Hollywood hasn’t exactly been the friendliest with people with mental illness over the years. “Cinema has long been bad news for the mentally ill, who generally portray them as people of the likes of Psychopath Norman Bates,” wrote The Guardian in 2010, adding: “Filmmakers have treated them as suitably dehumanized as useful monsters, inviting moviegoers to assume that they must be feared, rejected, and confined.
Perhaps it is because of Tinseltown’s misrepresentation of those diagnosed with mental disorders that many do not seek help. As the Psychological Sciences Association explains, while “more than 60 million Americans … experience mental illness in a given year,” only 40 percent of people receive treatment, due to stigma and prejudice.
However, it seems that times are finally changing and the A-listers are helping to spread the awareness that it is okay to seek help by opening up your own mental health struggles. In 2018, nightly host Stephen Colbert revealed her long battle with anxiety, for example, while singer LeAnn Rimes has long been outspoken about how her fight against anxiety, stress, and depression led her to enter a Inpatient Treatment Center in 2012 While we certainly have a long way to go in terms of normalizing all aspects of mental health, celebrities are also slowly starting to talk about bipolar disorder. Let’s find out more about the stars that have revealed his bipolar diagnosis.
Selena Gomez believes that knowledge is a useful tool against stigma
After nearly a decade of non-stop relationship drama with now-ex Justin Bieber and his own set of health issues, 2024 was the year for Selena Gomez. Like NPR In other words, the star has “battled lupus, depression and anxiety … all while millions followed him on social media.” Throughout it all, Gomez has come out on top, releasing her album, Raro , in January 2024 to rave reviews.
With her powerful music and acting careers to elevate her, it seemed as if the dead don’t die. The actress was finally ready to talk about another disease she had been struggling with: bipolar disorder. During a candid interview on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram live chat show, Bright-minded , in April 2024, Gomez revealed that she had discussed her condition with experts at McClean Hospital near Boston: “After years of going through a lot of different things, I realized it was bipolar, and so when I go to know more information, it really helps me, “he said, before adding wisely,” It doesn’t scare me once I know, and I think people are scared of that, right? «
It turns out that Gomez suspected that some of his family members suffered from the same mental disorder: “I’ve seen some of that even in my own family, where I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ … I am from Texas, and you don’t know how to talk about your mental health «.
Mariah Carey revealed her bipolar diagnosis because she lived in ‘isolation’
Mariah Carey’s battle with bipolar disorder has lasted for decades, and many times the public has simply ignored her for her eccentric diva behavior. As Demi Lovato once shadowed the Butterfly Hitmaker on Instagram (via Page Six ), “Mariah is a legend and she’s so talented but she constantly despises people… Extremely talented? Yes. Superhuman? Possibly. Unnecessarily rude? Absolutely ».
While it’s easy to label Carey “rude” and call him a day, maybe we should all take a moment to absorb the pop star’s mental health battles, too. Opening to People in 2018, Carey revealed that she received her bipolar diagnosis in 2001, after a “physical and mental” collapse. “I didn’t want to believe it,” said the “Fantasy” singer, adding that she finally decided to receive treatment after “the two most difficult years [she’s] gone through.”
It seemed that finally, after secretly living on her mental illness for years, Carey was ready to speak without shame. “I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear that someone would expose me,” he said, before adding, “I sought and received treatment, put positive people around me and did what I love again: writing songs and doing music. »
Bebe Rexha is using her bipolar diagnosis to help her fans.
Since entering the music business in 2014, Bebe Rexha has been a role model for body positivity. “I was nominated for two Grammys, and it was a great moment,” the pop star revealed on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2019, adding that many fashion designers did not want to dress her for the event because they claimed she was “too big.” She continued: “It hurt because I have struggled with my weight all my life … but you also want to be healthy.”
It’s not just about body positivity that the “Last Hurray” singer wants to talk: Rexha has also become a champion of mental health. Opening about living with bipolar disorder in a 2024 interview with Me , she explained, “He screwed me up a bit for a moment … I didn’t want to think something was wrong with me.” The star had previously publicly discussed having bipolar with her fans, and the Twitter had announced it in 2019. While talking to Me about this decision, Rexha said: “I felt that by opening up to my fans I finally said, ‘I’m not going to be jailed for this’. And maybe it will make someone not feel imprisoned, at that moment. ”
Demi Lovato has struggled with her mental health.
Demi Lovato has had a difficult time in the spotlight since her Disney-era fame. “It all happened so fast,” he said in his 2017 documentary, Simply Complicated, adding: “Looking back, I think it was a lot for anyone, much less a child.” Tragically, the star began to crumble under the pressures of fame: hospitalized with an overdose, she struggled with drug and alcohol addictions, and battled a harmful eating disorder.
Throughout her battles, however, the “I Love Me” singer has become a mental health advocate, especially after receiving her bipolar diagnosis. According to Women’s Health , Lovato first discovered that she had bipolar disorder in 2011, after entering rehab “after years of fighting bulimia, cuts, and drug addiction.”
