19 Famous Men Who Got Candid About Their Mental Health Struggles

Earlier this year, Tom Holland shared that working on his series The Crowded Room helped him realize a lot about his own mental health, including his own "triggers," which include social media.

This post deals with sensitive topics like addiction, disordered eating, suicide ideation, and body image.  

1. Earlier this year, Tom Holland opened up about how his series The Crowded Room took a massive toll on his mental health. “I remember having a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking, like, ‘I’m going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character,’” he said. “And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to. ... It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before.” Because of the emotional stress, he ended up taking a year-long break from acting after wrapping the series.

Cindy Ord / WireImage

He said that talking to psychiatrists and learning about mental health for the role had helped him to realize his own triggers, and one in particular was social media. 

2. Zac Efron opened up about having "pretty bad depression" after going through very intense dieting and training for Baywatch. He also revealed that he over-trained, ate the same three meals every day, and took "powerful diuretics" to achieve the look, all of which left him struggling with insomnia and burnout. "I don’t need to do that," he added, "I much prefer to have an extra, you know, 2 to 3 percent body fat."

Stewart Cook / Getty Images for A24

However, he explained cutting out all training and healthy eating wasn't sustainable for him either. "At one point, that was a dream of mine — what it would be like to not have to be in shape all the time," he said. "What if I just say, 'Fuck it' and let myself go? So I tried it, and I was successful. And for all the reasons I thought it would be incredible, I was just miserable. My body would not feel healthy; I just didn’t feel alive. I felt bogged down and slow."

One of the most notable moments where Zac mentions his body image journey is during his docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron where he begins to tear up as he's eating pasta in Italy. "I'm so happy that I'm eating carbs again," he said. "I went, like, years without eating carbs. When I shot Baywatch, I didn't have a single carb for, like, six months. I almost lost my mind." 

3. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has depression, and the first time he really felt it was in college after he injured his shoulder and couldn't play football. “I didn’t want to go to school,” he said. “I was ready to leave. I left school. I didn’t take any midterms, and I just left. But the interesting thing, at that time, is I just didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what mental health was. I didn’t know what depression was. I just knew I didn’t want to be there, wasn’t going to any of the team meetings, wasn’t participating in anything.”

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images

On Instagram, he talked more about the emotional tools that have helped him throughout the years. "I’ve worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools to work through any mental pain that may come to test me," he wrote. "But years ago, I didn’t know what mental health struggle was. As men, we didn’t talk about it. We just kept our head down and worked through it. Not healthy, but it’s all we knew. If you’re going through your own version of mental wellness turning into mental hell-ness, the most important thing you can do is talk to somebody. It can’t be fixed if you keep that pain inside. Having the courage to talk to someone is your superpower. I lost two friends to suicide. Talk to someone. Despite how you may feel, you’re never alone."

4. Landon Barker opened up about dealing with derealization, which is a disorder that causes someone to feel detached from their thoughts or their body. "I've always struggled with OCD, ADHD, and anxiety, but yeah, disassociating and dissociation kind of just hit me like a truck last year, and it was just the most awful experience," he told People.

Jon Kopaloff / WireImage

He explained how his disorder started with a "bad habit with alcohol." "I was abusing it and just abusing that substance, and then one day, it just shocked me, and I had gone through that for months," he said. "It was awful, and I went through heightened OCD, heightened ADHD, and heightened anxiety, all while disassociating and feeling like I was in a video game. I was watching my whole entire life through a movie screen. It was honestly awful. I always love to spread awareness about suicide and talk about it."

And he added that talking about it has made it easier for him to deal with. He said, "I feel like if you hold it in inside, it's a lot harder, and I feel like all the messages that I got when I posted about it honestly made me feel better. Looking to the public for support and more knowledge was honestly comforting for me, and letting people know truly who I am, even on my phone through a social media platform, was actually kind of helpful for me."

5. Back in 2016, Kid Cudi went to rehab for his anxiety and depression. He wrote an open letter to his fans explaining that they've "ruled [his] life for as long as [he] can remember."

Catherine Powell / Getty Images for Paramount+

His letter read, "My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember, and I never leave the house because of it... I can't make new friends because of it. I don't trust anyone because of it, and I'm tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace. I deserve to be happy and smiling."

