It’s not just luxurious homes, fancy cars, and a glamour world that form the life of celebrities. Yes, they can seem blessed with a good life and love from fans, but that doesn’t negate their struggles, in some cases, it deepens and aggravates them. In fact, depression, anxiety, and addiction are very common mental health issues in Hollywood and many beloved stars have lost their careers and lives to it.
Since mental health awareness is a big thing, celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Ryan Reynolds, Meghan Markle, Chris Evans, and many others have opened up about their personal battles with it. Their stories are in hopes of encouraging others to seek help for their struggles.
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Celebrities Who Have Spoken Up About Their Mental Health Struggles
1. Kendall Jenner
The supermodel might seem like she has it all, but the reality is a bit different. Kendall Jenner told Cara Delevingne in an interview about her anxiety issues. She said, “I have such debilitating anxiety because of everything going on that I literally wake up in the middle of the night with full-on panic attacks. Where do I even start? Everything is so horrible, it’s hard to name one thing. I just think that the world needs so much love. I wish I had the power to send Cupid around the planet, as cheesy as that sounds. You go online and you see everyone saying the worst things to each other, and it’s hard to stay positive. It’s hard not to get eaten alive by all the negativity.”
2. Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds has established himself as a ‘funny man’ and his wit is always on point. But, even he has his lows and his anxiety was quite high during the shooting of Deadpool. The actor talked about how he felt with Variety. “I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle — just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time. By the time we were in post [production], we’d been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive,” he said.
3. Meghan Markle
The Duchess of Sussex gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 about the royal family and revealed how it affected her mental health, so much so that she had suicidal thoughts. It was when Meghan Markle was pregnant with her son Archie that she experienced “clear and real and frightening and constant” thoughts of suicide. Moreover, the royal family didn’t allow her to get help even. “I went to one of the most senior people to get help. And I share this because, there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, and I know how hard it is to not just voice it but to be told ‘no,’” she revealed.
4. Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson debunked the “tough guy” theory and admitted that he also experienced depression. He told People, “The first time I experienced depression, I was 18 years old, and I had no idea what depression was. Asking for help when you’re down or when you’re feeling wobbly or when you’re depressed is actually the most powerful thing you can do. Men, especially us, we fall into this trap of being really averse to vulnerability because we always want to be strong and feel like we can take on the world. [But you have to] learn to embrace vulnerability.”
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5. Emma Stone
The actress is no stranger to panic attacks and narrated a really scary incident to the Wall Street Journal. “The first time I had a panic attack I was sitting in my friend’s house, and I thought the house was burning down. I called my mom and she brought me home, and for the next three years it just would not stop. I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later. I just needed to know that no one was going to die and nothing was going to change,” she said.
6. Chris Evans
Our very own Captain America has his own demons related to anxiety. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that premieres of his movies send him into a spiral and red carpet events feel like “30 minutes of walking on hot coals.” He added, “L.A. is where I come to work, where I have meetings and, unfortunately, where I feel moments of anxiety. Sometimes L.A. is great. And sometimes you just drive down Sunset like, ‘Ugh. F***ing Hollywood.’”
7. Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen poured her heart out about suffering from postpartum depression in an essay for Glamour. She wrote, “I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody and I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone. I had everything I needed to be happy. And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. What basically everyone around me—but me—knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression. How can I feel this way when everything is so great? I’ve had a hard time coming to terms with that, and I hesitated to even talk about this, as everything becomes such a ‘thing.’”
8. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato shared her struggles with her fans in a mental health documentary titled ‘Beyond Silence’. She has had bouts of bulimia, and substance abuse and lives with bipolar disorder. Talking about her experience, the singer said, “I think it’s important that people no longer look at mental illness as something taboo to talk about. It’s something that’s extremely common, one in five adults has a mental illness, so basically everyone is essentially connected to this problem and this epidemic. The problem with mental illness is people don’t look at it as a physical illness. When you think about it, the brain is actually the most complex organ in your body. We need to treat it like a physical illness and take it seriously.”
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