16 Powerful Mental Health Quotes from Celebrities

Mental health difficulties like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to substance abuse problems and, conversely, using substances can worsen mental health conditions in some individuals.

An estimated 26 percent of adult Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Also, adults living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than others.

Risk Factors

Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

• poverty;
• a neurological condition such as epilepsy;
• poor housing or homelessness;
• being the victim of a violent crime;
• debt;
• being involved in a serious incident in which you feared for your life;
• childhood abuse;
• bullying;
• loneliness or social isolation;
• domestic violence (in the US, about 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner);
• experiencing stigma;
• alcohol misuse;
• being a long-term carer for someone;
• losing your job or unemployment;
• having a long-term physical health condition;
• long-term emotional stress;
• losing someone close to you.

Symptoms

Symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on circumstances, the disorder, and other factors. Mental illness signs and symptoms can affect thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

According to BetterHelp, symptoms of mental illness include:

• suicidal thinking;
• feeling sad;
• excessive hostility, anger, or violence;
• sex drive changes;
• major changes in eating habits;
• reduced ability to concentrate;
• drug abuse;
• confused thinking;
• alcohol abuse;
• extreme feelings of guilt;
• trouble relating and understanding to people and to situations;
• excessive worries or fears;
• inability to cope with stress or daily problems;
• hallucinations;
• detachment from reality;
• insomnia;
• low energy;
• significant tiredness;
• withdrawal from activities and friends;
• extreme mood changes of lows and highs.

List of 16 Powerful Mental Health Quotes from Celebrities:

#1 Katy Perry

The singer told Vogue Australia in her August 2018 cover interview – “I have had bouts of situational depression and my heart was broken last year because, unknowingly, I put so much validity in the reaction of the public, and the public didn’t react in the way I had expected to…which broke my heart.”

#2 Michelle Obama

“Whether an illness affects your heart, your arm, or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there shouldn’t be any distinction. We would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together. We don’t consider taking medication for an ear infection something to be ashamed of. We shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently. Instead, we should make it clear that getting help isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s a sign of strength.”

#3 Lady Gaga

The singer revealed at the Global Changemakers Award at Children Mending Hearts’ Empathy Rocks fundraiser in 2018 – “I have struggled for a long time, both being public and not public about my mental health issues or my mental illness. But I truly believe that secrets keep you sick.”

#4 Halsey

“It makes me upset to have people abusing me for A, B, C, or D online. It’s not because I’m oversensitive. It’s not because I take it to heart. It’s not because I’m overdramatic. It’s because I have a mental illness. And the fact that people refuse to be sensitive to that shows me that we still have a very, very, very long way to go. If I miss out on something because I let my mental illness get the best of me, I’m going to be letting down thousands of people who need me to be stronger than that.” 

#5 Adele

“I’m very available to depression. I can slip in and out of it quite easily. It started when my granddad died, when I was about 10, and while I never had a suicidal thought, I have been in therapy, lots.”

#6 Wentworth Miller

“I would say what others have said: It gets better. One day, you’ll find your tribe. You just have to trust that people are out there waiting to love you and celebrate you for who you are. In the meantime, the reality is you might have to be your own tribe. You might have to be your own best friend. That’s not something they’re going to teach you in school. So start the work of loving yourself.”

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#7 Dakota Johnson

“Sometimes I panic to the point where I don’t know what I’m thinking or doing. I have a full anxiety attack…. I have them all the time anyway, but with auditioning it’s bad. I’m so terrified of it.”

#8 Lena Dunham

“Promised myself I would not let exercise be the first thing to go by the wayside when I got busy… and here is why: it has helped me with my anxiety in ways I’ve never dreamed possible. To those struggling with anxiety, OCD, depression: I know it’s mad annoying when people tell you to exercise, and it took me about 16 medicated years to listen. I’m glad I did. It ain’t about the ass, it’s about the brain.”

#9 Emma Stone

She told Rolling Stone in 2016 – “I drew a little green monster on my shoulder that speaks to me in my ear and tells me all these things that aren’t true. And every time I listen to it, it grows bigger. If I listen to it enough, it crushes me. But if I turn my head and keep doing what I’m doing—let it speak to me, but don’t give it the credit it needs—then it shrinks down and fades away.”

#10 Zayn Malik

“I now have no problem with anxiety, it was something I was dealing with in the band… People saw strength in that, and they didn’t seem to expect it from a guy, but they expect it from a female, which to me is crazy. We’re all human. People are often afraid to admit difficulties, but I don’t believe that there should be a struggle with anything that’s the truth.”

#11 Lili Reinhart

“You are the one thing in this world, above all other things, that you must never give up on. When I was in middle school, I was struggling with severe anxiety and depression and the help and support I received from my family and a therapist saved my life. Asking for help is the first step.”

READ MORE: Celebrities On Finding Inner Peace & Love

#12 Cara Delevingne

The model/actress said on This Morning in 2017 – “Being vulnerable is actually a strength and not a weakness — that’s why more and more mental health is such an important thing to talk about. It’s the same as being physically sick. And when you keep all those things inside, when you bottle them up, it makes you ill.”

#13 Demi Lovato

“The advice I’d give to somebody that’s silently struggling is, you don’t have to live that way. You don’t have to struggle in silence. You can be un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition, as long as you open up to somebody about it, because it’s really important you share your experience with people so that you can get the help that you need.” 

#14 Kendall Jenner

The model told Harper’s BAZAAR in February 2018 – “I have such debilitating anxiety because of everything going on that I literally wake up in the middle of the night with full-on panic attacks. Where do I even start? Everything is so horrible, it’s hard to name one thing. I just think that the world needs so much love. … You go online and you see everyone saying the worst things to each other, and it’s hard to stay positive.”

#15 Kerry Washington

“I say that publicly because I think it’s really important to take the stigma away from mental health… My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don’t know why I wouldn’t seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth. I go to the dentist. So why wouldn’t I go to a shrink?” 

#16 Selena Gomez

“I wish more people would talk about therapy. We girls, we’re taught to be almost too resilient, to be strong and sexy and cool and laid-back, the girl who’s down. We also need to feel allowed to fall apart.”

Images credit – Shutterstock & Getty Images

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