Over the past decade, people in general have become a lot more open about discussing mental health, including celebrities who have had tough experiences in the public eye and under scrutiny.
1. Most recently, Jonah Hill put out a statement saying that he will no longer be promoting his movies because it makes him sick, and he'll be taking the time off to work on his anxiety.
In the letter, Hill wrote, "I have come to the understanding that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events. I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety. I’m hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff. So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly."
2. Harry Styles said he dealt with stage fright and anxiety early on when performing with One Direction, particularly being scared of singing the wrong note or getting things wrong.
In One Direction's autobiography, Who We Are, Styles said, "I suffered some pretty serious confidence issues when I first appeared on stage. At that point, any natural confidence I had was being taken over by nerves because back then I had no idea how to channel and control my anxiety."
3. Zendaya said she used to "struggle with anxiety pretty bad."
Zendaya said, "It only happened when I sang live, not when I danced or did any other live performances, and it stemmed from a bad experience I had while singing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show' in 2013. It wasn't my best performance and I've never let myself live that down. I had mad anxiety ever since that."
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In regards to moving forward, Zendaya said, ""I DID figure out how to bury my anxiety, though. I've tried focusing my energy on other things, like making movies. And I took my time and slowly built my confidence back up before I went back out on stage to sing live. Luckily, when I performed "Let Me Love You" with Mario on the show Greatest Hits, it went really well. It was still a little nerve-racking, but it was cool. Sometimes you just have to take a step back so things stop stressin' you."
4. Selena Gomez has been vocal about her mental health struggles.
Gomez said, "I have problems with depression and anxiety, and I found it difficult for me to be me." She was hesitant to discuss her struggles on social media, "because I realized I was in a situation where I was extremely blessed." She added that, "At one point Instagram became my whole world, and it was really dangerous."
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With Instagram being such a source of anxiety, Gomez said, "Taking a break from social media was the best decision that I've ever made for my mental health. I created a system where I still don't have my passwords. And the unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down. I'll have moments where that weird feeling will come back, but now I have a much better relationship with myself." Gomez has since launched a "mental fitness" company called Wondermind.
5. Adele said she had, "the most terrifying anxiety attacks" after she left her marriage.
Adele found relief from anxiety through working out at the gym. She said, “I realized that when I was working out, I didn’t have any anxiety. It was never about losing weight. I thought, ‘If I can make my body physically strong, and I can feel that and see that, then maybe one day I can make my emotions and my mind physically strong.’”
6. Ryan Reynolds said he's had anxiety his "whole life," and he feels like he has "two parts" of his personality — and the anxious side sometimes "takes over."
Reynolds added, "When I would go out on, like, Letterman, back in the day, I was nervous. But I remember I'd be standing backstage before the curtain would open, and I would think to myself, 'I'm gonna die. I'm literally gonna die here. The curtain's gonna open and I'm just gonna be, I'm just gonna be a symphony of vomit,' just, like, something horrible's gonna happen!"
He finished, "But as soon as that curtain opens — and this happens in my work a lot, too — it's like this little guy takes over. And he's like, 'I got this. You're cool.' I feel, like, my heart rate drop, and my breathing calm, and I just sort of go out and I'm this different person. And I leave that interview going, 'God, I'd love to be that guy!'"
7. Ariana Grande said, "My anxiety has anxiety… I've always had anxiety."
Regarding her anxiety, Grande said, “I almost feel guilty that I have it because it’s just in your head and it’s just so crazy how powerful it is. You have ups and downs and sometimes you’ll go weeks at a time where you will be crushing it and there will be no anxiety…and then something will happen that can trigger it and then you have a couple of down days.”
She's even given additional detail, stating, "I’ve always had anxiety, but it had never been physical before. There were a couple of months straight where I felt so upside down.” Grande has actively offered her assistance regarding mental health, whether it be awareness posts on social media, or donating a million dollars in therapy to fans.
8. Bill Hader said he had, "full-blown panic attacks" while on Saturday Night Live.
Hader said, "Since I was a very young kid, I've had really bad anxiety. My whole life." He's added that everything from getting on the school bus alone to having a test would cause him to be anxious, and he didn't figure out how to manage his anxiety until around 37 years old. He did so by imagining the wave of nervous feelings as less of a monster, and more of a little monkey on his shoulder. Instead of fighting it, he would become friends with it. "It helped alleviate that fear. Don't push it away, put your arm around it, and go, 'Oh, there you are, I knew you'd be there some place. Let's go take that test. Let's get on the bus. Let's figure it out.' I wish I'd done that when I was younger."
