Speaking boldly
In conjunction with World Mental Health Day today, we look at celebrities who defied the stigma and opened up about their mental health struggles.
Demi Lovato
SINGER-ACTRESS Demi Lovato reveals her struggles with mental health started early on in life.
Lovato told psychologist and TV personality Dr Phil on his talk show last year that she first felt suicidal when she was seven.
“It was loneliness and depression. And I believe that a lot of that had to do with unresolved issues with my birth father that I hadn’t dealt with yet,” she said.
Lovato has shared in the past her father, who died in 2013, struggled with alcoholism and mental illness.
At 12, being bullied in school led to Lovato finding comfort in alcohol.
Since then, Lovato – who first forayed into showbiz at the age of 10 on children’s programme Barney & Friends – has sought treatment for depression, bipolar disorder, addiction and eating disorders.
Over the years, the Cool For The Summer
hitmaker, now 27, has been incredibly forthcoming with her struggles – both on good days and bad days.
Lovato’s 2017 documentary Simply Complicated revealed she was on drugs while filming an interview promoting sobriety for an earlier 2012 documentary, Stay Strong.
Instead of hearing stories that end with happily-ever-afters only, an opinion piece by The Guardian regards Lovato’s honesty about her mental health journey as a gift to people going through something similar.
The excerpt read: “Her story is familiar and far more realistic than the highly controlled stories that many public figures have to offer ... They frame illness as something that can be beaten, even though in many cases recovery is a matter of management rather than victory.
“Lovato’s cycle of recurrent illness is a more accurate reflection of the reality for many: sometimes treatment works and sometimes new treatment is needed. Sometimes people are able to adhere to their regimes for managing their illnesses and sometimes they lose track.”
Lovato clocked in six years of sobriety before she relapsed last year. But the singer is not giving up.
“I didn’t lose six years,” she shared on Instagram. “I’ll always have that experience but now I just get to add to that time with a new journey and time count,” she said about starting over.
“If you’ve relapsed and are afraid to get help again, just know it’s possible to take that step towards recovery.”
Dwayne Johnson
WHEN Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spoke openly about dealing with depression when he was younger, many commended the actor for breaking the stereotypical notions of masculinity and encouraging men to open up.
The 47-year-old recalled in an interview with The Express last year he experienced bouts of depression in his teens.
Johnson shared it was spurred by a combination of events. At 15, after being evicted from their apartment, he bore witness to his mother’s suicide attempt.
A few years later, his dreams of becoming a professional football career were dashed due to injuries. He was also going through a break-up with his girlfriend around the same time.
“That was my absolute worst time,” he shared. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly.”
Johnson – who went on to carve out a successful career as a professional wrestler and later, as an actor – appeared on TV show Lorraine this year and urged people, especially men, to talk about the issues affecting them.
“(As men), there’s just a DNA, there’s a wiring in us and a constitution that often times doesn’t let us talk about when we’re scared or vulnerable or things like that. It’s kind of like what’s been deemed as ‘toxic masculinity’.
“But no, you’ve got to talk about it and you’re not alone. I was an only child and I kept that bottled in, deep, deep. It wasn’t good, so I’m happy to share my story.”
Ellie Goulding
ELLIE Goulding first caught her big break through her catchy dance-pop track, Lights,
in 2010. While it may seem like a glamorous time in her life, the British singer revealed that that very moment was the beginning of her struggles with anxiety.
“I was thrilled, of course – sharing my music with the world was a dream I’d been working toward for years – but it was a lot all at once,” she wrote in a 2017 piece for Well+Good.
“I started having panic attacks, and the scariest part was it could be triggered by anything. I used to cover my face with a pillow whenever I had to walk outside from the car to the studio ... Secretly, I was really struggling physically and emotionally.”
Goulding reflected further: “I was scared I wasn’t as good of a singer as everyone thought I was. And as the stakes grew, I was afraid of letting everyone, including myself, down.”
The 32-year-old singer added she found inner confidence through boxing and kickboxing. “It was about seeing and feeling myself get better and stronger. It carried over into other areas of my life, and now I truly feel that exercise – however you like to work out – is good for the soul,” she added.
She also shared in an interview with Flare that going to therapy helped her cope.
Adele
GLOBAL music sensation Adele opened up about her struggle with postpartum depression after giving birth to her first child Angelo in 2012. Asked if she wanted to have a second child, the Hello hitmaker revealed to Vanity Fair :“Ihad really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me.”
Adele went on to describe her experience with postpartum depression – where symptoms typically include a persistent feeling of sadness, loss of appetite, having difficulty bonding with the newborn and more.
“My knowledge of postpartum – or post-natal, as we call it in England – is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job.
“But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life ... It can come in many different forms.”
The 31-year-old said she finally found relief when she started talking about her feelings with a group of friends who were also mothers going through something similar.
Adele also allocates an afternoon each week for some “me” time to help her cope. “A friend of mine said, ‘Really? Don’t you feel bad?’ I said, ‘I do, but not as bad as I’d feel if I didn’t do it’.”