After experiencing several deaths in his family, gospel singer Kirk Franklin is speaking out about his personal struggle with mental health.
Franklin, 49, has been the recipient of 12 Grammy Awards and has led numerous gospel choirs. He also struggles with depression and anxiety.
In 2019, Franklin took to social media to share his experiences and difficulties with mental health.
"I really struggled with a lot of anxiety and I really got into a funk that I couldn't really get out of - this really dark funk that I was in - of depression," Franklin shared in a video posted to Instagram.
That feeling came after Franklin "experienced a high amount of loss in my life.
"I went to more funerals in 2019 than I've ever been to in my life. I went to the funerals of friends, the funerals of people's parents and funerals of people's kids," Franklin says.
While Franklin explained in the video that he usually seeks help in dealing with these difficult thoughts from his pastor, Dr. Tony Evans, but wanted to respect Evans' own losses at the time, as his wife, Lois, died on Dec. 30, 2019.
Instead, speaking with a Christian therapist, Franklin says he spoke with them about his thoughts and feelings of anxiety and unworthiness.
"Fear is rooted in self," Franklin says. His therapist encouraged him to remember God's love for him and to look at life with a feeling of gratitude.
Franklin ends on a note of hope and encourages everyone to take the time to see the world through God's lens of love and with thankfulness to be alive.
"Have a strong year, God has not forgotten you," he says.
Franklin will be a performer at the 2020 Grammy Awards, presented Jan. 26.
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