Kirk Minihane, the controversial co-host of WEEI's "Kirk & Callahan" show, says he was hospitalized last week after having “suicidal thoughts.”
“I’ve talked a lot about my issues with depression, and I’ve battled it the last three months or so,” Minihane said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon. “Last Thursday night I checked into the ER at Winchester Hospital with suicidal thoughts. I was then moved to McLean, where I was treated and released earlier this week.”
He added that he’d be back at work Friday morning, and he was nervous about it.
“But I’m not ashamed or embarrassed. And we’ll do what we do - we’ll talk about it,” he said.
Minihane discussed his struggles with depression at length on Friday's show, saying it's a "real thing" and he hopes that talking about it might help others.
"Mental illness is as real as any other illness," Minihane said. "People have to know that - that's all.
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"I've had it my whole life and I've never been knocked down like I have the last month," he continued. "For a couple weeks it was like I was having a heart attack all the time."
Minihane stopped short of saying he's in recovery, but said, "I feel better than I did a week ago. The progress has been being able to talk about it."
SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: Here is information on suicide prevention from the National Institute of Mental Health. If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