By 2015, Lovato became the spokesperson for a campaign called Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health. Chatting with Extra About her role as ambassador the following year, the successful “Sober” explained: “Be Vocal is an initiative that has come together to raise awareness of mental health in the United States.” Lovato added: “When I was 18, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and I was very open and talked about it at the time, so it was a natural decision for me to join Be Vocal and decide to make a difference. »
Russell Brand is trying to spread mental health awareness
Comedian Russell Brand suffered a losing streak with some pretty destructive tendencies in his life. As The Guardian puts it, the Arthur The Actor is “a ‘heroin addict and reformed crack’ and ‘sex addict’, who is quite open about a drug-degenerated past involving … mental illness.”
Growing up, “Brand was suspected of being bipolar and hypermanic, although he was only treated for depression.” When he started doing comedies, his fame “coincided with an escalation of his drug problems” or, as Brand said, “he was wrapped in a heroin quilt.” Ultimately, it was the comedian’s agent who sent him to rehab, and Brand has remained sober ever since.
In more recent years, Brand has turned a new leaf, trying to help others who suffer as much as he does. The celebrity has written books on recovery, has a podcast he calls Under the Skin , and a YouTube channel where he has talked about politics, spirituality and mental health. Brand has even drawn attention to other celebrities who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, such as Sinead O’Connor. Most importantly, the A-lister is now enjoying a quiet life with his family in England. “I’ve never been domestic before,” Brand The Guardian said in 2017. “Most of my life has been an extension of the great idea of what glamor would be like.”
David Harbor tackles his bipolar diagnosis with cheeseburgers and cigarettes
David Harbor’s love for acting goes back to his childhood. As Dartmouth Alumni Magazine revealed, the Stranger Things Star appeared on the stage of the kindergarten performance, playing the tin man in his school’s production of The Wizard of O z. “Not only did he learn his own lines to perfection,” reflected Ken, the father of Harbor, “but he also learned those of everyone else.” Unfortunately for the actor, something was brewing underneath his inquisitive behavior, and he quickly resorted to alcohol abuse as a teenager.
As a result, your substance use problem could have been the result of an even bigger problem. Speaking of Marc Maron WTF podcast (via Me ) in 2018, Harbor revealed that he had a “manic episode” that prompted his parents to register him at a mental center, followed by a bipolar diagnosis. “[It’s] really, really not as fun as you think it is,” Harbor explained of the facility, adding that it is that same institution that prescribed medication for his bipolar disorder. »I have been on bipolar medication for a long time, and I have had problems from time to time. I had a fight «.
Throughout it all, Harbor seems to have found its own way of dealing with the diagnosis: “I need to eat a cheeseburger, smoke cigarettes.” We are certain that Chief Hopper would do the same.
Kanye West’s bipolar diagnosis is not as simple as you think
Kanye West stunned the world in June 2018 with the release of his album, SM , which featured the following sentence on the album cover: “I hate being bipolar, it’s amazing.” The rapper also became real about his mental health on the song, “Yikes,” calling his disorder his “superpower.” For People , West raps, “There’s no disability, I’m a superhero.” So is the outspoken rapper really bipolar?
He seemed to think that, and even spoke to David Letterman about it in his Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs An Introduction (via Newsweek ) “If you don’t take medicine every day to stay in a certain state, it has the potential to increase,” West revealed. If that’s not all, the rapper “Famous” also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to bring the point home in August 2018: “I think it’s important for us to have open conversations about mental health.”
Well, all things considered, it’s quite strange that a few months later, in October 2018, Yeezy backed off on some of his statements. In meeting with President Donald Trump, West told a group of reporters in the Oval Office: “I was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, I was connected to a neuropsychologist… He looked at my brain… It was not actually bipolar; I was sleep deprived «. Hmm We’ll let you decide.
This babble showed that the mental health stigma is fading
Is there a time when Sinead O’Connor’s life is the center of attention? Hasn’t it been controversial? Probably not, but an incident in 2012 made fans worry about the “Mandinka” singer.
O’Connor originally revealed her bipolar diagnosis in 2007, during a conversation on The Oprah Winfrey Show (via The Star ). For 2012, the singer canceled all the tours she had scheduled that year due to her illness, and also publicly sought help on Twitter, asking his fans to recommend a psychiatrist. Things got really tense the following year when Miley Cyrus released her music video “Wrecking Ball,” citing O’Connor’s 1990 hit “Nothing Compares 2U.” After the rumors reached O’Connor, the singer wrote Cyrus an open letter (via The Guardian ), warning her that the music industry was “blowing her up.”
Things didn’t go too well for Cyrus, and the young pop star came under fire after she responded to O’Connor by tweeting a screenshot of O’Connor’s original tweets from 2012 where the Irish singer was clearly ill, and He compared her to the troubled former child star, Amanda Bynes. Things got ugly, O’Connor responded to Cyrus, and even Boy George (of all people) got involved, tweeting back to the “Malibu” singer, “Is your kindness overwhelming? In any case, this entire debacle was a positive look at how far we’ve come with the closure of the mental health stigma and bullying.
