Common talks about eliminating mental health stigma among black men on 'The View'
The musician said working on himself made him "a better human being."
Musician, actor and activist Common discussed the importance of mental health among black men and opened up about his experience with therapy on "The View" Tuesday morning.
"Talk about therapy. Talk about things that black men don't talk about sometimes. It's a stigma for us to say, 'I'm going to a therapist,'" Common said. "If I told my friends that, they'd look at me and be like, 'Yo, you going to a therapist? What's the matter? Like, everything is good with you. Why you wanna go to a therapist?' But, we all need that mental health support."
During Common's own therapy, he learned how and why he reacts to certain things in his relationships. He said that working on himself has helped him "be a better human being to others."
"People experience so much trauma. Even when things are good, you still have things that you've experienced in life that that you may not know you're carrying with you," Common said. "I really know from going to communities how much trauma young people go through, and with some of the depression and anxiety, just get some help. Just get some support. We all need it."
The Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winner focuses on spreading love in his new memoir “Let Love Have the Last Word,” which is a follow up to his New York Times bestselling memoir "One Day It’ll All Make Sense."
“A lot of the topics that we talk about when it comes to politics and the divisiveness and the corruption that’s going on and different things, I feel like those conversations weigh down on us," Common said. "Love for me has been one of the biggest solutions.”
In a one-on-one interview with Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America," the multi-talented artist spoke out about the alleged sexual abuse he endured as a child. believing that if he told his story, "other people will be OK with talking about that situation."
"I wanted to create a space for people who have experienced that to be able to share that. That's part of the healing, to be honest," he said on writing about his abuse in his recent memoir.
"I don't wanna carry that," Common said on "GMA." "Let me figure out how it is affecting me and approach it head-on, deal with it and let it go."
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