Simon Cowell, after suffering with long-term depression, now extols benefits of therapy

Music mogul and “America’s Got Talent” creator Simon Cowell says he has suffered from long-term depression and now extols the benefits of therapy.

“I’ve suffered from depression over the years,” Cowell, 63, said in the first episode of the new podcast “Tom Bryant’s Men in Mind” Wednesday, adding that, “I just thought, ‘Well, that’s my character trait, y'know, I get down,’ and it’s something you deal with. And then I suppose COVID was the real catalyst, where the whole world was affected by something we all were afraid of. … I was petrified about it, by the way.”

During this time, on lockdown in Los Angeles with his fiancee Lauren Silverman and their 9-year-old son, Eric, the British producer “started to think about things in a different way,” he said. He gravitated toward “some very, very good friends of mine who’ve been having therapy for years,” seeking their advice since “they were the ones I thought ‘Oh, they’re the smart ones, they’re the balanced ones. … They’re very happy and they’re very kind of wise.’ And they … said, ‘Why don't you give it a go?’ ”

Growing up in England, he recalls, “If I watched an American drama, there would always be talk about going to therapy and I always used to think everyone’s being dramatic or over the top. … I just couldn't relate to it whatsoever. … It was only [after] having gone through something pretty traumatic [with the COVID pandemic] that I realized” the value of therapy. “Things are so complicated in life anyway, why not find someone to help you?”

After getting recommendations and finding a therapist, “I made the appointment and I sat down, really embarrassed, and I said, ‘Well, I don't know where to start.’ … And within about 20 minutes it was as if I’d known him for 10, 20 years. He put me so much at ease. And you realize you’re talking to a professional. And they don’t judge you. They listen to you. And [it] doesn't happen overnight, you've got to do this fairly regularly, which I did.”

The therapist asked him, “What do you want to achieve out of all of this?” and Cowell answered “I suppose happiness, peace, balance. And over time, just by talking, nothing else,” such as medication, “in what we call a safe space, it was like this massive load lifting off my shoulders.”

Later in the hourlong interview, he noted, “I’m not saying everyone in the world needs it. However, I think it’s probably the most overlooked area of life. You hear about vitamins, you hear about diets … but then the most important part of your body, your brain, it’s so rarely talked about. … It does affect everything — your happiness, controlling your stress, being able to sleep well, being happy, being able to love.”

And he advised, “If you’re feeling stressed, if you’re finding things sometimes overwhelming, then don’t be afraid to talk about [therapy], or see it as a weakness, because it’s not. For me, I saw it as a strength, to be able to talk about it.”

On Thursday, Cowell said on social media, “I’m not very good at podcasts[;] however this is a subject I’m very passionate about and what I’m talking about has made a difference to my life and I hope it will do the same for others.”