Jeff Garlin Opens Up About THE GOLDBERGS Breakdown and Bipolar Diagnosis

On the latest episode of SiriusXM's 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name,' host Ted Danson speaks with Jeff Garlin in an open conversation about Garlin's struggles with mental illness, particularly during his final season of 'The Goldbergs,' when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

Garlin recounted his experience on set, describing periods of mania and depression that went unaddressed. 'I used to, over the years, wonder why people would avoid me when I was manic. Most of the crew enjoyed me being funny, but there were some I could see, like, what's their hesitation? That's so weird,' Garlin said. 'And then other days I'd go home and go, why was I apologizing all day? I didn't understand. I'm a nice guy. Why am I apologizing? And then other days I just couldn't feel anything. I was just dark. It was blackness around me, even if I drove home in the afternoon.'

Garlin said his diagnosis came after a meeting prompted by his family. 'Well, I guess my behavior started really showing in my personal life. My ex, Mara, and Siri came together—' he said. 'It was early on, but still, what a gift. And we went to my son's psychiatrist, because my son's bipolar, and he met with me and them for two hours. And he said, 'You're bipolar.' And that led to me—'

Garlin described a blowout with 'The Goldbergs' and detailed his last scene filmed on the show. 'I had a blowout with The Goldbergs, and the blowout was all the things I talked about. And then the last scene I ever filmed was me with Tim Meadows, Dave Koechner, and Troy Gentile, who played my son. And it essentially was a Pizza Hut commercial,' Garlin said. 'No one told me, 'Hey, everybody loves Pizza Hut,' and it's in the show. And I got up and I said, 'What the hell's going on?' And they go, 'It'd be great. We'll get to hire a new writer with that money.''

'I go, 'Hold on. The $900 billion corporation that owns this thing will not pay the minimal amount from a Little Caesars thing to get another writer? Do you know if I were to do a commercial, do you know how much money I would want?'' Garlin said. 'I said, 'No, I'm not doing this. Here's the way we'll do it. We're going to shoot me out. I'm going to say, 'Hey guys,' whatever, and before my son walks out with the pizza, I'm going to leave.' I left, and I knew I'd never come back to that set again.'

Garlin said a producer later came to his house to negotiate his return. 'When the producer of the show came to my house, I was done. Didn't want to go back. He said, 'What would it take for you to go back?'' Garlin said. 'I said, 'A big raise, and I work one day a week.' They said, 'Yes.' And if it sounds too good to be true, it's too good to be true.'

Garlin said he later learned of resentment among castmates. 'And so I had resentment from my castmates, not as much the crew, but there was great resentment from some of them. I didn't know it at the time, though. I was naive. I didn't know they knew anything about my anything,' he said. 'And so they said, 'We want to shoot Jeff out, seven episodes in two days.' And at first I'm like, 'Great.' And then I think, I don't want to be dead man walking around that set. And then, no, I'll do it.'

Garlin then described a mental health crisis that followed. 'I had a nervous breakdown, and I was going to commit suicide. I reached out to Susie and I said, 'I hate when people don't reach out, but at noon today I will be dead. I'm letting you know I will be dead,'' Garlin said. 'And she called Mara, and she called Siri, and my friend Brad Morris. My girlfriend and my ex-wife called him. He's one of my best friends. He watched me while they were looking for a place for me to go.'

Garlin said he ultimately chose treatment in Cincinnati over a facility in Beverly Hills. 'And the choices came down to two places that could be helpful for me, with all the research they were doing and talking to people. Beverly Hills. This is the middle of winter. Beverly Hills, a private, lush home, big facility in Beverly Hills, all this privacy. They can do great stuff with you. And then there's this place in Cincinnati,' he said. 'So they said, 'Where do you want to go?' Middle of winter. I went to Cincinnati because I was serious. I'm not going to some rehab in Beverly Hills. f that, man.'

'I went to Cincinnati in the middle of winter, and I learned this thing called DBT, dialectical behavior therapy. I was no longer suicidal. They helped get me to a point where I could stand, and then I went out in the world,' Garlin said. 'And it took time between therapy and medication for bipolar, all that stuff, to where I felt kind of whole. And I'm just now, this is from five years ago, whatever, I'm just now feeling really good. Just now. Maybe the book coming out, but around now, really.'

Garlin also reflected on the difference in how his behavior was perceived on 'The Goldbergs' versus 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' 'And I've been low, and I've been really, really low. And it's amazing that, with mental illness, no one at Sony said, 'Are you okay?' Everybody said, 'Jeff, you can't talk about—' I'd sing songs about my—I did all the stuff I did on Curb, singing songs about my grandma's balls, etc. Except people would complain. Whereas on Curb, if I didn't do it, people would come up and go, 'Are you feeling okay?' Because I was always so jovial and fun and loose and saying nonsense,' Garlin said. 'But on The Goldbergs, it was a dark thing. So it took me a while.'

Garlin described the steps he took toward recovery. 'And then I started doing AA, dialectical behavior therapy, continued my regular therapy, started boxing, getting myself physically healthy, doing things creatively that I found interesting, à la the book. That's what I've been doing. Being out of the way is this—it's almost like a rebirth thing,' he said. 'And I'm now, as you said, at this moment I'm happy being with you, but primarily I'm very content, and I'm very creatively fulfilled. I'm personally fulfilled. My wonderful girlfriend. I have great children. I have a great ex-wife. I have great friends. It's all good, man. But that was dark.'

New episodes of SiriusXM's 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' premiere every Wednesday on the SiriusXM app and wherever podcasts are available.