Andy Richter Shares Lifelong Process of Working on His Mental Health — and How He Felt 'Like an Old Shoe' After Divorce

The late-night icon talks about why he chose to take antidepressants and how he's had the same therapist since the '90s

• Andy Richter shared his mental health journey as a guest on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's podcast, Dinner's on Me

• Richter, who has been Conan O'Brien's longtime sidekick, said that friends questioned his decision to take antidepressants

• The comic said he's had the same therapist since the '90s and that therapy is "an ongoing process"

Andy Richter is opening up about his mental health.

The comedian and longtime sidekick to Conan O’Brien  had a frank discussion with Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson on his podcast, Dinner’s on Me, saying he’s ”never understood why mental health is treated any different than any other health.”

“When I started going on antidepressants, I had friends that were like, ‘Isn't it going to stifle you creatively? Isn't it going to change your personality?’ “

“ ‘Are you gonna eventually get off them?’ “

Richter chose to take medication despite his friends’ skepticism.

“If I was walking around with a bone sticking out of my leg … You'd go to the emergency room, get that fixed," said Richter, 57.

“I don't understand, there's people just think that your brain is who you are, and you can't f--k with it, which is just like, yes. You can. Yes. You can.”

Plus, he added, "Life is short. You Know?"

Related: Record 1 in 6 U.S. Adults Has Depression, Says Report

That mentality came into play when he started dating after the end of his 27-year-long marriage to Sarah Thyre, even though “it was nerve-wracking, and it was kinda terrifying. And, you know, you feel like an old shoe.”

“I'm an old shoe,” he continued, saying that filling out dating app profiles made him feel “like I'm garbage. What kind of music do I like? Garbage music.”

Richter eventually met his now-wife Jennifer Herrera, sharing, “I just started hanging out at her house, and I met her daughter. And, and I started finding myself driving home feeling very, very happy…like, in way that snuck up on me.”

Richter — who said he’s been with the same therapist since “the early nineties” says “I don't plan on ever being fixed. "

“It's a process, and it'll be an ongoing process. “

“What did depression look like for you when you were younger?” Ferguson asked.

Related: Dwayne Johnson Shares What He Learned from His Battles with Depression: 'It Can't Be Fixed If You Keep That Pain Inside'

“Inertia," Richter replied. “Inertia. Sadness. Just sadness and inertia.”

He continued, “Suicidal ideation has been something that has been with me for a long, long time…periodically throughout my life, Never 'I'm gonna go to the hardware store and buy a rope,” he said, but, “certainly, sort of...'I could go up on the roof of this building.' Right? You know, that kind of thing. Just in a very sort of casual kind of way.”

As the Cleveland Clinic explains, "Suicidal ideation (suicidal thoughts) are thoughts or ideas centered around death or suicide. Experiencing suicidal ideation doesn’t mean you’re going to kill yourself, but it can be a warning sign."

Richter shared that “it's a process that lots of people go through… people that I know and love have gone through it. And I think they just think that if they tell anybody, somebody's gonna check them into the hospital.”

Ferguson shared his own experience, saying “there's certainly days I remember thinking, especially when I was younger — I was bullied as a kid. And I was like, 'Well, this is not that much fun to be living this life every day.' [I] never got to the point where I was like, 'I'm gonna take myself out of the situation.' But I do remember thinking, like, 'This isn't the most fun I've had on a Wednesday.' ”

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But as Richter said, "I'm not a spiritual person, but I do believe in the concept of yin and yang. The better things are — we get to enjoy so much fantastic aspects of what we do for a living — that the downside is, like, going to be possibly as sh--ty."

"That's the price of admission. "

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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