Mental Illness Affects Celebrities Too
According to the WHO, one in four people will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their life. Everyone is equally at risk, regardless of their culture, lifestyle, or socioeconomic status. In this article, we’ll talk about eight celebrities with mental disorders.
These celebrities have made their disorders public. They’ve done it to break the taboo surrounding mental illness, normalize the disorders, and demonstrate that it’s possible to have a normal life and even make it to the top.
Which celebrities have mental illnesses?
Billie Eilish has Tourette’s syndrome
Billie Eilish suffers from Tourette’s syndrome. She shared the news to her Instagram followers in order to connect with others also suffering from the same disorder.
This syndrome is a neurological disease that usually develops in childhood and adolescence. It involves multiple motor and vocal tics that last more than a year. In addition, it causes other symptoms such as coprolalia (involuntary use of obscene language and insults).
Megan Fox suffers from schizophrenia
Megan Fox is considered one of the sexiest actresses in the world. She claimed in an interview that she was suffering bouts of schizophrenia. She also explained that she suffered auditory hallucinations, paranoid illusions, and social dysfunction.
Her diagnosis hasn’t been confirmed. In fact, she admitted that doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. However, she’s quite well known for making controversial statements. For example, she stated that, “I think that I’m so psychotic and so mentally ill that if I could tap into that I could do something really interesting”.
Jennifer Lawrence has ADHD
Jennifer Lawrence was diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. In fact, she claims her relatives nicknamed her “nitro” for being as explosive as nitroglycerine.
ADHD is a chronic disease that lasts a lifetime but is treatable. In adulthood, the symptoms of hyperactivity tend to subside. However, attention deficit symptoms don’t tend to disappear so easily.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Demi Lovato have bipolar disorder
Catherine Zeta-Jones was first diagnosed bipolar in 2011. She was admitted to a clinic four times. She claims that being able to name her emotions and having a medical professional describe her symptoms was liberating. As she explains, this condition leads to many ups and downs.
Her goal was to reach the “middle ground” of the illness. Furthermore, she decided to make her condition public to make the disease more visible and destigmatize it.
Actress and singer Demi Lovato was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder the same year Catherine was. For her, the diagnosis was liberating. However, she doesn’t let the illness define her. She was diagnosed after undergoing treatment for substance abuse, eating disorders, and self-destructive behavior.
Greta Thunberg has Asperger syndrome
Young activist Greta Thunberg became famous for her fight against climate change. In addition, she highlighted Asperger syndrome when she made it public that she suffered from the condition. She was diagnosed four years ago.
For Greta, this illness is like a “superpower”, allowing her to see the world and its problems clearly and resolutely. In fact, she wrote on her Twitter, “I’ve found a meaning, in a world that sometimes seems shallow and meaningless to so many people”.
Leonardo di Caprio and Cameron Diaz have OCD
Leonardo di Caprio has suffered from OCD since he was a child. He acknowledges that he suffers from the condition to a controllable degree. Interestingly, when he filmed The Aviator, he admitted that he exhibited some compulsive behaviors such as having to go several times through a door or stepping on every piece of gum he saw on the ground. In fact, these compulsions led him to take at least ten minutes to get from his dressing room to the set.
Cameron Diaz also suffers from OCD. More specifically, she suffers from misophobia, a type of OCD that involves cleaning-related obsessions and compulsions. She’s obsessed with germs, which means she’s constantly washing her hands. She explains it this way, “I’m not scared of germs. I’m just aware of them. I’m not into other people’s fluids unless I know them really well!”
Final thoughts on mental illness
Mental disorders vary greatly in degree, typology, the intensity of symptoms, and the degree to which they interfere in the sufferer’s life. What’s important is that, if you have one of these disorders, you receive the right diagnosis. Furthermore, you should always ask for advice about living with the illness and the possibility of maintaining a good quality of life.
Anyone, even the rich and famous, can suffer from a mental illness. Therefore, it shouldn’t prevent anyone from being successful at work or living life to the fullest.
It’s extremely important to talk more about mental health and mental illness. This way, they can be normalized and the stigmas and taboos associated with them can be broken.
