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Tag: celebs & mental health

  • Pink Talks Mental Health, Anxiety With Carson Daly

    Pink Talks Mental Health, Anxiety With Carson Daly

    “I have anxiety. I overthink everything, but what I do is I keep the right people around me, and I go to therapy,” the singer revealed.

    Last Friday (April 26), Pink made a strong return with her new album Hurts 2B Human.

    For Pink, it’s a fitting album title. While promoting her new work, the singer discussed mental health and anxiety on The Today Show.

    At one point in the interview, Carson Daly, who has battled anxiety himself, brought up the subject of mental health of young people “who are really struggling, and they’ve been struggling silently.”

    “I’m hopeful that the taboo of it is all going away, because more and more people are talking about it,” Pink said. “I think talking about it is the most important thing. I know that anxiety is the number one thing that kids now are going through.”

    As the singer continued, “For my generation I feel like it was depression and suicide and suicide is super-prevalent still, but now it’s like it comes from a place of anxiety. And I get that, I fully understand that, and I’ve been depressed. I have anxiety. I overthink everything, but what I do is I keep the right people around me, and I go to therapy.” (Pink and her husband, Carey Hart, have been in counseling together for 17 years, and she credits this for keeping her marriage together.)

    In battling anxiety and depression, Pink also recommended keeping a journal. Through it, she’s “exorcised so many demons from just putting it to paper.”

    The title track of her album “Hurts 2B Human” is a collaboration between Pink and singer-songwriter Khalid. She told Entertainment Weekly, “When this song happened, it hit a string in me that just resonates. I feel like in 2019 if you’re present and not totally escaping your feelings and you’re looking around at what’s going on in the world, it hurts… I think it’s a really hopeful song.”

    The song “Happy” also deals with Pink’s views on body image and self-esteem. She found the song “a release. I’ve always been a person who likes to shake hands with the elephant in the room. I don’t feel like I’m any different than anybody else but maybe I’m just able to talk about it. I believe in therapy and I think music is therapy.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jim Carrey And Ariana Grande Share An Exchange About Depression

    Jim Carrey And Ariana Grande Share An Exchange About Depression

    The pop star shared a quote by Carrey about depression and the award-winning comedic actor reached out to her on social media.

    This month, pop star Ariana Grande shared that she is going through “hell” at every concert, reliving the trauma of recent years.

    In 2017, Grande survived a terrorist attack at her concert at Manchester Arena in England that killed 22 people and wounded 59. The following year, her ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, succumbed to a fatal overdose. All while the media and fans scrutinized her whirlwind relationship with SNL cast member Pete Davidson.

    She recently shared a quote by author Jeff Foster on her Instagram Story about depression.

    “Depression is your body saying, ‘I don’t want to be this character anymore. I don’t want to hold up this avatar that you’ve created in the world. It’s too much for me. You should think of the word ‘depressed’ as ‘deep rest.’ Your body needs to be depressed. It needs deep rest from the character that you’ve been trying to play.”

    The singer attributed the quote to actor Jim Carrey, who responded in kind.

    “I read your lovely mention of me and things I’ve said about depression. A brilliant teacher and friend, Jeff Foster was OG on the ‘Deep Rest’ concept. I admire your openness. I wish you freedom and peace. I feel blessed to have such a gifted admirer. Happy Easter!”

    The singer, a die-hard Jim Carrey fan, thanked the actor for his kindness. “Thank you for taking the time to share this with me. You are such an inspiration. I can’t wait to tattoo this tweet to my forehead,” she responded.

    Earlier this month, Grande shared her brain scans with fans on Instagram, comparing them to images of a “healthy brain.” But the lit-up areas of her brain indicated the effects of PTSD.

    She followed with a note to fans. “Didn’t mean to startle anyone with my brain thingy. It just blew me away. I found it informative and interesting and wanted to encourage y’all to make sure you check on your brains/listen to your bodies/take care of yourselves too.”

    In an exchange with a fan on Twitter last week, the singer revealed that performing feels like “hell.”

    “Making [music] is healing. Performing it is like reliving it all over again and it is hell,” she wrote.