6. Ryan Reynolds said he's had anxiety his "whole life" and shared that he sometimes feels there are "two parts" of his personality, and the anxious side sometimes "takes over."

Noam Galai / Getty Images

He told CBS Sunday Morning, "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! 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. Shawn Mendes opened up about "constantly [feeling] like he's either flying or drowning." In a note, he also wrote, "The truth is even with so much success I still find it hard to feel like I'm not failing. Hyper focused on what don't have, forgetting to see all that I do. The truth is I'm overwhelmed and overstimulated, LOL. The truth is ALSO that I'm okay. I'm just tryna tell and be the truth."

Hector Vivas / Getty Images

In Shawn's 2020 Netflix documentary In Wonder, he also shared some insight into the pressure he feels daily as a celebrity. He said, “It’s pretty intense all the time. I really think about that a lot. If I tell the world that I’m just a normal human, are they going to stop coming to the shows and listening to the music, and is all the craziness going to stop? Then you’re like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t tell them. I should keep the trick up. Maybe I should pretend I’m Superman for a little bit longer.'”

Then in 2022, in the middle of his Wonder tour, he canceled the remaining shows because of his mental health. "After a few years off the road, I felt like I was ready to dive back in, but that decision was premature, and unfortunately, the toll of the road and the pressure has caught up to me, and I've hit a breaking point," he wrote. "After speaking with my team and health professionals, I need to take some time to heal and take care of myself and my mental health, first and foremost."

8. Prince Harry said that he finally confronted his anxiety while he was in the military and attributed it to the constant public scrutiny he and his family have faced.

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

He added, "I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sorts of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle." 

9. Tyler Posey first started struggling with depression after his mom died and when his engagement to Seana Gorlick ended in 2014. He said that therapy has been extremely helpful for him, and explained, “I’ve struggled a lot with therapy because it’s got a stigma to it, and also, it’s really gotta work for you, I’ve found. As open as you can be about it and as willing as you want to kind of experiment with therapy, you still have to find the right person that speaks to you and feels like a good fit for you."

Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Paramount+

“Taking even one therapy session is just one step in the right direction to getting help and getting better, so I think it’s great. I love it. I’ve convinced a lot of my friends to get into therapy, and they’ve given it a shot. Sometimes it’s not for everybody at that time,” he added. 

10. Michael Phelps shared that after "every Olympics," he'd fall into "a major state of depression." He added that "self-medicating" with alcohol or drugs were the best way to "try to fix whatever it was that [he] was trying to run from." He also said that he was at an "all time low" after the 2012 Olympics and would spend days alone in his bedroom, not eating, not sleeping, and "just not wanting to be alive."

Jared Siskin / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

He eventually decided to seek out treatment and explained, “I remember going to treatment my very first day, I was shaking, shaking because I was nervous about the change that was coming up. I needed to figure out what was going on.” He added that once he was able to talk about how he was feeling, “life became easy.” “I was very good at compartmentalizing things and stuffing things away that I didn’t want to talk about, I didn’t want to deal with, I didn’t want to bring up — I just never ever wanted to see those things,” he said.

11. Zayn Malik has been open about his struggles with anxiety; he even canceled a concert because of it back in 2016. At the time, he wanted to tell his fans the truth, instead of just saying he was sick. "Unfortunately, anxiety, which has haunted me throughout the last few months around live performances has got the better of me… With the magnitude of the event, I have suffered the worst anxiety of my career," he wrote in a statement. "I know those who suffer from anxiety will understand, and I hope those who don’t can empathize with my situation."

Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images

Later on, he added that he felt "frustrated" with the amount of people who "still had reasons to doubt" him. "I found it really frustrating that, even now that I was being upfront about what the issue was, some people still found reasons to doubt it. But that’s the industry," he said. "It’s an aspect of this job that I have to deal with, and I’m trying to accept it. The thing is, I love performing. I love the buzz. I don’t want to do any other job. That’s why my anxiety is so upsetting and difficult to explain. It’s this thing that swells up and blocks out your rational thought processes. Even when you know you want to do something, know that it will be good for you, that you’ll enjoy it when you’re doing it, the anxiety is telling you a different story. It’s a constant battle within yourself."

