9 Times Celebrities Got Real About Living With Their Anxiety

When life is brilliant, it’s amazing, and there’s so much to appreciate. But we’ve all woken up in the morning and, for no explicable reason, felt like rolling right over, crying a bit, and going back to sleep. Then there are those weeks that seem to roll into one another, when nothing is going right and life seems like an endless cycle of blah.

At those moments, it’s easy to think it’s just you who’s ever felt this way. But listen up, it’s definitely not. We all need to mind our mental health, and even superstars have off days. Don’t believe us? Read on.

1. When Demi Lovato talked about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

“I was worried about the diagnosis at first; I had heard people joking about bipolar, as if it’s that one minute you’re sad, one minute you’re happy,” she said. But Demi is optimistic about what happens next. “There is life on the other side of those dark times that seem so hopeless and helpless. I want to show the world that there is life – surprising, wonderful and unexpected life after diagnosis.”

2. When JK Rowling told us that there’s nothing about depression to be ashamed of.

The Harry Potter author is straightforward about it. “I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never,” she declared. “What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”

3. When the world’s bubbliest YouTuber talked about her panic attacks.

Zoe Suggs (or, as she’s more commonly known, Zoella) seems to have it all – a bestselling book, a YouTubing boyfriend, piles of cash… But she’s not immune to mental health problems either. “[Anxiety] is a mental illness, and nobody likes to use the words ‘mental illness.’ But it is,” she stated. “And it’s not something that people choose to have. I didn’t choose when I was 14 to have panic attacks for nine years and for it to ruin loads of opportunities for me, but that’s just what happened. And you can either let it rule your life and let it make you miserable or you can just think, No, I don’t want to live my life like that any more.”

4. When Bressie gave his depression a name.

The Voice’s Bressie (Niall Breslin) wrote his debut memoir, Me & My Mate Jeffrey, about living with a depression he named – you guessed it – Jeffrey. “I felt like I was possessed by some dark demon that had such a powerful hold on me,” he recalled. “It’s not a weakness. In fact, for years, I have used it as a strength to motivate and focus me in other aspects of my life.”

5. When Miley Cyrus reminded us that graciousness has nothing to do with it.

One of the biggest complaints that people who suffer from depression have is the guilt they feel, at being depressed when so many other people have it worse. Well, Miley Cyrus has put paid to that theory. “So many people look at [my depression] as me being ungrateful, but that is not it – I can’t help it,” she confessed. “There’s not much that I’m closed off about, and the universe gave me all that so I could help people feel like they don’t have to be something they’re not or feel like they have to fake happy. There’s nothing worse than being fake happy.”

6. When Mandy Moore reminded us that it can happen to anyone.

“I felt really low, really sad – depressed for no reason,” she remembered. “I’m a very positive person and I’ve always been glass-half-full. So it was like someone flipped a switch in me.”

7. When Sheryl Crow talked about living – and surviving – with depression.

“I suffer from depression, and at its worst there was a six-month period in my twenties when I couldn’t dress, days when I couldn’t leave the house,” said the country singer. “Antidepressants helped and so did therapy, but depression is a chemical thing that some people go through. It’s always been part of my life.”

8. When Nicki Minaj talked about having suicidal thoughts.

“I kept having doors slammed in my face,” said the rapper and singer. “I felt like nothing was working. I had moved out on my own, and here I was thinking I’d have to go home. It was just one dead end after another. At one point, I was like, ‘what would happen if I just didn’t wake up?’ That’s how I felt.”

9. When Kirsten Dunst talked about pressure.

Charmed lives? Not half – according to Kirsten Dunst, being a public figure can have added pressures that make being “okay” all the time seriously difficult. “You’re supposed to be sensitive and vulnerable and have this side to you,” she said. “But then you’re supposed to be super sociable and ‘on’ and like nice to everybody. That’s a weird dichotomy. It’s a lot to ask of a person. It’s not a normal thing.”

This article first appeared in STELLAR‘s January issue. Our October issue is on shelves on September 14th!

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