    Grande is currently on tour to promote her two albums Sweetener and thank u, next. She just performed at Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California, where she was joined on stage by *NSYNC, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Taraji P. Henson Gets Emotional About Black Mental Health

    Taraji P. Henson Gets Emotional About Black Mental Health

    “The number of black children ages 5-12 who have died by suicide has doubled since the 1990s. This is a national crisis,” Henson said.

    During a speech for Variety’s Power of Women New York lunch, Taraji P. Henson of the critically acclaimed series Empire began tearing up while talking about the plight of black mentally ill youth in the U.S.

    “The number of black children ages 5-12 who have died by suicide has doubled since the 1990s,” she said. “This is a national crisis.”

    Henson was recently honored by Variety for the work she has done on and off the screen. In addition to becoming the first black woman to win the Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series, she launched the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018 in order to battle the stigma against mental illness within black communities. The foundation is named after her father, who suffered mental health issues after returning from a tour in Vietnam.

    “I named the organization after my father because of his complete and unconditional love for me; his unabashed, unashamed ability to tell the truth, even if it hurt; and his strength to push through his own battles with mental health issues,” Henson said in September. “My dad fought in the Vietnam War for our country, returned broken, and received little to no physical and emotional support. I stand now in his absence, committed to offering support to African Americans who face trauma daily, simply because they are black.”

    One of the foundation’s goals is to support Black students majoring in mental health-related fields in order to increase the number of mental health professionals who intimately understand the difficulties of being black in America.

    According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), only about 25% of black Americans seek out mental health services, while white Americans do so 40% of the time. Much of this gap can be attributed to discrimination as well as barriers caused by racial wealth gaps.

    “Misdiagnoses, inadequate treatment and lack of cultural competence by health professionals cause distrust and prevent many African Americans from seeking or staying in treatment,” reads NAMI’s page on African American mental health.

    Henson also drew attention to cultural stigma within the black community and fears of being labeled as “weak” or “inadequate.” Due to the long history of racial oppression in the U.S. going back to slavery, black Americans have passed down what Henson’s foundation calls a code of silence through the generations. Because much of mental health treatment requires opening up about one’s issues, creating a group of “culturally competent” mental health professionals is key to ending the national crisis of black mental illness and suicide.

    “Often, we are asked to seek help from someone who does not look like us, who cannot relate to our stories. We fear we are seen, but not heard because the listener cannot relate to our problems. But, the ability to relate to one another helps us feel understood, helps us to heal. How does one do that if we are branded before we even speak?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Veep's Tony Hale Talks Anxiety

    Veep's Tony Hale Talks Anxiety

    “I don’t think people understand managing it. It’s a daily choice. It really is,” Hale said in a recent interview.

    As both Arrested Development and Veep come to an end, actor Tony Hale’s next plans include a book (and soon-to-be Netflix show) about a chicken named Archibald, with a wider message about the importance of being present. 

    “You have to be present,” Hale recently told GQ. “Everything is a big thing. Me talking to you right now: this is my big thing. It’s not somewhere else. And this whole idea of, if you’re not practicing contentment where you are, you’re not going to be content when you get what you want.”

    The idea of being present, Hale says, is a constant work in progress for him as well, as he has long struggled with anxiety. 

    “This therapist I worked with talked about how you have to wake yourself up 100 times a day to where you are,” Hale told GQ. “And in creating stories for Archibald it’s been good practice, and it’s an absolute joy.”

    Working on being present, like Archibald, is one of the strongest tools for Hale personally when it comes to managing anxiety.

    “My default is to be checked out somewhere,” he tells GQ. “My default is to be living in some reality that hasn’t even happened.”

    He has to remember that being an actor also comes into play when it comes to his anxiety, Hale says.

    “As an actor you are a very emotional being,” he said. “And because of that, you kind of give a lot of power to emotions or thoughts, and you sometimes become a victim to that. I try to be like, ‘Oh, there’s that thought. There’s that emotion.’ As if I’m watching cars on a highway.”

    Like many people who battle anxiety, Hale has also had experience with panic attacks. He discusses one instance in particular that stands out: early in his career, he was about to be on a talk show and says he had yet to feel like he belonged there. So, to manage his anxiety, he shifted his focus to someone other than himself. 

