The 'Dolemite Is My Name' actor opens up about his struggles with learning disorder as he undergoes a seven-hour weekly therapy while processing traumas from his difficult childhood.
- Sep 20, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actor Chris Rock has been diagnosed with a learning disorder.
After a nine-hour series of cognitive tests earlier this year (20), the 55-year-old "Dolemite Is My Name" star was diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder (NVLD).
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris explained his condition means he has challenges interpreting nonverbal signals in social situations, admitting that "all I understand are the words."
"By the way, all of those things are really great for writing jokes - they're just not great for one-on-one relationships," the star quipped. "I'd always just chalked it up to being famous... Any time someone would respond to me in a negative way, I'd think, 'Whatever, they're responding to something that has to do with who they think I am.' "
"Now, I'm realising it was me. A lot of it was me," the "Grown Ups 2" star added.
Now, Chris commits to seven hours of therapy every week while also processing childhood traumas.
"I thought I was actually dealing with it, and the reality is I never dealt with it," he told the publication. "The reality was the pain and the fear that brought me, I was experiencing it every day."
The comedian grew up being bullied in school as the only black student in his grade. He was often beaten up or met with balloons full of piss and racist mocking like "N****r, Go Home." He said, "No matter what I was going through, it paled in comparison to what my mom or my dad went through; so, there wasn't a lot of dealing with it."
"I'm not belittling today's youth, but I wish somebody had sent me a bad text when I was a kid," he added. "These motherf**kers were trying to kill me."
