AJ Lee is crediting CM Punk and WWE’s evolving approach to mental health for helping her navigate life and wrestling while living with bipolar disorder.
Speaking on State Of Mind with Maurice Benard (see video below), the former WWE star reflected on managing her condition, the challenges that can trigger depressive cycles, and how her husband has become an important part of her support system.
Lee explained that she has learned to recognize when she is entering a difficult period and communicates that openly with Punk.
“I named it like my dark days. I’ll wake up and I know it’s a low cycle and I’ll tell my husband and I warn him and he’s very open to it and knows the language of it now where he’s just like ‘Okay what do you need like how do we make this day better?’ Like a stasis that is peace and that is so that can be so rare. So much you’re sort of riding that wave and trying to not go up too much or down.”
She went on to discuss how stress, criticism, injuries and physical pain can all intensify symptoms, making it essential for her to maintain a structured routine that includes sleep, therapy and medication.
“Right. Yeah. And that can make every symptom worse sometimes. So, like if it’s, I’m really stressed or if there’s like a lot of negativity or a lot of eyeballs on me or judgment and then if you get physically hurt, like constant pain can really trigger my depressive cycles as well. So, it’s such a tricky thing to balance. And I did kind of have to dip my toe in and be like ‘Okay, I’m going to have the schedule that works for me where I can still make sure I’m sleeping right. I still have the time to take my medication and go to therapy and have my routine because that’s what keeps me alive and perform’. And so that was like a balancing act.”
Lee also reflected on the wrestling industry’s past culture regarding injuries, noting that performers were often expected to work through physical issues rather than step away to recover.
“I’ve had suggested surgeries, but I haven’t done them for my neck. And I’ve strained stuff and torn some minor tears here and there, but a lot of the culture when I was younger was you just keep going because it’s going to keep going without you. So if you’re injured, you just kind of fake it and say you’re fine and keep going injured.”
According to Lee, that mentality has changed significantly in WWE, particularly when it comes to both physical and mental well-being. She revealed that concerns about her mental health were among the first topics discussed during conversations with WWE President Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque before her return to the company.
“It’s very much not that now, which I was really happy to see. It’s very much like ‘Let’s have a conversation about how you’re feeling and you can get time off and you can spend more time with your family.’ And I will say to their credit, my biggest concern coming back was my mental health. And Nick Khan and Paul Levesque, they’re like the bosses that kind of brought me in. They were so open about ‘We will protect our mental health and if we don’t we’re not doing our job right, like that’s going to be our number one priority.’”
Lee said the support she has received from WWE management stands in stark contrast to her first run with the company more than a decade ago.
“And it was never like that 10 years ago. I felt like I had to hide that part of me 10 years ago. So for my bosses to support me in that way I have to give them all the credit for that.”
