Ryan Reynolds, Lady Gaga and more stars who have spoken out about mental health issues

April 02, 2018

<p>Mental health isn't always an easy subject, but through grassroots efforts and large-scale campaigns like Prince William, Kate and Prince Harry's Head's Together and Bell's Let's Talk Day in Canada, communication barriers are slowly being chipped away on what was a formerly taboo subject.</p>
<p>Just like the millions of people who struggle with mental health challenges, some of our favourite stars have been vocal about their own struggles. Here, we round up some of their stories and words...</p>
<p>Photos: © Getty Images</p>

<p>Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson is the latest Hollywood celebrity to open up about his own battle with mental health. He took to Instagram to share a powerful story of saving his mom from a suicide attempt when he was only 15.</p>
<p>Alongside an image of him toasting his <em>Ballers</em> character's brother, William, after he committed suicide, the father of two wrote, "My mom tried to check out when I was 15. She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic. Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road."</p>
<p>He continued: "We always gotta do our best to really pay attention when people are in pain. Help ‘em thru it, get ‘em talkin’ about the struggle and remind ‘em that they’re not alone. We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that ain’t always the case."</p>
<p>Dwayne has always been quite open with the public about his struggles. During an interview with Oprah in 2015, he opened up about his battle with depression at the age of 23 after he didn't make the NFL and was cut from the Canadian Football League, “I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and [say], ‘Hey, it’s going to be okay.'”</p>
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson is the latest Hollywood celebrity to open up about his own battle with mental health. He took to Instagram to share a powerful story of saving his mom from a suicide attempt when he was only 15.

Alongside an image of him toasting his Ballers character's brother, William, after he committed suicide, the father of two wrote, "My mom tried to check out when I was 15. She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic. Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road."

He continued: "We always gotta do our best to really pay attention when people are in pain. Help ‘em thru it, get ‘em talkin’ about the struggle and remind ‘em that they’re not alone. We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that ain’t always the case."

Dwayne has always been quite open with the public about his struggles. During an interview with Oprah in 2015, he opened up about his battle with depression at the age of 23 after he didn't make the NFL and was cut from the Canadian Football League, “I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and [say], ‘Hey, it’s going to be okay.'”

Photo: © Getty Images

"Around a year ago I revealed that I have Lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways," <b>Selena Gomez</b> told <em>People</em> as she took a break from the film and music industries. "I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of Lupus, which can present their own challenges. I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off."
<p>But despite her health struggles, Selena always likes to start the year off positively. Most recently, she opened up about her mental health to <em>Harpers Bazaar</em>, "I’ve had a lot of issues with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been very vocal about it, but it’s not something I feel I’ll ever overcome," the star explained. There won’t be a day when I’m like, 'Here I am in a pretty dress—I won!' I think it’s a battle I’m gonna have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m okay with that because I know that I’m choosing myself over anything else."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

"Around a year ago I revealed that I have Lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways," Selena Gomez told People as she took a break from the film and music industries. "I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of Lupus, which can present their own challenges. I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off."

But despite her health struggles, Selena always likes to start the year off positively. Most recently, she opened up about her mental health to Harpers Bazaar, "I’ve had a lot of issues with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been very vocal about it, but it’s not something I feel I’ll ever overcome," the star explained. There won’t be a day when I’m like, 'Here I am in a pretty dress—I won!' I think it’s a battle I’m gonna have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m okay with that because I know that I’m choosing myself over anything else."

Photo: © Getty Images

<b>Ryan Reynolds</b> was candid about the intense anxiety he struggled with while making <em>Deadpool</em>, telling <em>Variety</em>, "I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle – just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time," he explained. After some hype at Comi-con things got worse. "The expectations were eating me alive." But he said there was one person there to keep him going: "Blake helped me through that. I’m lucky to have her around just to keep me sane."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

Back in 2011, <b>Demi Lovato</b> was very vocal about why she was leaving her show <em>Sonny With a Chance</em>, telling ABC: ‘[My eating disorder and self harming] was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body. I was matching the inside to the outside. There were some times where my emotions were just so built up, I didn’t know what to do. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on myself.’

Canadian actor <b>Jim Carrey</em> revealed his struggles on a <em>60 Minutes</em> segment. "I was on Prozac for a long time. It may have helped me out of a jam for a little bit, but people stay on it forever. I had to get off at a certain point because I realized that, you know, everything’s just okay. You need to get out of bed every day and say that life is good. That’s what I did, although at times it was very difficult for me."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

<b>Catherine Zeta-Jones</b> told <em>InStyle</em> magazine that it's not her nature to air her struggles but she sees the value in it. "I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops but, with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it is completely controllable. I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

In a candid interview with <em>The Observer</em>, <b>John Hamm</b> detailed the challenges he's faced and tools he used to move through them. "Honestly? Antidepressants help! If you can change your brain chemistry enough to think: 'I want to get up in the morning; I don’t want to sleep until four in the afternoon. I want to get up and go do my s**t and go to work.' Reset the auto-meter, kick start the engine!"
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

"Finally I went into the hospital when I was 19 for depression and for cutting," Brittany Snow revealed to <em>People</em> when she first opened up about her mental health issues. "I wasn’t the person I wanted to be and I knew something was wrong. The therapist diagnosed me with anorexia, exercise bulimia — instead of throwing up you go to the gym for hours — depression and body dysmorphia."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

<b>Kesha</b>'s Billboard Trailblazer Award speech laid out the rollercoaster of a year she'd experienced. "If I’m lucky enough to have a voice someone will listen to, then I should use it for good, for truth. That is why I have recently spoken openly about some of my struggles including my crippling anxiety and beginning recovery for an eating disorder amongst many other things. I know I’m not alone. These are struggles millions of people around the world deal with on a daily basis."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

Miley Cyrus opened up to <em>ELLE</em> about her struggles with depression, saying, "I went through a time where I was really depressed. Like, I locked myself in my room and my dad had to break my door down." She continued: "Every person can benefit from talking to somebody. I'm the most anti-medication person, but some people need medicine, and there was a time where I needed some too."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

On World Mental Health Day, <b>Lady Gaga</b> posted a series of powerful Instagram messages. This followed her reveal to <em>Today</em> that she struggles too, where she said, "I suffer from a mental illness; I suffer from PTSD. I’ve never told anyone that before, so here we are. But the kindness that’s been shown to me, by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it’s really saved my life. I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself and I found that kindness is the best way. One way to help people that have trauma is to inject them with as many positive thoughts as possible. It’s priceless."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

"I think I pushed myself so far that I got to the point where I had a mental breakdown… I was completely suicidal," <b>Cara Delevingne</b> revealed at the 2015 Women In The World Summit, speaking of the period following her meteoric rise to fame. "I didn’t want to live any more. I thought that I was completely alone. I also realized how lucky I was, and what a wonderful family and wonderful friends I had, but that didn’t matter. I wanted the world to swallow me up, and nothing seemed better to me than death."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images

When <b>Ellen DeGeneres</b> came out of the closet int he late '90s, her sitcom was cancelled and she faced severe bullying. The TV host told <em>Good Housekeeping</em> about that dark time, saying, “I moved out of L.A., went into a severe depression, started seeing a therapist and had to go on antidepressants for the first time in my life. It was scary and lonely. All I’d known for 30 years was work, and all of a sudden I had nothing. Plus, I was mad. It didn’t feel fair — I was the same person everyone had always known.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images