
I'M LIVING WITH MY MOM,
TWO-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER THERE.
THAT'S WHEN I FIRST STARTED
IDENTIFYING WHAT THE FEELING
WAS, THE FEELING OF SHORTNESS
OF BREATH AND THE CHEST PAIN
ANDS FEELING LIKE YOUR ARMS ARE
GOING NUMB, THE PANIC, I WAS
HAVING ANXIETY ATTACKS BUT THE
PROBLEM WAS HE ASKED ME WAS I
STRESSED OUT, AND I KNEW WHAT I
WAS STRESSED OUT ABOUT.
I GET ANOTHER RADIO JOB AND
EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE.
NOPE.
KENNEDY: THAT'S NOT HOW IT
HAPPENED.
INTERESTING BECAUSE FOR A LOT
OF PEOPLE LIKE US WHO TEND TO
BE MORE ANXIOUS.
YOU DON'T KNOW THERE IS
SOMETHING WRONG UNTIL YOU HAVE
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, THAT'S WHEN
YOU NEED THE HELP OF A
THERAPIST TO SAY TAKE THESE
THINGS APART AND FIGURE OUT
WHAT'S THE CAUSE OF THIS.
HOW MUCH OF A STIGMA IS THERE
WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND
PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH AGAINST
THERAPY?
>> LESS OF A STIGMA NOW BUT
MORE OF A STIGMA GROWING UP.
I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING PEOPLE
WERE TRYING TO HIDE.
I DIDN'T KNOW MY MOM USED TO GO
TO THERAPY IN 1998 WHEN HER AND
MY FATHER GOT A DIVORCE.
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT UNTIL I WENT
TO THERAPY AND WE STARTED
HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT
THIS.
MOM, YOU COULD HAVE SAVED ME A
LOT OF STRESS.
KENNEDY: YOU WERE YOUNG, AT THE
BEGINNING OF YOUR CAREER.
>> EXACTLY.
I'M THE TYPE OF PERSON,
ANYTHING IS THAT CAN MAKE MY
LIFE BETTER, I'M DOWN FOR, IT
GREAT SELF-HELP BOOK, A
COLONIC, I'M THAT GUY.
KENNEDY: I'M NOT THE COLONIC.
>> I WAS DOING WAY TOO MUCH.
DR. OZ TOLD ME I WAS ENJOYING
THE FEELING OF HAVING SOMETHING
IN MY BUTT.
KENNEDY: THAT'S ANOTHER
CONVERSATION WITH THE
THERAPIST, AS A LIBERTARIAN, NO
JUDGMENT.
YOU AND KANYE WERE SUPPOSED TO
HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH COMPOUND
WITH THE "NEW YORK TIMES" BUT
CANCELED FOR A COLONIC OR WERE
YOU MAD HE WENT TO THE WHITE
HOUSE?
>> NO, I WASN'T MAD HE WENT TO
THE WHITE HOUSE.
I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HIS
POLITICAL VIEWS, I CAN DISAGREE
WITH HIM ON THAT AND AGREE ON
OTHER THINGS.
>> YOU SAID THERE WAS STUFF AT
THE WHITE HOUSE THAT WASN'T
FOCUSED ON BY THE PRESS ABOUT
BRINGING MANUFACTURING TO
CHICAGO AND THE ECONOMIC
MESSAGE.
>> TALKING ABOUT CURRICULUM AND
THE CURRICULUM NEEDS BE MORE
CREATIVE.
HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ADD WHEN
HE WAS YOUNG, WHEN I SAW THE
CONVERSATION, HE SAID HE WASN'T
BIPOLAR, HE WAS MISDIAGNOSED
AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND HE
WAS OFF HIS MEDS.
WE KNOW THE FIRST SIGNS THERE'S
A PROBLEM WITH SOMETHING IS
USUALLY DENIAL.
I FELT LIKE, YO, I WANT TO HAVE
A CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL
HEALTH, THAT'S BYPASSED IN ALL
HIS CONVERSATIONS.
HE ALWAYS MENTIONED IT, TALKS
ABOUT BEING BIPOLAR, TALKS
ABOUT HIS MEDS, NOBODY TALKS TO
HIM ABOUT THAT.
I DID IN MY INTERVIEW, I WANTED
TO HAVE A FULL IN-DEPTH
CONVERSATION.
KENNEDY: WILL HAVE YOU ANOTHER
CONVERSATION WITH THE NEW YORK
TIMES.
>> I'M DEFINITELY DOING ANOTHER
"NEW YORK TIMES" TALK.
KENNEDY: WITH HIM?
>> NOT WITH HIM.
I WANT TO TALK WITH SOMEBODY
THAT HAS MORE OF A HANDLE ON
THEIR MENTAL HEALTH, SOMEBODY
ACKNOWLEDGES AN ISSUE AND HOW
THEY'RE DEALING WITH IT.
THAT'S A BENEFICIAL
CONVERSATION.
>> I LOVE THE WAY YOU WRITE,
YOUR RADIO SHOW AND YOU'RE A
PHENOMENAL HUMAN.
>> YOU ARE ONE OF MY GREATEST
FRIENDS.
I SAY I HAVE FRIENDS WITH
PARALYZING ANXIETY.
KENNEDY: IT'S TRUE, WHEN YOU GO