Joe Rogan and Jeremy Renner get choked up while discussing the harsh realities of mental health struggles and suicide

Joe Rogan recently had Academy Award-nominated actor Jeremy Renner on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. In perhaps one of the most telling moments in the hit online show's history, Rogan and Renner talked about the difficulties of dealing with mental health struggles and suicide ideation.

Rogan spoke about how seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel" is not always easy for everyone, driving most to suicide as they can't see an end to the struggle. The 57-year-old MMA icon pointed out that most people who either thought of or attempted (but failed) to take their lives realize that it does get better - the hard part is to trust that it will.

Jeremy Renner then shockingly revealed that he's been in that place. But he also poignantly explained why suffering is a pivotal part of living, saying (1:09):

"I've been there, Jesus. Look, I think people need to suffer. It's an actual requirement of life. It's the fiber - the DNA - of love! Real love and true love, in perpetuity, can't exist without suffering. It's impossible. You have to have suffering. And suffering doesn't have to be looked at as a negative thing. It could be looked at as a beautiful thing. It's what real love comes out of."

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Listen to Joe Rogan and Jeremy Renner here:

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When Joe Rogan explained the importance of being kind

On the topic of mental health, Joe Rogan once had a take on what needs to be done to stop the decline of mental health today. To the podcasting pioneer, in order for mankind to move forward as a species, we need to be kinder to each other.

Joe Rogan said (0:07):

"I really think we all collectively, as a species, need to emphasize and learn how to be nicer to each other. Nobody teaches you that. It's rare. They teach it to you in school, be nice. When you go to offices, there's certain standards of behavior that you're supposed to behave in. But there's not, like, an emphasis on kindness and just being friendly."

His guest, fellow comedian Greg Fitzsimmons, added (1:45):

"I think it starts with manners. I mean, manners, they seem trivial but it creates the paradigm for 'nice'. 'Thank you', 'please', 'hold the door', don't eat until everybody's served their food. They're all little signals to people that you care about them and respect them. And I think it spills over and it informs your other actions when you have good manners."

Listen to the conversation here:

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Ritwik Kumar