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9. Kim Kardashian has spoken about dealing with anxiety and agoraphobia.
After being robbed at gunpoint in her hotel back in 2016, Kim developed anxiety. She said, "I definitely took a year where I got really paranoid of people knowing my whereabouts. I didn't even want to go to a restaurant, because I thought, 'Someone will know I'm at this restaurant. They'll take a picture, they'll send it, they'll know my house is open, they'll know that my kids are there.'"
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More recently, Kardashian said, "I feel like I had agoraphobia, definitely, after my robbery in Paris. Like, definitely would stay in, hated to go out, I didn't want anyone to know where I was or be seen or...I just had such anxiety."
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10. Kid Cudi has long been vocal about dealing with depression and anxiety, in interviews and in his music.
Cudi said, "When we're young, we face a lot of pressure to do things that harm us. We pretend to be happy when there's a raging violent storm inside of our heart. Once it was difficult for me to find the words. Anxiety and depression ruled my life for as long as I could remember. I was scared, I was sad, I felt like a damaged human swimming in a pool of emotions. I knew I deserved peace and to be happy, but I didn’t know how. It took me a while to get to this place of commitment, to say I'm gonna get through this. To know that we can take our pain and turn it into something. I turn my pain into music."
11. Hailey Bieber has been open about dealing with anxiety and other common mental health struggles.
In a 2019 Instagram post, Hailey Bieber wrote, "I'm fragile, I'm hurting, I have fears, I have doubts, I have anxiety, I get sad, I get angry. I have had more days than I can count where I’ve found myself scrolling through Instagram comparing myself, comparing my looks, feeling like I’m not good enough, feeling like I lack so many things and really struggling to be confident in who I am because I constantly feel like I’m just not good enough. Every single day is a confidence battle for me."
Bieber also talked about maintaining her mental health, saying, "I go to church. My spiritual life is the most important thing for me. But, first of all, I don’t think there are any issues with getting help if you feel like you need it. I’m super big on meditation. I like to meditate and do breath work. I read a book a couple of years ago that helped me a lot with anxiety. It was called Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation. It was all about having different visualizations and breathing techniques to help with mental state, depression, and anxiety. I usually just use an app, like Calm. There’s different categories for sleep and anxiety, anxiety on planes — there’s something for everything.
12. Beyoncé has spoken on the importance of prioritizing mental health and dealing with insomnia.
Beyoncé said, "I think like many women, I have felt the pressure of being the backbone of my family and my company and didn't realize how much that takes a toll on my mental and physical well-being. Mental health is self-care too. I'm learning to break the cycle of poor health and neglect, focusing my energy on my body and taking note of the subtle signs that it gives me. Your body tells you everything you need to know, but I've had to learn to listen."
13. Billie Eilish described sharing a bed with her parents until age 11 due to separation anxiety, and said that years later, as an adult, she experienced panic attacks spanning for an entire week.
Eilish said, “I’m fine now, but that was one of the hardest weeks I’ve ever had. I’ve never felt more hopeless in my life. I had a panic attack every single night. I cried for two hours every night. It was really, really bad.” Though she said she doesn't usually have panic attacks, she experienced them during that stretch, which she credits to a tour that was approaching at the time, with a busy schedule around the world. “I just couldn’t take the fact that I had to leave again. It felt like an endless limbo. Like there was no end in sight."
14. Lana Condor said she first became aware of her anxiety around sixth grade.
Condor said she found herself worrying, "Someone's not going to like me, or I'm gonna say something wrong, or I'm gonna do something wrong... Then I realized that it's just anxiety and it's something that we all go through." She also mentioned a helpful trick that she uses when anxious, involving focusing on a nearby object and breathing.
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15. Lady Gaga said she has "suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life."
Gaga added, "I still suffer with it every single day. I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way. This modern thing, where everyone is feeling shallow and less connected? That's not human."
16. Cardi B has spoken on her struggles with anxiety.
Cardi said skyrocketing to success added pressure and stress with her music-making process. “Now, I get anxiety when I go to the studio because everybody is like expecting some crazy magic from me.” She also dealt with depression after giving birth.
Anxiety is kicking my ass right now .
17. And finally, Kendall Jenner has been very open about experiencing social anxiety.
Jenner said, “I’ve had times where I feel like I need to be rushed to the hospital because I think my heart’s failing and I can’t breathe and I need someone to help me. It can be really intense and scary." She uses journaling to help with her anxiety, stating, "It’s important to have a space that’s just for you, where you can let out your happiness, your anger, frustrations, and stress, the things that are freaking you out, the things that are making you happy and even just ideas.”
