Nick Martin 
Top Celebrities Reveal The Mental Issues They Struggled With
We always admire the bravery in people who can open up publicly about problems that most people would rather not talk about. When those people are celebrities, their influence on the others is multiplied, and hopefully it could be a significant part of the support today’s society needs desperately—because mental health issues are a huge problem and many people have a related condition, whether they realize it or not.
You can read below about some of the famous people who suffered from such problems—they’ve opened up about theirs in an effort to raise awareness.
1. Bella Hadid
During the “Making a Model With Yolanda Hadid” series, Bella Hadid said to one of the contestants that she totally gets it and understands what a burden social anxiety disorder can be. She shared that she suffered from it.
Bella also said that unlike her sister Gigi, she has always been reserved, and there was a time when she cried and her body shook before an event or an interview. She apparently used to be very nervous, and such public stunts scared her a lot. She added that talking to people became part of the job—and that thought calms you down, because you know that you just have to do it.
2. James Franco
James Franco was an addict until he turned 17, after which he laid the foundations of his acting career—which was his new addiction, according to him. It became so severe that he stopped with his socialization and activities. After being this way for a decade, he took a close look at himself and realized he was very depressed. It all seemed good on the surface, because he had a lot of things for which he should be grateful, but deep inside he felt so lonely for a long time.
3. Gabourey Sidibe
The actress suffered from depression and panic attacks for years before deciding to get some professional help. She was told that she needed to start taking antidepressants in order for her mental health to improve.
She says that at one point she just accepted it as a part of her. If her problem gets too big, she simply turns to a specialist, and she says that everyone should visit a therapist even if it is once a week—it is, she says, the perfect chance to talk to someone who only wants to listen to you talking about yourself, and this investment of time and money is totally worth it.
4. Prince Harry
The prince shared that after he lost his mother twenty years ago, he completely shut down his emotions, and that proved to be a problem in both his personal and professional paths for many years after that. He realized that if he tried to hide his thoughts about Princess Diana, it helped him—because thinking of her did not help his mental state at all.
He managed to open up 17 years after his mother’s death, and he was able to take on all aspects of his life seriously and make a maximum effort towards the things that mattered to him—mentioning the Invictus Games.
5. Gillian Anderson
Her problems could be traced back to the time she was 14, which is when she began therapy. During the same time, her classmates in high school voted for her in the “Most Likely to Get Arrested” quiz, and that was exactly what happened after she was caught breaking into the school building on graduation night.
Her book describes many of the situations when her issues took over the control over her actions and she isolated herself. In her lowest moments, she did not want to even leave the house.
6. Chrissy Teigen
She opened up about her struggle with postpartum depression after her daughter Luna’s birth. She even felt physical pain in her lower back and her joints—and getting out of bed was hard. Teigen even lacked an appetite, and she would spend a couple of days with no food at all. Her daily activities were mostly sitting on the couch or in bed, and her husband John Legend regularly stayed with her on the couch. She was crying spontaneously for no reason. She shared all of her personal troubles to let other moms know that it is okay to speak up if you struggle, because sometimes the condition is out of control and just devours you. Teigen added that she felt selfish and weird when she spoke about the issues she had.
7. Kendall Jenner
Kendal Jenner has confessed that during 2017 she had to put up a fight with anxiety, and all the security concerns she had made things worse for the supermodel. She added that she found a way to cope with all of this little by little. Jenner gave an example of her mental state, describing a panic attack she had prior to a flight—her heart rate plummeted and she just had to get off, feeling a little numb after.
8. Ryan Phillippe
Phillippe shares that he struggled with depression back in his 20s and 30s; things have changed for him now; he read a lot and worked on improving himself. He now has healthier ways of dealing with his depressed state. The actor added that he will never stop being as empathetic or sensitive as he was back then. He is convinced that the way these types of problems affect you and the path to overcoming them is different for every individual.
9. Emma Stone
The actress spoke about her childhood, which was marked by anxiety. She told the story of how she thought her house was burning when she was just seven years old. Stone described the feeling to be as if she could not breathe for real—and it was like something was squeezing her chest. Her condition became so severe that at one point she could barely go out the front door to go to school or to a friend’s home. She managed to defeat her issues with a combination of therapy and performing—the battle was long, but acting in the theater, improvising, and performing sketch comedy proved to help her a lot; it made her feel alive and in the present moment, which is the opposite of how anxiety makes you feel.
