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From Selena Gomez to Zayn, these are the stars speaking out about their own battles with depression, anxiety, OCD and more mental health issues, and championing their fans to get help with...
- The Surgery With Katie and Dr Radha, My Mind and Me, Olly Alexander From Years & Years on His Mental Health Journey
Olly talks openly about his mental health experiences and...
- The Surgery With Katie and Dr Radha, My Mind and Me, Olly Alexander From Years & Years on His Mental Health Journey
Sep 5, 2017 · Mental illness is not discriminatory; therefore, it affects celebrities just like the rest of the population. But because the spotlight is always on them, we hear more about their experiences with depression, OCD, anxiety, and so on.
- Senior Content Strategist
Nov 1, 2023 · From Billie Eilish's raw transparency to Selena Gomez's career-encompassing commitment to the cause to Cara Delevingne's candor around her newfound sobriety, here are some of the stars raising...
- Overview
- Kanye West
- Demi Lovato
- Michelle Obama
- Ben Affleck
- Pete Davidson
- Taraji P. Henson
- Justin Bieber
- Demi Moore
- Carrie Ann Inaba
Since the age of 7, singer Demi Lovato has dealt with suicidal thoughts and depression. On September 10, 2020, World Suicide Prevention Day, the pop star took to Twitter to share her history of mental illness with her fans. She assured them that “it is possible to see the light when you start the work on yourself."
Having weathered addiction, bulimia, and bipolar disorder, Lovato said that she’s “living proof that you never have to give into those thoughts.”
Her mother used to be afraid to wake her up in the morning for fear that she’d find her dead. Although Lovato has often struggled, she admitted, she told her fans that “you can get through whatever it is you’re going through.”
In partnership with the suicide prevention nonprofit Hope for the Day, Lovato also released a single called “OK Not To Be OK” with DJ and producer Marshmello to destigmatize mental illness. Lovato said that she is vocal about suffering from suicidal ideation and her other psychological struggles to let others know they’re not alone and that there is a way out.
In 2018, Lovato had a near fatal drug overdose and released a single called “Sober” about relapsing. She has linked some of her psychological disorders to her late birth father, whose mental illness prevented him from raising a family, she said.
"Now I've got older and I've been able to grieve the loss of him and I've been able to step back and look from a distance that he was mentally ill and it wasn't his heart that meant to abandon me, I've been able to overcome his loss and understand where everything went wrong,” she said in 2018. "And that sadness has been going away."
Having suffered from anxiety and depression, Golden Globe-winner Taraji P. Henson has not only been vocal about her psychological problems but also about destigmatizing mental illness in the Black community.
Henson has survived the death of her father from cancer in 2006 and the murder of her son’s father in 2003. When she sees news headlines about the killings of young Black men, it makes her fear for her son’s life.
Henson told Self magazine in 2019 that her anxiety symptoms include heart palpitations, sweating, nervousness, rumination, and feelings of helplessness. Moreover, she described her depression as a condition that can be “hard to climb up out of.”
In 2018, the “Empire” star started a foundation that focuses on mental health in the African American population. As part of her advocacy, Henson testified before the Congressional Black Caucus’s forum on youth suicide in 2019.
Henson acknowledged that she has been praised for being a young single mother who graduated from college and eked out a Hollywood career. Still, she said that she often struggled during her journey to fame and that the myth of the “strong Black woman” is more harmful than helpful.
“There are some times where I feel absolutely helpless,” she told Self. “That's human. Everybody feels like that. Just because I'm a Black woman, don't put that strong-superhero thing on me.”
One of the most revered pop stars in the world, Justin Bieber shocked many of his fans when he took to Instagram to detail the struggles he faced after he shot to fame as a 13-year-old. In a social media post, the singer described how he began to believe the non-stop praise he received from the public, which led him to develop a sense of entitlement.
He explained that he lacked a sense of personal responsibility for his behavior and “abused” his relationships. "I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry," he wrote. "I became distant to everyone who loved me... I felt like I could never turn it around."
