Battling depression can be difficult for anyone, but those who choose not to unload their burden on someone they can talk to can find the illness even harder. Keeping everything to themselves, they’ve chosen not only to keep their struggles out of the spotlight but not to even tell close friends and family how they’re feeling or what they’re going through. Now that they’re feeling like they’ve conquered their depression, these 5 stars have now spoken out on their lonely battle. Some dish out advice to those who might be going through the same thing, while others say they still have their dark moments but now know how to get through it.
Catherine Zeta Jones
Catherine’s husband Michael says that his wife has covered up her depression for a long time and he’s glad she’s finally opened up on the topic: “It’s hard for your wife to say ‘I’m depressed’, you know. It’s probably been going on for a while. But I wasn’t really aware of it. You know Catherine and Brits in general – Catherine is Welsh, you never see them in a bad spirits right? They always give the stiff upper lip, carry on and this and that. I’m really proud of her. There are some great medications out there now for people, it’s an issue that affects a lot of people.”
Leslie Mann
When she first welcomed her two daughters, Leslie secretly struggled with baby blues: “It was so hard to go from being totally self-involved, a young actress living in Hollywood, to being a full-time mom living in the suburbs and going to ‘Mummy and me’ classes and not having anything in common with the other mums. Judd was working all the time and I was just alone at home with a new baby. I went to some therapists and, although nobody was talking about it at the time, I’m pretty sure I was suffering from postpartum depression for a few years.”
Michelle Williams
Michelle has previously had some depressed patches where she’s had to find help: “I had to choose to get out of bed and do whatever I needed to do to be happy, we’re taught, ‘Just go to church and pray about it. The Lord is going to heal you.’ Well, in the meantime, I believe God-gifted people, physicians, doctors, therapists — that’s your healing. Take advantage of it. Go see a professional so that they can assess you. It’s OK if you’re going through something. Depression is not OK, but it is OK to go get help.”
Simon Cowell
Simon says he frequently has down spells but he’d never seek treatment: “Maybe it’s the draining effect when you have a lot of people who depend on you… by the end of it you feel that everything’s been sucked out of you because of that dependency. I would never take a pill, for instance, to deal with that. It’s something I’ve got to deal with myself. I put it down to, ‘OK, so I’m a bit moody, bit over-dramatic about everything, give yourself a mental slap and get on with it.'”
Susan Boyle
Susan says she often has mood swings and has secretly been depressed at various stages of her life because of how she has been treated in the past: “I can be up and down like a yo-yo. I can be depressed. I know I’m taking a big chance telling people this but you have to be honest. I used to be made a fool of at school. It was psychological bullying and that leaves a scar and it also cultivates a lot of anger. When people are a little bit slow others pick at them. My life was made absolute hell.”
