Is it just me or have you noticed that this month’s entertainment magazines are all touting “exclusive” interviews with members of Hollywood’s younger set who are going public with their battles with depression?
Several weeks ago I read that actor Zach Braff admitted that in real life he resembles the depressed character he plays in the movie “Garden State” more than the engaging doctor he plays on the NBC sitcom “Scrubs.”
“I think I suffer from some mild depression,” the 31-year-old actor recently said in Parade magazine. “So to have millions of people go, ‘I watched your movie and related’ was the ultimate affirmation that I’m not a freak.”
A few weeks later, Braff’s ex-girlfriend, singer/actress, Mandy Moore admitted she is also struggling with depression.
“A few months ago I felt really low, really sad – depressed for no reason,” Moore told Jane magazine in its February issue. “I’m a very positive person, and I’ve always been glass-half-full. So it was like someone flipped a switch in me.”
Moore and Braff broke up last year, but the actress told the magazine the separation did not trigger her depression, though it may have exacerbated it. “The breakup added to what I was going through, but it’s not the complete reason,” she said. “It definitely doesn’t help if you’re already in that place.”
The 22-year-old actress wouldn’t pinpoint what else might have caused her depression, but did reveal it prompted her to do some serious introspection.
“I’ve been going through this really crazy time in my life,” she says in Jane. “I’m asking myself life-altering questions, like ‘Who am I? Where do I fit in this world? What am I doing? What do I want to do? Am I living to my full potential?’ ”
I’m not a professional mental health care provider, but I wonder what the implications are (or if there are any) when two people who both suffer from depression date each other? Also, neither Braff nor Moore mentioned that they have sought professional help for their blues. It seems both self-diagnosed themselves, and used the label of depression to describe their condition. I’d be curious to see if either has consulted with a professional since the interviews and whether a doctor agreed with their analysis.
Finally, the latest celebrity to discuss depression with the media is actress Anne Hathaway. She recently told Britain’s Tatler magazine that she suffered from anxiety and depression in her teens, but she “rejected medication and instead worked through her troubles.”
Hathaway told the magazine she is now a mere shadow of her former depressed self. The 24-year-old actress also made a comment, which I found quite interesting. She told Tatler: “It’s all so negatively narcissistic to be so consumed with self.”
Personally, I never considered depression a narcissistic condition, but I can see how one could certainly come to that conclusion. I wonder what a professional would say?
What do you think?
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