Catherine Zeta-Jones bipolar disorder suddenly appeared
Catherine Zeta-Jones may no longer appear in big, juicy Hollywood roles in the reg, but is something brewing below the surface? After all, the star has an extremely recognizable face, has an Academy Award to her credit, and is married to another Tinseltown legend, Michael Douglas.
Well, it appears that the couple went through a difficult period, particularly after Douglas revealed his diagnosis of stage four throat cancer in 2010. That same year, the prolific actor found himself in a bitter dispute with his ex-wife, Diandra. Douglas, for rights to profits of the financial world continued. Like ABC News The following year, the stress of Douglas’s life also affected Zeta-Jones, causing the star to discover her bipolar diagnosis, which, as the media points out, “can strike at any time in the life of a person and often caused by prolonged [stress] ».
Fortunately, it appears that Zeta-Jones is managing his disorder quite well, and is even considering passing on awareness of his condition to a younger generation. When asked about it Extra If she plans to talk to her children about bipolar disorder, the actress replied: “Sure I will … In America it is much more open, in Britain we have that stiff upper lip.”
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s bipolar diagnosis was a wake-up call
There was a time when Jean-Claude Van Damme was at the top of Tinseltown’s elite. After starring in a series of action movies in the early ’90s, Van Damme apparently disappeared. So what happened? “I was tired,” said The Guardian in 2012, adding, “All I was playing was making money. Jim Carrey was paid a fortune. And I wanted to play with the system ». The actor was referring to a three-movie contract that Universal offered him in 1994, with a salary of $ 12 million. Van Damme “demanded” $ 20 million, prompting the studio to “blacklist” him.
The Double Impact Star’s personal life was also falling apart. As The Guardian wrote: “He was partying: crashing cars into nightclubs, fighting paparazzi, being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.” Van Damme was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but it was also a wake-up call for the actor who suddenly struggles.
Getting serious, the celebrity got sober, went to the gym and returned with his third wife. He has also been trying to rekindle his career. “I am trying to be a better actor”, he reflected before the media, reiterating even more the notion of Rolling Stone in 2017. “I train differently, like differently, I try to speak less quickly because I have a lot of passion for the project” . At the time of writing, the actor has a few movies in production, so there may be a comeback on the cards. We will be waiting for you, JCVD.
Brian Wilson says ‘God only knows’ how he fixed his life in ruins
Brian Wilson was at the peak of his career in the early 1960s as the iconic singer and songwriter for the Beach Boys. “The music seemed to flow from him in a relentless torrent, [with] songs so dazzling in their perfection” The Guardian wrote in 2011. It is the same rise to the top, however, that took its toll on the singer of “God only knows ».
Beyond the lights of the A list, Wilson had a nervous breakdown, one “brought on by his incredible workload,” which consisted of writing and producing “nine Beach Boys albums and 16 singles,” and along with his growing addiction. to LSD. “I told a lot of people that they don’t take psychedelic drugs,” Wilson revealed to Rolling Stone in 2016. “It’s mentally dangerous to take.” Finally, 15 years after the Beach Boys arrived on the scene, Wilson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As the Daily Mail revealed, the celebrity became an inmate, with his life eventually “taken by a doctor who practically kept him prisoner in his own home and controlled him by prescribing excess medication” for nearly ten years.
These days, it seems that Wilson has returned to his old self, regularly on tour and acting. He hopes that fans will also take away an important factor about his life story, telling Rolling Stone: “I want people to realize that drugs can be very harmful and dangerous … the fight for mental health is the result of bad drugs ».
Mel Gibson’s bipolar diagnosis has been debated among experts
Mel Gibson’s fall from Hollywood grace has been heavily documented. Who can forget his infamous DUI arrest in 2006, where he was allegedly caught telling officers that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world”? How about in 2010, when you were overheard on a tape allegedly yelling racial slurs at your now ex-wife, Oksana Grigorieva?
In short, is Mel Gibson just another “jerk” on the A list? Well it’s not that simple. According to a 2010 ABC News article, the Brave Heart actor actually revealed his bipolar diagnosis in the 2008 documentary, Performance Class of 1977 . “I had very good highs but some very low lows,” Gibson said. “I recently discovered that I am a depressive maniac.” While it may be difficult to forgive and forget Gibson’s various tirades, there is a chance that the celebrity actually does have a mental health disorder. “Based on what we are seeing with these episodes of anger followed by apparently normal periods in between, that could be a classic symptom of bipolar disorder,” explained psychiatrist Dr. Dale Archer.
However, not everyone is convinced. “Typically, in a manic episode, the conversation is very quick … he’s uttering those curses,” said psychologist Melody Anderson of Gibson’s complaint against his ex. “Sounds a lot more like a sociopathic personality type.” In any case, we are happy that Gibson’s outbursts are no longer the norm.