Pete Davidson is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer. Popularly known for his role in Saturday Night Live, amongst his many creative endeavors, he believes that even though he is the most awkward person, he becomes free on stage and is the most confident version of himself when he is performing. With his undeniable talent and charismatic personality, he has made a name for himself. It seems like everything is going right with him, but he also stands strong fighting his mental health problems along with a history of suicidal ideation and self-harm. 

In 2016, Pete had shared that he was dealing with substance abuse, chronic depression and other mental health conditions. This was the first time he had spoken about his mental health – but not the last. He shared that he used to have mental breakdowns and not remember what happened after that. He has also shared that he used to smoke marijuana ‘all day’ for eight years until he stopped in 2016. He did have a relapse but publicly went into rehabilitation to lead a sober lifestyle. Even with this brief story, we can compute that Pete, even though he had big struggles, has always been resilient and wants to get better. However, his journey has been tough. 

Pete’s father, Scott Davidson, was a New York City firefighter who died in service during the September 11 attacks; he was last seen running up the stairs of the Marriott World Trade Center, just before it collapsed. Pete was seven years old, was profoundly affected by the loss. Going through such a traumatic incident in a critical age of seven can have a lasting impact. Considerably so, he developed mental health issues as he was growing up – which impact him to the point of even thinking of killing himself. 

After this chilling post, he deleted his Instagram. Clearly, Pete was struggling. He was probably dealing with a lot of issues. He had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder and he had also revealed that he had a habit of ‘cutting’. 

In an interview with CBS, he also said, “That’s horrible to say. But yeah, I used to close my eyes on a closed road, usually at night. And I would drive without a seatbelt.” 

He was harming himself – both physically and mentally.

However, yet again, his resilience pulled him up and what seemed like a difficult year for him actually became life-changing. He went to therapy and worked on himself – he had the drive to lead a life without these struggles. And that became his first big step towards a better mental health. 

Today, Pete is not only working on himself, but also spreading awareness on mental health and topics such as Borderline Personality Disorder, by sharing his own story and breaking the stigma. 

In an interview in February 2020 with Charlamagne Tha God, Pete Davidson stated that he has always been suicidal, and the only thing stopping him from taking the step is the fact that he loves his mom and his family and can’t think of inflicting so much pain on them. 

This statement shows how empathetic and humble person Pete Davidson is.

We often stigmatise people with mental health problems. We talk about how selfish suicide is. But we completely disregard the struggles of a mental health patient. Instead of showing unconditional support, we put them on trail with never-ending judgement. People with mental health issues can be dealing with uncountable problems , but that does not take away from the fact that they are good people with endearing qualities. Humble, empathetic, kind, selfless and loving – like Pete, and it’s high time we see them for the good in them and help them and support them to deal with their problems 

Pratiksha Rajopadhyaya