Former First Lady Michelle Obama is opening up about her struggles with mental health amid the coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest breaking out across the nation.
In a new episode of her podcast released on Wednesday, Obama sat down with award-winning journalist Michele Norris to discuss the “relationship with ourselves” and racial reconciliation.
Obama indicated she has been struggling with “some form of low-grade depression.”
“It is unusual, and it is, you know, it’s a direct result of just being out of, out of body, out of mind. And spiritually, these are not, they are not fulfilling times, spiritually,” Obama said.
She added, “Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”
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She said she has experienced “emotional highs and lows” where “you just don’t feel yourself.”
Obama listed some of the ways she manages the difficulties of quarantine including keeping up with a routine, working out, going outside, and having a regular dinner time.
She turned her focus to how racial strife has caused some of her highs and lows.
“They’ve been real for me, and, you know I don’t think I’m unusual, in that, but, I’d be remiss to say that part of this depression, is also a result of, what we’re seeing in terms of, the protests, the continued racial unrest, that has plagued this country, since its birth,” Obama said.
She continued, “I have to say, that waking up to the news, waking up to how this administration has or has not responded, waking up to, yet another, story of a Black man or a Black person somehow being dehumanized, or hurt or killed, or, falsely accused of something, it is exhausting. And, and it, it has led to a weight that I haven’t felt in my life in a while.”
Obama is “heartened” by the “peaceful nature” of protests and feels the nation is making progress.
She explained she gets through the more difficult times by reaching out to her family and friends and staying connected to those that bring her “joy.”
