Nick Cannon Reveals Diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder: ‘I Always Knew’

Nick Cannon struggles with a brand new mental health diagnosis. In an interview with People MagazineThe 44-year-old artist, entrepreneur and father of 12, who already identifies as neurodiverse, explained that he was recently diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.

“I still don’t fully understand it, but I’ve always wanted to test myself on it. I did a lot of tests,” Cannon said, adding: “I was diagnosed with ADHD. I had dyslexia as a child, but knowing that I was neurodiverse, I kind of always knew it.”

According to Mayo Clinicnarcissistic personality disorder is “a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of self-worth” and subsequently continually seek attention and admiration. “People with this disorder may be unable to understand or care about other people’s feelings,” the clinic’s explanation continues. “But behind the mask of extreme self-confidence, they are unsure of their worth and become easily upset by the slightest criticism.” This disorder is diagnosed more often in men than in women and is frequently treated with talk therapy.

As for the way Cannon is dealing together with his diagnosis, he told People magazine that he’s leaning toward acceptance as he tries to get well.

“I feel like there are so many labels, but it’s like being able to take them and say, ‘Listen, I’m getting better. I need help. Show me. I just feel very strongly about mental health and therapy,” he said. “Being able to say that I’m an example to others, but also heal during the self-process, works too.”

As People noted, Cannon first revealed his diagnosis on the November 8 episode of his podcast “Counsel Culture” when he hosted psychologist Dr. Cheyenne Bryant. According to Cannon, he was “clinically diagnosed” after most of the “markers” of narcissistic personality disorder were identified. Nevertheless, he refuses to think about being labeled a narcissist as a negative thing.

“I have taken all the power away from the term narcissism because I have researched it and I understand it,” Cannon told Bryant. “Call me whatever you want… now if I didn’t know what it was, I’d have a problem with it.”