12. Pete Davidson said that it felt like "the weight of the world" was lifted off of his shoulders when he first got his borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis in 2017. "I got diagnosed with BPD a few years ago, and I was always just so confused all the time, and just thought something was wrong, and didn’t know how to deal with it," he recalled. “Then, when somebody finally tells you, the weight of the world feels lifted off your shoulders. You feel so much better.”

NBC / Getty Images

On WTF with Marc Maron, Pete also shared that getting a diagnosis was a very long process for him. He explained, "I've been a pothead forever. Around October [or] September [in 2016], I started having these mental breakdowns where I would, like, freak out and then not remember what happened after. Blind rage. I never really did any other drugs, so I was like, 'I'm gonna try to go to rehab. Maybe that'll be helpful.' So I go and I get off weed. They told me there, they're like, 'You might be bipolar,' and I was like, 'OK.' So they're like, 'We're gonna try you on these meds.'” 

He explained that when he left rehab, he started smoking weed again, and two months later, he "just snapped” and had a "really bad mental breakdown." So, he quit smoking again, but after three months, he didn't feel much different. "One of my psychiatrists [diagnosed me]. He was always saying before this big meltdown, 'You're probably bipolar or borderline, we're just going to have to figure it out.'"

13. Justin Baldoni shared his experiences with body dysmorphia and said that filming shirtless scenes "became a part of [his] identity." It became such a struggle for him because "[he'd] always felt like [he] had so much more to offer, but that was how [he] was seen, and that was also how [he] was making [his] money."

Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Feld Entertainment

He also told Cosmopolitan, "Because I have my insecurities with my physique, because of my history, I’d put a lot of pressure on myself before I had to do these scenes. So I would get anxiety around it. This last season [of Jane the Virgin], I really didn’t get to work out that much. ... I don't think I personally looked as good as I did in previous seasons, but I think emotionally and mentally, I was a lot happier."

14. Harry Styles shared that he experienced stage fright and anxiety during his early days with One Direction because he was afraid of singing incorrect notes or getting things wrong.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images

In One Direction's autobiography, Who We Are, he wrote, "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."

15. Robert Pattinson opened up about his experiences with body dysmorphia and "tremendous anxiety" over his appearance. He said, "I suppose it’s because of these tremendous insecurities that I never found a way to become egotistical. I don’t have a six-pack, and I hate going to the gym. I’ve been like that my whole life. I never want to take my shirt off."

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

He also said he finds it embarrassing to talk about how much a person is exercising, and claimed he "got in so much trouble" for saying he wasn't working out prior to starring in The Batman. 

16. Stephen Colbert opened up about his experiences with panic attacks and explained that performing has been his best coping mechanism.

Scott Kowalchyk / CBS via Getty Images

He told Rolling Stone, "Creating something is what helped me from just spinning apart like an un-weighted flywheel. And I haven't stopped since."

17. Jon Hamm is a proud advocate of going to therapy and said it's helped him work through his depression.

Stefanie Keenan / WireImage for Vanity Fair

He told InStyle, "Medical attention is medical attention whether it’s for your elbow or your teeth or for your brain. And it’s important. We live in a world where to admit anything negative about yourself is seen as a weakness, when it’s actually a strength."

18. Back in 2015, Logic was hospitalized for his anxiety, and in 2018, he said that he's "coping with it." "I never really dealt with depression, just severe anxiety," he said. "I’ve been in therapy for years. My therapist has even said, 'You don’t need to be here.' I’m handling my issues head-on, not running from them."

Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Images

He also explained that his hit song “1-800-273-8255," which is also the number for the American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, was inspired by his fans. He said, "People kept saying, 'Your music saved my life.' I was like, 'What the fuck?' And then I thought, 'What if I tried to save a life with a song?'"

19. Finally, Wayne Brady shared that he had a "complete breakdown" on his 42nd birthday in 2014. He described his debilitating depression, saying, "You don't want to move, you can't move in the darkness. You're like, 'I am just going to sit right here, and I want to wallow in this. As much as it hurts, I am going to sit right here because this is what I deserve. This is what I deserve, so I am going to sit here because I am that horrible of a person.'"

John Sciulli / Variety via Getty Images

He added that it took him a while to seek help, and said, "It took me a while to get my stuff together to go, 'You know what? If you're not happy, you have to do something about it.' Just to admit that you are feeling this way is a huge step. To claim that, to say, 'Why do I feel dark? Why do I feel unhappy? Let me do something about this.'"

The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.

The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.