Celebrities Who Have Battled Depression
Anyone can experience depression, and this includes celebrities and famous people. Depression is characterized by having a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in the things around you, whether it be hobbies or people. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and getting treatment is important, so you can get a management plan in place. Let's take a look at celebrities who have battled depression and how they cope each day.
1. Demi Lovato
A part of Demi's raw artistry is how open she is when it comes to mental health, and this shines through several of her songs, such as "Warrior" and "Skyscraper." In fact, she collaborated with DJ artist Marshmallow in 2020 and they released a new hit, "Ok to Not Be Ok," reminding people that you do not have to feel okay all the time.
Now at the age of 28, Demi is not new to her journey with depression. She told Today.com that she has been dealing with it since she was 7 years old. She also said she struggles with suicidal thoughts too.
Unfortunately, Demi has also struggled with addiction and drug overdoses.
She is out of rehabilitation now and Lovatics are excited to see what other music she produces.
2. Jim Carrey
Comedian and actor Jim Carrey has struggled with depression for much of his adult life, and was on antidepressants for “a long time.”
"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,” Jim told 60 Minutes in 2004.
“You're not getting any answers, but you're living OK. And you can smile at the office. You know? But it's a low level of despair.”
The actor, famous for films like "The Truman Show" and "Bruce Almighty" said he decided to go off Prozac, as well as swearing off all alcohol, drugs, and even coffee.
He subsequently added wheat, dairy, sugar and soda to his list of things to avoid.
In a 2013 interview with Mirror Jim said he occasionally slipped up and returned to the things he has sworn to cut out of his life.
“I veer off the road every once in a while and take the off-ramp into a bad neighbourhood and live there for a while, but it’s not usually very long,” he said.
“Everything starts to go wrong and you can only stay in that mode for a short time if you’re awake and sober and looking at the universe.”
The 59-year-old is very spiritual, and in his 60 Minutes interview talked about “hanging out with Buddha and Krishna and all those guys.”
“It all comes down to the same thing. You’re in a loving place, or you’re in an unloving place.”
3. Selena Gomez
You might know her as a child who played on "Barney & Friends" and you are correct. But years after she blossomed into a Disney TV star, and she is now a popular pop singer and performer.
While Selena is a fierce woman and many people look up to her, she has not had it easy. This singer has lupus, a chronic, systemic condition that causes overall body pain and damage to organs.
In 2017, she had to undergo a kidney transplant. While she is fully recovered now, this not only took a physical toll on her physically, but emotionally and mentally too.
This year, she opened up to Today.com and got real about her chronic illness and mental health. She told Today, that due to the chronic pain, it has caused her to experience anxiety on top of depression. She told them that she knows this will be a life-long battle, but her health is top priority, and when her health is important, everything else will follow suit.
4. Wayne Brady
Actor and comedian Wayne Brady may seem like he has it together, but after the death of fellow comedian Robin Williams earlier this year, Wayne revealed he, too, battles depression.
Though many people think he is always happy, last month the 49-year-old told Entertainment Tonight that’s simply not true.
“You don't want to move, you can't move in the darkness," he said.
"You're like, 'I am just going to sit right here and I want to wallow in this. As much as it hurts, I am going to sit right here because this is what I deserve.’”
Wayne said his lowest point was last June on his birthday, when he “had a complete breakdown.”
“That birthday was the beginning of, 'OK, I've got to make a change,’” he said.
The Whose Line is is Anyway? star is recovering, and said that accepting that he was depressed was the beginning of the journey.
"Just to admit that you are feeling this way is a huge step. To claim that, to say, 'Why do I feel dark? Why do I feel unhappy? Let me do something about this.'"
5. Ellen DeGeneres
The public response after comedian and talk show host Ellen Degeneres came out in 1997 caused her to go into what she describes as a “deep, deep depression.”
The star’s once successful sitcom was cancelled in May of the following year without so much as a phone call – she heard the news after her assistant read it in a newspaper.
Towards the end of 1998 she told LA Times magazine that everything she ever feared had happened to her.
“I’ve been attacked like hell,” she said.
“When I walked out of the studio after five years of working so hard, knowing I had been treated so disrespectfully for no other reason than I was gay, I just went into this deep, deep depression.”
Ellen had trouble finding work, making just a handful of appearances in television shows and movies over the next couple of years.
“I felt sorry for myself, I felt like, ‘This isn’t fair, I thought people liked me, and why did this change anything, I’m still the same person,’” she told Barbara Walters in a 2007 interview.
“Everything felt horrible to me.”
Three years later Ellen decided to stop waiting for someone to give her a job, and wrote her hugely successful HBO special "The Beginning", hoping that “they’ll see that I’m funny, and I’ll get a job.” The following year "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" made its debut.
In her book "Seriously… I’m Kidding" Ellen reflected on how failures and low points were all important parts of life.
“Happiness comes from within,” she wrote.
“You have the power to change your own mindset so that all the negative, horrible thoughts that try to invade your psyche are replaced with happy, positive, wonderful thoughts.”
In Summary
Now you have some more insight into celebrities who have battled depression. We hope you find some relation and comfort from their journeys and know you are not alone. These celebrities who have battled depression are strong and brave, and you are too.
If you believe you might be struggling with depression, please visit your doctor so you can have a treatment plan in place.
