We all struggle with feeling a little sad or a little anxious every now and then, but when those feelings and hopelessness overtake our day-to-day life; it might be time to consider seeking help.
While struggling with a mental illness is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, the stigmas are still vividly present — from its representation in pop culture to the very language we use unintentionally.
While society has made great strides in removing the stigma of mental health and making it more accessible for those struggling to get help — or even just talk about their struggle to a loved one, we, as a collective, still have a long way to go, and that’s why it’s so incredibly important to share our stories as often and as loudly as we can.
Here, we’ve see different celebrities who are using their platform for good — these mental health advocates continue to bravely step forward and choose to put their struggle out there for the world to see. Their fearless actions continue to inspire us to work toward breaking down the stigmas, reach out to those we love, and own our own truth.
Shawn Mendes
One of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2018, Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes is using his platform to tackle mental health. The 19-year-old artiste has also been speaking candidly of his own struggles with anxiety, advocating for a stigma-free public conversation on mental health, especially among men. “It’s all about honesty. It’s something that I’ve always been paying attention to with other artists. It’s why I love Ed [Sheeran] and why I love [John] Mayer so much,” he said on celebrities becoming more eager to share their personal truth.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga may be an inspiration for millions, but that doesn’t change the fact she has a lot of her own demons she continuously struggles with.
Some know Gaga was sexually assaulted at 19 by a music producer and according to a recent interview, she says that the trauma she suffered when she was a teenager still impacts her to this day, where she continues to suffer from PTSD and related health struggles.
Saying she’s “on a roller coaster,” she shared: “I feel stunned. Or stunted. You know that feeling when you’re on a roller coaster and you’re just about to go down the really steep slope? That fear and the drop in your stomach? My diaphragm seizes up. Then I have hard time breathing, and my whole body goes into a spasm. And I begin to cry,” Gaga described.
Ross Szabo
Growing up in a family stricken by mental illness, award-winning speaker and author, Ross Szabo, feared the day he would be diagnosed with something. Crazy, bipolar, inspiring: Ross battled his inner demons for years before finding a way out and taking charge of his mental health.
Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell is not afraid to open up about her struggles with anxiety and depression. She’s always been an outspoken mental health advocate, often sharing her own experiences to help break the stigma.
When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, the Hollywood star said, “Don’t be fooled by the game of perfection that humans play. Because Instagram and magazines and TV shows strive for a certain aesthetic, and everything seems so beautiful, and people seem like they don’t have any problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes. And you deserve to feel just as beautiful on the days when you wear no makeup, on the days you don’t shower, and on the days you feel like you’re depressed.
And you have an obligation to take care of yourself from the inside out because that’s how you can truly feel beautiful. There are resources out there if you’re feeling anxious — people to talk to, doctors to interact with, and there are tons of solutions out there for you. You are not alone. Never feel embarrassed or ashamed about who you are.”
Ryan Reynolds
Whether he’s portraying the quick-witted Dead pool on the big screen or entertaining the Twitter verse by savagely trolling his wife Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds seems like a cool, confident guy. But behind those charming, effortlessly laid-back vibes, Reynolds is battling the same type of mental illness as 40 million adults in the United States: an anxiety disorder.
“I have anxiety, I’ve always had anxiety,” Reynolds told. “Both in the lighthearted ‘I’m anxious about this’ kind of thing, and I’ve been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun.”
Charlize Theron
“You know, it was a huge surprise for me. I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression,” Theron about her bad diet she undertook to gain 50 pounds for Tully and its impact on her mental health. “Yeah, for the first time in my life I was eating so much processed foods and I drank way too much sugar. I was not that fun to be around on this film.” And if you think that sounds like an overreaction, you should know that it’s absolutely possible to feel the impact of an unhealthy diet on that level. Eating processed food can contribute to brain damage, and mental illness can develop from nutrient deficiencies. Not to mention that studies have shown a direct correlation between gut and mental health.
Kendall Jenner
It would be easy to assume that Kendall Jenner’s success equates to personal fulfillment and wellbeing, but in a candid interview last year, Jenner revealed that her “debilitating anxiety” had gotten to the point where she would “wake up in the middle of the night with full-on panic attacks.”
In her most recent interview, Jenner reveals how she has learned to manage her anxiety over the years, painting a clear picture of the importance of making time for self-care and being open to the idea of saying no.
Janet Jackson
“The struggle was intense,” Janet Jackson wrote in an open letter, “Low self-esteem might be rooted in childhood feelings of inferiority. It could relate to failing to meet impossibly high standards. And of course there are always the societal issues of racism and sexism.”
“I wasn’t happy with the way I looked. For most of my life, that lack of happiness followed me,” she wrote. “I wish someone had said, ‘You look fine. You look healthy. Being a little chubby is the least important thing in the world. Enjoy your childhood. Enjoy running and laughing and playing. Stop looking in the mirror and comparing yourself to others.”
Wil Wheaton
Wheaton, who battles chronic depression and anxiety, is a staunch mental health advocate — and he recently delivered one of the most powerful speeches on the topic at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) conference in Ohio.
Addressing the crowd, the actor opened up about the heart-wrenching suffering he went through for decades, fueled by adults’ lack of understanding and a refusal to admit that since before he was 10 he had mental health issues.
“Night after night, I’d wake up in absolute terror, and night after night, I’d drag my blankets off my bed, to go to sleep on the floor in my sister’s bedroom, because I was so afraid to be alone,” he shared at the conference and on Medium.
Chrissy Teigen
Postpartum depression impacts millions of women in major ways and every woman is impacted differently. According to Chrissy Teigen, one of the ways she was impacted is that she noticed some of her greatest passions diminishing, and that includes her love of food and cooking.
“When I wasn’t feeling great, being in the kitchen was like torture. It felt like such a job, and you want to be excited when you’re in the kitchen,” she says. “I cook because I love food and I love to eat. It makes me happy to serve people. And when you aren’t feeling that way, it was like torture.”
But once she figured out what was going on, she got better. She was prescribed an antidepressant and sought help from a therapist.