As May is a month of mental health awareness, it is important to highlight what mental health means in culture. A traditionally taboo subject for the black community, mental health awareness has become more prevalent in recent years, with celebrities and individuals talking about their personal struggles.
With a newly released cover story Self Magazine, Naomi Osaka talks to author Morgan Jenkins about the importance of being self-aware of your mental health. When discussing his mental health journey, he commented;
“At this stage in my life, I feel very satisfied with my mental health journey. I feel comfortable with who I am and where I come from. There have been ups and downs and I will not change a thing that really helps me find inner peace. “
In May 2021, the second-ranked female tennis player made headlines for leaving the French Open after being fined for missing a press conference, 23-year-old Osaka said she was “suffering from depression” and felt she had to take some time off the court.
Naomi also shares why it is so important for her to speak up;
“It’s new to me to talk about things that aren’t always easy, but I’m really glad I’m getting started. It was important for me to let people know how I was feeling at the moment. “
He recently partnered with Modern Health, a mental health platform aimed at disrespecting conversations and increasing access to mental health services for all.
Naomi is one of the many celebrities who have started sharing their mental health issues and are not lagging behind just because of optics. Black culture, in particular, may be less understood and unprepared for such issues, but it is time for change. Celebrities including Charlamagne The God, Kid Cudi, and Lizzo are a few others who have expressed their feelings about this.
Check out a list of celebrities who have talked about their mental health and let us know if you can relate.
1. Summer Walker
Summer Walker has declared that she has problems with social anxiety, which makes her feel awkward and uncomfortable around others in public.
“Look, the problem is, I’m black. I just have to be honest, ”said Summer. “White girls have social concerns and a variety of mental health struggles that they are dealing with and that’s perfectly fine …”
2. Lizo
Lijo shared Texas Music In 2019 he first found himself in a “dark place” during college and suffered from years of depression due to family problems, financial instability and body image problems.
He told his fans in June of that year that he felt “there is no one [she] Talk to you soon and keep up the good content. “” Life is hurting. “
He said later Diversity The move from anonymity to fame this year almost immediately triggered him, but he is still in therapy.
“People became famous, and like that – my DNA didn’t change. Nothing changed about me. My worries didn’t go away, my depression didn’t go away,” said Lizo. “The things I love haven’t gone away. But the way you look at me and perceive me has changed. It’s a very strange, formless thing. “
3. Charlamagan tha Ishwar
Charlemagne Tha God has been vocal about combating mental health and anxiety and has founded a support and awareness foundation called the Mental Resources Alliance.
4. Baby Chudi
Kid Chudi has been open about drug abuse and the struggle against depression, and has gone to the Red Table to discuss issues. Its opening in 2016.
“Sorrow sometimes eats me up,” Cadre wrote to fans on Instagram earlier. “How do I deal? You hurt me a lot and ask me how to get through. Honestly, idk. Some days are great, others are not so great. I just try to believe God has done something better for me. I try to believe in the light. Please believe. “
He added in a Facebook post that he is in rehabilitation.
“Yesterday I tested myself in rehabilitation for depression and suicidal ideation. I’m not at peace. I haven’t been to you since you recognized me. If I hadn’t come here, I would have done something with myself. I am just a lost man swimming in the pool of emotions of every day of my life. Inside my heart there is always a raging violent storm. How does peace feel? How to relax. My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and that is why I never leave home. “
5. Demi Lovato
Disney star Demi Lovato was very outspoken about her body image, her addiction to drugs and her struggle with depression. Since their release from rehabilitation in 2019, they have released a true documentary based on their time which has led to almost fatal overdoses.
6. Kerry Washington
The Scandal The star spoke of her past unhealthy relationship with food and depression, noting the need to remove stigma from mental health.
He said Summary That he had an “abusive relationship with food and exercise” and would be forced to eat extra and then work out endlessly to eliminate the damage.
“I’ve used food as a way to deal,” he says. “It was my best friend.” Washington hid in his dorm room, jumping on whole pizza, ice cream pints, whole peanut butter jars, and fry plates. “I eat anything and everything,” she says, “sometimes until I finish. But then, since I had this personality that led to perfectionism, I would tell people that I was in the library, but instead after going to the gym for hours.” I exercise for hours. It was painful and isolated to keep my behavior secret. There was a lot of guilt and a lot of shame. “
“I started therapy, which I still do today,” Washington said Summary. “I also see a nutritionist and I meditate. Learning how to love myself and my body is a lifelong process. But I certainly don’t struggle like before. Therapy has helped me to realize that maybe it’s okay for me to express my feelings. Instead of literally stuffing them with food, maybe it would be better for me to express myself. “
7. Pete Davidson
Pete Davidson talks about the emotional days he suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder.
Source: Gotham / Getty
For a conversation with Glenn off Diversity In the Actors on Actors series, Davidson talks about what it was like to finally be diagnosed with BPD in 2017. The actor has been in and out of mental health facilities since he was 9 years old.
“I was diagnosed with BPD a few years ago, and I was always so confused, and just thought something was wrong, and didn’t know how to deal with it,” Davidson said. Then, when someone finally tells you, the weight of the earth has moved off your shoulders. You look great. “
8. Chrissy Tigen
Chrissy Tigen shares very emotional feelings about postpartum depression and the loss of her third child, Baby Jack.
Not long after her recurring remarks about Courtney Stodden were “canceled” in 2021, Chrissy said she was going through a period of frustration.
“I don’t really know what to say here. It seems strange to pretend that nothing has happened in this online world, but in real life it feels like s ***. Going out is bad and doesn’t feel right, being alone at home makes my mind depressed. But I know that even though I’m managing it right now is not the right answer. I feel lost and I have to find my place again, I have to get out of here, instead of pretending that everything is fine I desperately want to contact you, “he wrote.
9. Lady Gaga
In an open letter to the Born This Way Foundation, Lady Gaga reveals the truth about what she really likes to live with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
During Oprah’s further opening about this during the mogul’s “2020 Vision: Life Your Life in Focus” tour, Gaga revealed that her PTSD was the result of sexual harassment as a teenager. He added that he had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and that this could be linked to his trauma.
“I developed PTSD when I was 19 and was repeatedly raped, and as a result of being raped and not having that trauma process,” Gaga told Oprah. “I didn’t have anyone to help me, I didn’t have a therapist, I didn’t have a psychiatrist, I didn’t have a doctor to help me through it,” he added. “Then all of a sudden I became a star and traveled the world from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to feel this incredibly intense pain all over my body. He later faked the illness I felt. ”
10. Britney Spears
Britney Spears has openly discussed her mental health concerns and depression and commented on how she was suffering and how her family treated her while still in custody.
“This is what depression can prevent you from doing,” Spears said in a deleted post while on vacation in Hawaii. “That was the whole thing when my family did what they did to me. They held me against my will. They said there was help !!!!”
[…] The only thing that really bothers me is frustration …. but you don’t get people out of their homes for that !!!! “he added while opening up about his treatment at a mental health facility.
“Depression is stuck in the darkest part of your head … OK … The whole four months of experience have increased my depression by 100 !!!!” He wrote. “People who have worked for me are standing at the door saying I can’t go anywhere – because it seemed like some kind of sick joke to me when I called and said I had been working here for two weeks – when would I get my keys?” Get in my car and go home ??? “