What 22 Celebrities Have Said About Having Depression, in Their Own Words

A longtime advocate for mental health, pop star Demi Lovato has always been open about her struggles with depression and bipolar disorder as well as with substance abuse. "I’ve seen some dark times, especially with the depressive phase of the illness. Bipolar depression really got my life off track," she admitted in a video for the Jed Foundation's Mental Health Listening & Engagement Tour. "But today I’m proud to say I’m living proof that someone can live, love and be well with bipolar disorder when they get the education, support and treatment that they need.”

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Jim Carrey may be known for being a comedian, but what many people don't know about the funnyman is that he dealt with depression for a significant part of his life. In an interview with 60 Minutes, he opened up about his experience with depression, admitting that he sought the help of a psychiatrist who described him Prozac. "There are peaks, there are valleys. But they're all kind of carved and smoothed out, and it feels like a low level of despair you live in," he said.

Model and actress Cara Delevingne opened up about struggling from depression as a teenager in an interview with Net-a-Porter’s The Edit, admitting that she had to take a break from school to receive treatment. "I felt alienated and alone, because I was like, what's wrong with me? I always wanted people to love me, so I never got angry with them; I turned my anger onto myself, she said. "I hated myself for being depressed, I hated feeling depressed, I hated feeling." Since then, though, Cara has said that she has made her way to a healthier place.

In an interview with Wall Street Journal, actress Angelina Jolie revealed that she suffered from depression in her teens. “I grew up in L.A., where focus is very inward. I didn’t know why I was so destructive and miserable. I didn’t appreciate or understand my life," she admitted. Since then, she has said that her humanitarian work has played a major role in helping her find herself.

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In a personal essay for Glamour in 2017, Chrissy Teigan opened up about struggling with post-partum depression following the birth of her daughter, revealing that she started taking an antidepressant after her diagnosis. "[I] just didn’t think it could happen to me. I have a great life. I have all the help I could need [...] But postpartum does not discriminate. I couldn’t control it," she wrote. "I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody and I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone."

"I struggled a lot with anxiety and depression," Kristen Bell said in a 2016 interview with Off Camera. "My mom sat me down when I was probably 18 and said, 'There is a serotonin imbalance in our family line and it can often be passed from female to female' … My mom’s a nurse and she had the wherewithal to recognize it in herself … I got on a prescription when I was really young to help with my anxiety and depression, and I still take it today, and I have no shame in that."

Ellen DeGeneres spoke out in December 2018 about the difficult period she went through after coming out. "It took a while to shake off that judgment and the attacks I felt," she told USA Today. "Once that was gone, I realized I didn’t have anything to be ashamed of anymore, that no matter what, I was fully honest with myself and that gave me confidence. I think that helps with depression. Depression eats away at your confidence and you get lost in that, and forget that you’re enough just as you are."

"I suffer from depression," the Empire star told Variety in 2018. "I have a therapist that I speak to. That’s the only way I can get through it. You can talk to your friends, but you need a professional who can give you exercises. So that when you’re on the ledge, you have things to say to yourself that will get you off that ledge and past your weakest moments." Henson started a foundation to end the stigma in the Black community around mental illness.

When Vanity Fair asked Adele in 2016 whether she wanted to have a second child, she said, "I’m too scared. I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me ... I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I was very reluctant." She added, "[Postpartum] can come in many different forms. Eventually I just said, I’m going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever the f*** I want without my baby."

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Lindsey Vonn — the Olympic gold medalist ski racer — disclosed to People magazine in 2012 that she had suffered depression for many years and was taking an antidepressant to help deal with the symptoms. "Everything about my life seemed so perfect to people, but I struggle like everyone else," she said. Talking about one point in 2008, she said, "I couldn’t get out of bed anymore. I felt hopeless, empty, like a zombie." At the interview, she stated she was feeling happier than she’d been in a long time.

In a 2017 interview with the Telegraph, Prince Harry talked about the "complete chaos" he experienced two decades after his mother’s death, after years of denying that he was struggling with grief. Listening to injured servicemen and servicewomen talk about their own mental health issues turned around his understanding. Now he works to end the stigma around mental illness. "I know there is huge merit in talking about your issues, and the only thing about keeping it quiet is that it’s only ever going to make it worse," he said.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has opened up about his mental health issues. "Depression doesn’t discriminate," he said in a 2018 ITV interview. "Regardless of who you are or what you do for a living, it doesn’t discriminate … The key thing I found is … especially [for] us as guys….you gotta talk about it, you’re not alone."

Lady Gaga established her Born This Way Foundation (a nonprofit to help disenfranchised teens) because, "I’ve suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life, I still suffer with it every single day," she said in a 2015 Billboard interview. I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way. This modern thing, where everyone is feeling shallow and less connected? That's not human.”

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Jon Hamm has talked about how therapy helped him through depression. "Medical attention is medical attention whether it’s for your elbow or your teeth or for your brain," he told InStyle in 2017. "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."

Michael Phelps shared that the fall months are particularly challenging for his own struggles with depression. "October and November are the two worst months for me every single year," he told MensHealth.com in 2018. "I just go dark ... I’m moody. Any one comment can set me off. It’s scary." To cope, the former swimmer said that he starts off each day by working out at 5 a.m., sitting quietly and writing in a journal, and repeating affirmations. He added that professional treatment is key for anyone experiencing depression.

"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." Selena Gomez told Harper’s Bazaar in 2018. She has also talked about how much she has gotten from Dialectical Behavior Therapy, which was originally developed for patients with borderline personality disorder but is also used to treat depression and other mental health conditions.

Bruce Springsteen wrote about a depressive episode he experienced in his autobiography. "I had no inner peace whatsoever," he said in an interview with Esquire in 2018. "All I remember was feeling really badly and calling for help."

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In 2014 the actor/comedian talked about his debilitating depression. "Having a bad day is one thing, having a bad week is another, having a bad life … You don't want to move, you can't move in the darkness," he told ET. He also talked about a Hollywood double standard: "It's actually cool to go into rehab for some people ... But if someone says, 'I'm clinically depressed,' that sounds like someone's making something up. It's like, ‘Psst, you're not depressed.'"

Tennis phenom Serena Williams wrote on Instagram in 2018 about struggles of new motherhood. "Last week was not easy for me," she posted. "Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby."

The Jane the Virgin star recently spoke at the Kennedy Forum (an annual event focused on mental health) about her history with depression and suicidal thoughts. She first experienced depression at around the age of 16. "I started dealing with the idea ...[that] everything is going to be better when I’m gone," she said. "Then I wouldn’t have to fail or succeed, right? Then all this surmounting pressure would go away. It would just go away." Rodriguez said she was speaking up now because of her young female fans. "I can’t just tell them to go out and make their dreams come true and then to ignore everything else."