Chris Rock Gets Candid About His Mental Health and Insecurities Despite Success

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Chris Rock is opening up about the work he has put into his mental health and how therapy has helped him deal with feelings of insecurity.

The comedian, 61, revealed that he has spent the past several years in therapy, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, and said much of that work has centered on learning to believe that he is enough.

“I’ve been doing a lot of therapy the last few years, post-COVID, and a lot of it is about not feeling insecure,” Rock told The New York Times. “A lot of it is about ‘you’re enough,’ but I don’t ever really feel insecure about my status, per se.”

That doesn’t mean Rock never compares himself to other people. He admitted that seeing how much some of his famous friends accomplish can occasionally bring those feelings back.

“Occasionally, I’ll meet people that are obviously working harder than me and that’ll make me feel insecure [like] Adam Sandler, Rick Rubin,” he said. “You’re like, ‘How many things are you doing right now?’”

Rock said those comparisons can extend to his personal life, too. The father of two, who shares daughters Lola and Zahra with ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock, added, “Some people are better with their kids than me. I think I’m a good dad.”

Chris Rock Says He Had ‘A Lot of Stuff Going On’

Rock’s reflections come as he returns to directing with his new movie “Misty Green,” marking his first time behind the camera for a feature since 2014’s “Top Five.”

Per Us Weekly, Rock admitted that it took him 12 years to feel comfortable directing again, with his divorce, the pandemic and professional setbacks all contributing to the lengthy break.

“Life, COVID, I got divorced, which meant I had to make real money,” he said. “Maybe I had some other scripts that the market didn’t respond to. It’s not like I was sitting around.”

Rock and Compton-Rock divorced in 2016 after about two decades of marriage. He has previously been candid about the difficult period, including acknowledging his own infidelity.

“Getting divorce[d], you have to f***ing start over,” Rock told Rolling Stone in 2017. “You get to reset. It’s not a breakdown, but something in your life broke down.”

Looking back now, Rock said the pandemic also gave him an opportunity to question what he wanted from his life.

“COVID was a time to be like, ‘OK, what am I doing with my life?’” he said, adding that there were other personal matters he wasn’t interested in discussing publicly. “I had a lot of stuff going on the last 12 years.”

Chris Rock Has a Different Idea of What It Means to ‘Make It’

Rock’s outlook appears to extend beyond his career. While promoting “Misty Green” at the New York Film Festival, he told Variety that his definition of success has changed after decades in Hollywood.

The movie follows an actress, played by Rosalind Eleazar, trying to revive her career after years of struggling professionally. Rock wrote, directed and stars in the film, which also features Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick and Topher Grace.

Speaking about the idea of “making it,” Rock said he no longer measures success only by what someone accomplishes professionally.

“Making it is, to me, where I’m at right now: my daughter having great kids. Having love in your life,” he told Variety.

For Rock, the relationships in his life now carry more weight than another Hollywood accomplishment.

“If you got no love, you’re broke as f***,” he said. “That’s making it. All this other stuff, it’s just a job at the end of the day.”