Everyone doesn't take mental health seriously unlike physical illness, mainly because the symptoms are often invisible. However, just because one cannot see anxiety doesn't mean it's not real. Anxiety is very common and not something to be ignored. Many celebrities in Hollywood and Bollywood have opened up about their experiences with anxiety.
Emma Stone
Oscar winning actress Emma Stone revealed about her first-hand experience with anxiety when she was still a child. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2015, the La La Land actress revealed, "The first time I had a panic attack I was sitting in my friend's house, and I thought the house was burning down...I called my mom and she brought me home, and for the next three years, it just would not stop. I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later. I just needed to know that no one was going to die and nothing was going to change."
Ryan Reynolds
The Deadpool actor, Ryan Reynolds told Variety in 2017: "I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle — just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time."
The actor further added, "By the time we were in post [production], we'd been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive." The 40-year-old thanked his wife, Blake Lively, for helping him through it. "Blake helped me through that. I'm lucky to have her around just to keep me sane."
Zayn Malik
The Pillow Talk singer, Zayn Malik, recently revealed about the struggles he had to face with his mental illness. The former One Direction singer said in a Vogue video: I'm not a very outgoing, social person, like in terms of big groups of people."
"I found it really frustrating that, even now that I was being upfront about what the issue was, some people still found reasons to doubt it. But that's the industry," the British singer added.
"The thing is, I love performing. I love the buzz. I don't want to do any other job. That's why my anxiety is so upsetting and difficult to explain. It's this thing that swells up and blocks out your rational thought processes...It's a constant battle within yourself," he said.
Karan Johar
Karan Johar is a force to reckon with in Bollywood. But, even with all fame, money, and success, life wasn't a piece of cake for the 45-year old director.
In an interview with Barkha Dutt for NDTV, Johar revealed about his depression and anxiety saying, "There was a phase in my life when I was really depressed. When I went through that phase, I thought I am getting a cardiac arrest. I felt it in middle of a meeting two and half years ago, after which I left the meeting in between saying I have something urgent to do and rushed to the doctor. He then said I am having an anxiety attack."
The filmmaker described the darkest phase of his life saying, "I stopped feeling excitement and happiness. There was a lack of sleep and I was always on the edge.
Kristin Stewart
The Twilight star, Kristin Stewart, revealed about her anxiety issues on multiple occasions. In a Marie Claire interview, in 2015, Stewart said: "Between ages 15 and 20, it was really intense...I was constantly anxious. I was kind of a control freak. If I didn't know how something was going to turn out, I would make myself ill or just be locked up or inhibited in a way that was really debilitating."
In a 2016 Elle UK interview, the actress mentioned the anxiety symptoms she experienced like stomach aches and panic attacks.
Deepika Padukone
Deepika recalled her experience with anxiety in an event in New Delhi last year stating, "I did not want to be in the situation I was. I wanted to come out of it desperately.
"Two years back, my family had come to see me. They were about to leave and I was all alone in my bedroom, curled up. My mother walked in and asked if everything was okay, I said yes.
"She [Her mother] asked again if it was work or something else that was bothering me, I said no. She asked me so many times that I felt myself choking and I broke into tears....I want to tell my mother that if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here," she said.
Manisha Koirala
The Dil Se actress has been there too; from battling cancer to suffering from clinical depression, Manisha is a true survivor. She posted a Facebook status saying, "How slowly, shadows of my past friendships are becoming a distant dream... did I have a bunch of friends with whom there were promises of a life time? Disappointed, yes I m...but then life fills you with new hope, new friends...hoping this time round it would be rooted in deep values rather than just crazy, fun times!!"
