Ep. 41 - He is a comedian with chronic suicidal ideation | Interview Frank King

Frank King is one of those perfect examples of the saying “don't judge by the cover.” For over twenty years, he wrote comedy for the Tonight Show, but while world audiences laughed at his jokes, he struggled with chronic suicidal ideation. No one knew of his pain.

In 2012, while talking to an older cousin about their great-aunt’s death, it was revealed to him that the story he knew about her, which was that she had died peacefully, was a lie. When told of the details of her suicide, all the memories came back to him at once. Right there and then, he remembered that, at the age of four, he had actually witnessed the suicide but had no recollection of it.

That revelation encouraged him to unveil other family secrets, as well as to open up about his own internal pain. He found out that mental illness is prevalent in his family, something that was kept a taboo, so Frank decided to break the silence. He came out during a TED Talk, and his decision has positively impacted his marriage and relationship with friends.

In this interview, he talks about how his determination to open up influenced his family, the reaction he often gets from his audiences, the importance of reaching out, and how liberating it is to be authentic about who he is. He also addresses the toxic culture of masculinity, which hinders men from getting in touch and processing their emotions. As a way to raise awareness regarding this issue, he recently published the book “Guts, Grit & The Grind: A MENtal Mechanics MANual: Advanced Mechanics in Preventative Maintenance.”

Find Frank King:

https://bit.ly/2HjOChJ

Buy his book:

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Donate to the podcast:

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If you want to watch this interview, visit my YouTube Channel "Understand Suicide"

https://youtu.be/S18FSjh771E

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention"

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR

Contact me and exchange experiences on my Facebook page:

https://bit.ly/3h8sIet