Mpho Popps On Riky's Passing: It Could've Easliy Been Me

Mpho Popps opens up about his battle with depression

By  | Apr 29, 2022, 08:16 PM  | Mpho Popps  | Top of the

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Popular South African comedian Mpho Popps joined Sol and MacG this week to chat about what he's been up to and one of the things that came up in conversation was his mental health.

Mpho recalls the first he heard the news about Riky's passing.

"I remember when the whole Riky thing happened I was a week in and I remember when the news dropped it hit me, bro. I was like I'm so glad I'm here right now because that could've easily been me.

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"I come from a line of my dad committing suicide so when I was young, my dad committed suicide and I've seen what it can do to a family and for years I'd blame him."

The comedian says because his dad passed on when he was young, he had to put himself through tertiary.

"You know when you are going to varsity and you are catching two taxis in the heat and you are getting to Varsity and you don't have money. I worked to put myself through varsity," he adds.

"Because when my dad was here he was nice with it and he made dough and I was like - my family could've been in a better position. And I saw what it did to me and I saw what it did to my siblings and I made a vow that no matter how rough things get in my life I would never do that."

And for that reason, taking his own life has always been a non-negotiable for him but that doesn't mean it doesn't "plague him" whenever he's going though depression.

"People who betray you, your thoughts turn dark and I remember someone was also talking about these voices in your head that won't stop.

"People think it's just random voices but it's actually just you. It's what you choose to keep replaying over and over. A lot of us don't want to deal with the fact that we have trauma."

He also touched on why it's important to deal with Trauma.

"You carried it with you and what we start to do is we start using coping mechanisms. You drink, you take drugs, you engage in sexual activities, you gamble. You do anything but deal with what you are going through and we don't realise that those patterns and behaviors also change our normal habits.

"Now you are not sleeping properly, now you are not eating properly and that just makes it worse and worse," said Mpho Popps.

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Image Cred: Mpho Popps Instagram Account
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