    “There were these two guys who were pulling the curtain. I just started asking them questions…and then they pulled the curtain and I went out. It might only have been a few seconds, but it saved everything.,” Hale recalled. 

    Now, Hale just focuses on the day-to-day and acknowledges that anxiety is something that has to be managed. He says he talks about it so often because of the role it plays in his life daily. 

    “I don’t think people understand managing it,” he said. “It’s a daily choice. It really is.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Britney Spears Checks Into Mental Health Facility

    Britney Spears Checks Into Mental Health Facility

    “Her dad being sick has taken a toll on her,” a source close to the pop star revealed.

    Pop icon Britney Spears is checking herself into what she’s calling a facility for “all-encompassing wellness treatment” after a health scare that nearly took her father from her.

    Early this January, Spears composed an emotional tweet announcing that she would not be able to perform her new show, Britney: Domination, because her dad, Jamie Spears, “was hospitalized and nearly died.” Jamie suffered a colon rupture and has undergone multiple surgeries to repair the damage.

    Domination was going to be Spears’ second Las Vegas residency show, during which she would have made $507,000 for each performance, according to Variety — it would have made her the highest paid act in town. The residency is now on indefinite hold after the star dropped everything to spend this time with her family and help take care of her ill father.

    After three months, Spears has decided to take some time to take care of herself. According to a source who spoke to People, her dad is still not doing well and because the two are so close, the stress has taken a lot out of her. However, fans don’t need to worry.

    “Her dad being sick has taken a toll on her,” the source said. “He nearly died and actually had another surgery a few weeks ago. He’s not doing well. They’re so close and it has been a lot. There is nothing dramatic going on with her — she just realized she needs to make sure to take time to care for herself.”

    Spears has been an advocate of self-care for some time, and has shown herself to be dedicated to her family above all else multiple times. Last year, her eight-year-old niece had a frightening accident on her ATV that left the girl unconscious for two days. Spears herself saw her niece, Maddie, crash the vehicle into a pond and sink underwater almost instantly. The entire family present attempted to rescue Maddie without success, but thankfully emergency services were on the scene in two minutes and were able to get her out.

    Thankfully, Maddie was able to make a full recovery without any evident neurological damage.

    Britney Spears is also a mother herself and has recently earned praise for being a dedicated mom who appears to truly care about her kids above all else. In 2016, she published a love letter to her two boys, Jayden and Preston, in TIME. 

    “You are my masterpieces,” she wrote. “From the day I saw the most precious eyes, I believed in miracles to the core. Such a gift God has given me, exploring in your beautiful worlds every day. I pray as a mother I teach you strength and passion to carry through the struggles in the world. Most battles will always be won on your knees. I pray you find your dreams.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Ariana Grande Is Changing Things Up To Protect Her Mental Health

    How Ariana Grande Is Changing Things Up To Protect Her Mental Health

    Grande got candid about the emotional impact of nonstop performing and promotional tours on Instagram.

    Pop star Ariana Grande opened up about how she’s changing her music-release strategy in order to preserve her mental health

    Over the past few years, Grande has publicly dealt with a variety of life-changing events. From the bombing after her show in Manchester, England, which left 22 people dead, to the death of her former boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, as well as a messy breakup with her former fiancé, SNL star Pete Davidson.

    Now Grande is making some changes to put less pressure on herself as she moves forward in her career. On Instagram, Grande thanked her fans “for being supportive of my random, impulsive and excessive music releases. The first few years were really hard on my mental health and energy. I was so tired from promo trips and was always losing my voice and never knew what city I was in when I woke up. It was so much. It was worth it, and I am grateful for everything I learned and accomplished when I did things that way, of course.”

    Taking a cue from hip-hop artists, Grande is now releasing music on a less rigid schedule that won’t be as mentally and emotionally taxing for the singer.

    “I feel like there are certain standards that pop women are held to that men aren’t,” the singer told Billboard. “We have to do the teaser before the single, then do the single, and wait to do the preoder…and all this (expletive). It’s just like, ‘Bruh, I just want to {expletive} talk to my fans and sing and write music and drop it the way the boys do.”

     If releasing new singles at her own pace doesn’t bring her the same success as her single, “Thank U, Next,” Grande is fine with that.

