Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. That expression means a lot more than judging a literal book by it’s literal cover. Of course, that can be what it means. A really entertaining, interesting or informative book could have a very boring looking cover. Yet, there are a lot of times when we need to apply this expression to other circumstances in life, such as not judging people by outward appearances.

It’s definitely true that you can’t assume things about people. Unless you’re really close friends with someone, you probably don’t actually know what they’re really, truly like. For example, a co-worker or acquaintance may seem to have it all together, but their home life could be a mess. We really don’t know what people are going through.

We need to be careful not to judge celebrities or compare ourselves to their photoshopped perfect lives. Once again, we don’t know what they are really going through when the cameras are off.

While our generation grew up hearing “sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you,” things are different today. Many people feel a lot more comfortable being open and honest about their mental health. We know that words can do a lot of damage and people who seem to have it all together can sometimes be very broken and struggling internally.

Howie Mandel recently went on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and talked about his mental health. He admitted that he looks like a happy person on the outside, but he said that’s far from what he’s like at home. He admitted that fame makes his mental health struggles worse instead of better. When Kelly Clarkson seemed in disbelief, he explained, “I’m heavily medicated.”

Mandel also explained that he was considered “weird” when he was in school and didn’t have any friends. Now he says he gets paid to be weird. Although he has had a successful career, he still takes his mental health struggles day by day.

Watch the video below to hear more about the mental health struggles Mandel deals with every day.

Does it surprise you that Mandel struggles with his mental health?