10. Lady Gaga
The pop star spoke about her problems during a meeting with LGBTQ and homeless teenagers in NYC. She shared with them that all her life she has suffered from PTSD. She claims that she is still alive today largely because of the kind attitude she received from doctors, her family, as well as her friends. The fact that she struggled with this condition made it easy for her to relate to all the teens that are pushed away by their own families because of their different sexuality. Lady Gaga says that it is not just the fact that they are homeless that is important. Apparently, many among them have survived a kind of emotional trauma because of a rejection in the past. She is sort of glad that her own trauma helped her understand the pain the other often hide inside.
11. Kim Kardashian West
Not long after Kendall Jenner spoke about her sleep paralysis problems, her sister Kim opened up during a “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” episode about her struggles with anxiety. Her mother Kris Jenner said to her that it may be a good idea for her and her sister to seek a specialist they could talk with, concerned that otherwise the problem might become more serious. Kim Kardashian West spoke to a therapist later and said that all she wanted was to overcome anxiety in order for her life to become normal again.
12. Miranda Kerr
The supermodel describes her personality as constantly positive, so she never really understood what depression was like until she divorced Orlando Bloom in 2013.
She reportedly was laughing all the time, sometimes even while sleeping; however, after the divorce she soon ended up depressed, and it was bad. The hard times she went through taught her that every single thought has an effect over the real life and that every person could have complete control over his or her own mind.
13. Kid Cudi
The notorious rapper shared on Facebook his experience with depression and anxiety—which he was still fighting with. He reportedly started treatment due to depression and suicidal inclinations. He wrote that it was difficult for him to speak publicly because he felt ashamed of it—instead of being the influential and strong leader he felt that he should be. Apparently these problems have been a burden to him his whole life.
Kid Cudi has spoken about these issues before, mentioning that he tried overcoming it all with drugs. He also revealed that it was hard pretending to be happy when he actually felt like he happened to be in a living nightmare. He could visit anywhere he wanted and he had provided for his daughter—more than she would ever need—but he still could not enjoy his happy reality due to the severe depression.
14. Demi Lovato
Last May Demi Lovato spoke about her mental problems, claiming that she lived a normal life and felt as normal as any happy person would feel. This statement was a ray of hope to everyone else who suffer from bipolar disorder like her. These people might think that they would never be able to lead their live to the fullest while having such a condition, but she wanted to make a point that this was not true. She shared that she recently got a puppy and she could easily take care of her and dog while living her dream. She feels the same way about mood disorders as well. In her opinion, society must make an effort to learn more about these mental problems in order for the stigma surrounding them to be lifted.
15. Catherine Zeta-Jones
The famous actress also suffers from bipolar II disorder, which affects millions of people, and her opening up about the problem may be of some help to all of them.
She proudly stood up years ago and said that she was one of the millions of people that suffered from the condition. She said that she would feel glad if her decision to speak about it helps at least one person among the many people affected. She is certain that everyone who feels like that should seek help if needed, and there is no shame in doing so.
16. J.K. Rowling
She is currently world’s most famous living author, but there was a time that she felt so bad and miserable that she considered committing suicide. Rowling is not ashamed of her dark period at all—quite the opposite, actually. She feels proud of herself that she managed to overcome her struggles. She opened herself about the obsessive compulsive disorder she had, and her experience with that condition helped shape on of the character in her book “The Casual Vacancy”.
17. Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields spoke about the extremely hard months following her pregnancy at the Hope for Depression Research Foundation awards back in 2009. She said that when her daughter Rowan was born in 2003, Shields finally had the baby girl she wanted, but she was not even able to look at her, hold her in her arms—or even sing and smile to her. The new mom simply felt that all she wanted to do was disappear from the face of the Earth. It took her a lot of effort to realize that she was not a bad mother and that she did everything right, and the most important part was when she realized that the way she felt was not provoked by any of her actions—that was beyond her control.
Loading…