    “It’s even more beautiful to be honest and just do something. To drop a record on a Saturday night because you feel like it, and because your heart’s going to explode if you don’t – to take back your narrative…I don’t want to do what people tell me to do, I don’t want to conform to the pop star agenda.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Hailey Baldwin: Mental Health Should Be A Top Priority

    Hailey Baldwin: Mental Health Should Be A Top Priority

    “There’s a lot of different levels of self-care, like eating right, drinking water and working out. It’s really good for your mentality,” Baldwin said.

    Many are concerned about Justin Bieber after he spoke out earlier this month on social media about struggling with depression and asking fans for their prayers.

    Now his wife Hailey Baldwin has told People that mental health “should be number one, and it falls to the side a lot.”

    As Baldwin explained, “I think there’s more attention on mental health these days, and I see why and get why. I think you have to know what works for you.”

    Baldwin also spoke of the benefits of the beach, and she and Bieber spent some time by the ocean while speculation swirled about Bieber’s mental state. Baldwin felt that spending time at the beach can be “grounding. The sound of the ocean, being in the sun – there are so many things that are healthy about the beach to me.”

    Baldwin added, “There’s a lot of different levels of self-care, like eating right, drinking water and working out. It’s really good for your mentality.”

    While Baldwin wasn’t speaking directly about Bieber’s mental health, a source close to the couple said, “Justin is still receiving treatment, but is doing okay. He is very, very focused on getting better. He wants to be in a great place for his own and Hailey’s sake. He is still confident that he will get there.”

    The source added that Baldwin is putting no pressure on Bieber to get better. “She only wants him to focus on his mental health.”

    In addition to admitting he was “struggling a lot,” Bieber also wrote on his Instagram post that he’s “just feeling super disconnected and weird.”

    But he also showed his determination to get better when he added, “I always bounce back so I’m not worried, just want to reach out and ask for you guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work, thanks…the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my stuff head on.”

    Baldwin and Bieber have postponed their plans to have a more formal at the altar wedding while the singer gets help and heals. The source close to the couple concludes that “there are so many people who love and care for him and are helping him deal with what he needs to deal with. Hailey is definitely one of those people.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation Opens Mental Health Program

    Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation Opens Mental Health Program

    The program will help teens learn how to be a trustworthy friend that their peers can confide in.

    Since launching in 2011, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation has been on a mission to educate the world on mental health, and encourage people to speak out and get help.

    Now, the Born This Way Foundation is opening a mental health program at a number of high schools in the country.

    As Las Vegas Now reports, the Born This Way program will launch in eight high schools this spring, including Valley High School in Vegas where students who participate will be trained in Mental Health First Aid.

    Valley High School Principal Ramona Esparza says, “We are so grateful to have been chosen as one of the only eight pilot schools in the nation to introduce Teen Mental Health First Aid to our senior class. We teach and reach the ‘whole child,’ so social-emotional learning is essential to academic learning and growth for our students.”

    Esparza added that Born This Way, along with the National Council for Behavioral Health, “have truly carved a new path for youth to know that there is not a stigma to seeking support and resources for mental health and wellness,” and that this program will be “a game-changer.”

    Students who partake in the program will learn a five-step plan they can apply to friends who are struggling with their mental health and may need help. Five staff members of Valley High have been trained in Mental Health First Aid as well.

    This program is being set up at Valley High School to coincide with Lady Gaga’s residency at Park MGM in Vegas. As Cynthia Germanotta, Gaga’s mother, and president and co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation, explains, “Knowing how to spot the signs that someone in our lives is experiencing a mental health challenge and understanding how we can support that person is a basic life skill we all need to have—especially teenagers.”

    Through this program, teens will learn how to be a trustworthy friend that peers in trouble can confide in.

    Linda Rosenberg, president and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health, says, “Teens trust their friends, so they need to be trained to recognize signs of mental health or substance use problems in their peers.”

    Another state where the foundation is setting up shop is Montana.

    As Shani Rich, director of the North Central Montana Area Health Education Center, told KXLH, “Montana has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the U.S… So we have to start having this conversation.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Nick Jonas Talks Mental Health, Benefits Of Therapy

    Nick Jonas Talks Mental Health, Benefits Of Therapy

    The youngest Jonas Brother revealed that he and his brothers were in therapy together for a year before reuniting to make music.