Bieber admitted that he turned to drugs to cope, and his behavior became increasingly erratic. Finally, in 2014, he was arrested for vandalism, driving under the influence, and other charges.
“It's hard to get out of bed in the morning… when it feels like there's trouble after trouble after trouble," he stated on Instagram. "Sometimes, it can even get to the point where you don't even want to live anymore. Where you feel like it's never going to change." Hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and lack of energy are all symptoms of depression.
Bieber has described how his religious faith and the support of his loved ones helped him turn his life around. Moreover, in 2018, he married the model Hailey Baldwin.
"It's taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits," he wrote. "Luckily, God blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me. Now I am navigating the best season of my life: MARRIAGE!"
In her 2019 memoir, "Inside Out," actress Demi Moore describes an unstable childhood, rape, substance abuse, and the breakdown of her marriage to Ashton Kutcher, which ended in 2013. Along with these traumatic events, Moore discusses the depression she experienced after she miscarried a six-month pregnancy and was unable to conceive afterward.
She blamed herself for the pregnancy loss because she drank shortly before and smoked shortly after finding out she was expecting. “I can’t even bring fully to words how lost, empty, desperate, confused (I was),” she said during a "Good Morning America" interview about her book. "I really lost sight of everything that was right in front of me, which is the family I had, and I think the weight that it put on Ashton.”
Her substance abuse became so bad that she almost drowned after drinking heavily. She also abused Vicodin after dental surgery—but went through detox for addiction to the narcotic. Recovering from her miscarriage and her substance abuse addiction made her feel like she'd "lived through a war," and her depression deepened when her marriage fell apart.
However, Moore also cites her childhood trauma as the source of her pain. “I really know that there are parts of what occurred with this relationship ending that were a level of devastating for me that was really just about that relationship, it was really about my whole life," she told Diane Sawyer. “It was about being the 2-year-old who wasn’t safe, that this really represented that I’m not lovable, that I’m not deserving, and that’s not about him. That’s all just about me.”
Dancer and television personality Carrie Ann Inaba revealed on CBS’s “The Talk” in 2018 that she has suffered from depression and taken medication to treat the condition.
“There was a time, a few years ago when my father died, four days before ‘Dancing with the Stars’ started, and I went through a whole bunch of problems,” she said. “I moved, and my fiancé and I broke up, and I had to go on antidepressants. You can’t judge people for being on meds because it’s very personal, and you have to make the choice that is right for you.”
Her medication, however, resulted in unpleasant side effects. For example, she said she began to hallucinate that she was repeatedly stabbing herself. After taking those meds for three months, she decided to speak up about how they made her feel and get a new prescription. She credits her support system with helping her make that decision.
With the new prescription, “They helped me find a new homeostasis and remember what it felt like to feel good… for me, it was very helpful, even though I had some struggles.”
- Nadra Nittle
- Andy Grammer. The Art of Joy artist reflected on discovering the importance of therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic as he appeared on an October 2022 episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast with host Janine Rubenstein, ahead of World Mental Health Day.
- Elizabeth Olsen. In a 2022 interview with Variety, the WandaVision star opened up about her mental health struggles, which she only experienced when she was living in New York at age 21.
- Carson Daly. When basketball star Kevin Love came on Today to share his experience having a panic attack during a game, Daly realized that he had the exact same experience while hosting MTV's Total Request Live years ago.
- J Balvin. The artist announced in November 2020 that he was going to take a social media break because of "anxiety and some depression." "Like any human being, I've had some challenges," Balvin said in Spanish in a video on Instagram.
Jan 14, 2018 · Here are 39 celebrities who have opened up about their struggles with depression, anxiety, and mental health.
Nov 4, 2015 · These celebrities have all publicly admitted that they have mental health issues, have sought help, and want those who also suffer from similar problems to seek treatment. Are you surprised by any of these revelations?
