Celebrities bring awareness to mental health issues

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has discussed his battle with depression. Mariah Carey recently revealed she has bipolar disorder. Prince Harry said he needed counselling to deal with years of grief and anger following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. And “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds has acknowledged dealing with anxiety disorder.

As the stigma surrounding mental illness has declined in recent years, so has the reluctance many have had to discuss their own mental health issues, including celebrities. It’s become the new norm for stars to divulge vulnerabilities once kept guarded.

“I think anybody talking about it will help de-stigmatize it over time, but I think in particular celebrities or sports celebrities, if they have a platform and they’ve gone through any kind of issue with mental health, it’s good for them to share their stories, if they’re comfortable with it,” Johnson said in a recent interview.

“For me as a guy, you know, I struggled a long time with not only my bouts of depression that I’ve had, but also things that have happened to me early on when I was a teenager, that colored me as an adult. But I struggled a long time just to express myself,” he said.

Reynolds echoed that sentiment at the Monday premiere of “Deadpool 2,” where he explained to The Associated Press why he went public about having anxiety disorder.

“Talking about it for me has helped in some ways,” Reynolds said. “In this age of toxic masculinity, there’s a lot of dudes out there that have a tendency to sort of bottle it up and keep it in, and think that they just sort of they’ve got to be a tough guy and soldier on. But that’s not necessarily true.”