    After a decade-long hiatus, Nick Jonas has reunited with his brothers to release new music. While promoting their new song and upcoming album, Nick, who recently married actress Priyanka Chopra, spoke with The Huffington Post about the benefits of therapy on his mental health.

    Being that Jonas has type 1 diabetes, staying in shape physically and mentally is important for him to stay in balance. “Your emotional health is wholly connected to your physical health,” Jonas explained. “If you take that time [to] spend some time with family and friends, prioritize your emotional state of mind, you’re going to be in a way better spot physically.”

    The Jonas Brothers were in therapy together for a year before they reunited as a band. Nick explains, “I think the thing that was so great about this next chapter was that it really began with us getting to the healthiest place we could be as brothers and as family before we decided to work together at all, given that the way it ended before was not the best.”

    Nick and his brothers thought, “Let’s dive in, let’s really open up and pull this thing apart and see what would need to be different for this to work this time around for a healthier relationship. I think that honesty, that transparency, really was the key factor.”

    Late last year, Nick Jonas, Queen Latifah, and Ted Danson appeared in ads for Cigna Health about the importance of taking care of your mental wellness. In Jonas’s commercial, he spoke about anxiety, and how he escapes to his “happy place” in his mind when things get tough—a comfortable room with guitars and puppies.

    The commercial journeyed into Jonas’s mind, and as he explained to the viewer, “If we let tensions run the show up here (in our minds), then our bodies won’t perform at our best out here. How you’re doing emotionally affects you physically and vice versa.”

    He concluded that when you get your check-up every year at the doctor, “Be open about everything you’re feeling physically and emotionally.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Riverdale's Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Depression, Getting Treatment

    Riverdale's Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Depression, Getting Treatment

    “We are all human. And we all struggle. Don’t suffer in silence. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask for help,” Reinhart noted on Instagram.

    Riverdale actress Lili Reinhart used Instagram to announce through her Instagram story that she is again seeking help for anxiety and depression.

    The 22-year-old actress is best known for her Riverdale character, Betty—the part that launched her into stardom. By then, Reinhart had already experienced a profound bout with depression, at 18 when she came to Hollywood.

    She became physically sick from depression and moved home to North Carolina for help. After six months of working on her mental and emotional health, she returned to Hollywood, eventually landing the starring role that would make her a household name.

    Reinhart has been public about her mental health struggles, but not without concerns about the level of transparency she’s chosen. She told Teen Vogue, “It’s very much a constant balance of what do I share? What do I not share? I want to be authentic, but I also don’t want to give everyone parts of myself that they don’t need to know about.”

    Still, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the show’s creator and showrunner, told Teen Vogue of Reinhart, “She has a lot of contradictions, but the big thing is there’s nothing we can’t write for Lili that she cannot do. She’s sort of fearless.”

    This week Reinhart spoke about her depression and anxiety on Instagram, directly addressing those reading her words and encouraging anyone experiencing similar difficulties to speak out and get help if they’re feeling overwhelmed. 

    “Friendly reminder for anyone who needs to hear it,” Reinhart wrote, “Therapy is never something to feel ashamed of. Everyone can benefit from seeing a therapist. Doesn’t matter how old or ‘proud’ you’re trying to be.”

    The actress then added, “We are all human. And we all struggle. Don’t suffer in silence. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask for help. I’m 22. I have anxiety and depression And today I started therapy again.”

    Reinhart shared that her “journey of self-love” included therapy and medication.

    Selena Gomez is another young star who has been open about her mental health issues, which has included mental health facility stays and the therapeutic practice, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. DBT teaches skills such as emotional regulation, improving communication, and incorporating mindfulness practices.

    Gomez told Vogue, “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.”

    Reinhart told Ocean Drive magazine a year ago, “I know so many other young people have [struggles with mental health], and I didn’t have someone who was talking about it. I remember being in middle and high school and hearing Demi Lovato speak up about her mental illness and that was comforting. But I wanted more people to stand up. I needed more people to relate to. I was like, all these people can’t be so happy, can they?”

    View the original article at thefix.com