Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States. They affect 18.1% of adults and 25.1% of children between the ages of 13 and 18. Many suffer in silence because of the stigma associated with any kind of mental illness, but we are grateful for those who speak openly about it, like the celebrities included in this gallery because it leads to others getting much-needed help.
It's normal to feel anxious from time to time, especially when you're dealing with a problem, facing challenges, going through changes, or making an important life decision. But the kind of anxiety that someone with an anxiety disorder experiences is different. It can be debilitating to the point of making it hard to live a normal life.
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An anxiety disorder does not discriminate. It doesn't care if you are rich, beautiful, famous, and by all accounts shouldn't have anything to supposedly worry about. It can take the form of generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, specific phobias, and more.
The good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. If you experience anxiety that gets in the way of doing normal everyday activities, you can seek help. Do not be ashamed of discussing your concerns with your doctor and seeking treatment. Anxiety disorders aren't you just being nerviosa or exagerada and they can't be cured with a cup of tea and prayer, no matter what your abuela tells you. They are actual medical conditions that should not be ignored. Take a cue from these celebrities and let go of any shame you may be feeling that is getting in the way of taking care of yourself or your children.
Aislinn Derbez is very candid about her anxiety issues.
Actress Aislinn Derbez shared with her followers in early November 2020 that she has been having panic attacks and that having to social distance and isolate has not been easy for her. She also shared that she has come to terms with her bouts of anxiety and uses them as an opportunity to reflect on what she needs to tend to and how she needs to heal. Her mental health is something that she takes seriously enough to regularly see a psychiatrist and psychologist.
J Balvin courageously shared his battles with anxiety.
The Colombian reggaeton artist should be awarded a badge of courage for his candor when it comes to discussing his struggle with anxiety. He has always been candid about his mental health issues. For example, on November 3, 2020, he shared via Instagram Stories that he's been going through a tough time this year and is dealing with anxiety and depression. He said in Spanish: "Like any human being, I've had some challenges. In this case it's with anxiety and some depression. I don't like acting or faking my happiness or that everything is perfect. I'm like any human being. I'm fragile and vulnerable, possibly more than all of you." He then went on to thank everyone for supporting him and said that soon he would be back cracking jokes with everyone, but for now he just can't act like everything is OK.
Prince Harry is no stranger to panic attacks.
Prince Harry was only 12 years old when his mother Princess Diana, died in a car crash. He has shared in an interview that after his mother died he would get panic attacks whenever he was in a crowded room. “In my case, every single time I was in any room with loads of people, which is quite often, I was just pouring with sweat, my heart beating—boom, boom, boom, boom—literally, just like a washing machine," he said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, get me out of here now. Oh, hang on, I can’t get out of here, I have got to just hide it.’” When he was 28, after experiencing what he describes as “two years of total chaos,” he realized that he needed professional help dealing with his mental health and he sought it out.
Jennifer Lopez is a freakin' goddess!
But even goddesses can suffer from anxiety. In her book True Love, Jennifer shared how severe anxiety crushed her in 2002. “I had worked maybe 55 days in a row without a day off and shooting on a film, and I just one day was walking towards the set and every time I walked towards the set my heart would start beating and I would start getting frightened,” she wrote. After it got so bad that her vision blurred and she felt like she couldn't move, she went to the hospital where a physician told her that her work had taken a toll on both her body and mind.
Bruno Mars is not immune to anxiety.
In 2016, Bruno Mars talked to Rolling Stone about the anxiety that comes from being a perfectionist. He might make it all seem effortless and second nature, but a lot of work goes into making hit after hit, and a lot of worry, too.
Jessica Alba's need for control put her in a panic.
“I used to unplug every single appliance in my house. Or I’d double-check every door in my house to make sure it was locked at night,” Jessica Alba revealed in a CosmoGirl interview. “It was like a panic came over me and I had to do something, and once I did it, I was OK. … It was really me needing to control something.”
Kourtney Kardashian feels physically sick when anxiety strikes.
Kourtney feels nauseous when anxiety hits her. “When my anxiety is extreme, it feels like my body is constantly burning calories all day long,” she wrote on the blog she used to have before her current website, Poosh. “On these kind of days, I try to avoid caffeine, alcohol and too much sugar–basically anything that could make it worse.”
Kim Kardashian had anxiety even before being robbed.
Even before being robbed at gunpoint in Paris, Kim was dealing with anxiety issues. On an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians that was filmed before the Paris robbery, Kim talked about how certain things like driving will make her incredibly anxious. “I just want to get past my anxiety and live life. … I never had anxiety, and I want to take back my life,” she said.
Gisele Bündchen had such bad anxiety she considered suicide.
"I had a wonderful position in my career, I was very close to my family, and I always considered myself a positive person, so I was really beating myself up. Like, 'Why should I be feeling this?' I felt like I wasn’t allowed to feel bad but I felt powerless. Your world becomes smaller and smaller, and you can’t breathe, which is the worst feeling I’ve ever had," she told People. "I actually had the feeling of, 'If I just jump off my balcony, this is going to end, and I never have to worry about this feeling of my world closing in.'"
Camila Cabello, like so many other great performers, struggles with anxiety.
Camila has been open about her anxiety issues in the past and on July 21, she posted the above picture with a long caption describing how she copes. This is just part of her caption (you can read the rest on her post):
I remember growing up hearing stories of the singers I loved, all the stories sounded the same, kids who would grow up performing for their families and putting on talent shows for their parents when they were little who grew up to be dazzling to me. I was the opposite, I never ever sang in front of my parents or friends and would get flustered when they would ask me to, I sang in my room when my parents left for Walmart and cried when one day I saw them filming me through the crack of the door, I got teary eyed when people sang happy birthday to me because people looking at me actually made me overwhelmed. I was generally incredibly nervous and socially anxious when I was little; and people always have this look of disbelief when I tell them that. I did an interview the other day where I got it again, the interviewer said something along the lines of “So… how’d you end up here?” The answer is, I feel like my whole life there’s been two Camila’s in me. There’s little Camila that is terrified of the unknown, is aware of all the ways everything can go wrong, (actually can picture them vividly lol), and thinks it’s safer to stay home than to play ball. Then there’s the other Camila. And she knows what she wants out of life, is aware of how little time I have to let little Camila run the show while time passes by, and grabs young me by the hand and forces her out the door saying “Let’s go. You’ll survive, and I’m not gonna miss out on this. Let’s go.” And that is literally how I can sum up how I’ve gotten to this point in my life.
Oprah Winfrey was scared anxiety would get her in serious trouble.
Oprah revealed in a 2013 interview with Access Hollywood that anxiety led her to have a nervous breakdown. "In the beginning, it was just sort of speeding and a kind of numbness and going from one thing to the next thing to the next thing,” she said. “I will tell you when I realized that I thought, 'All right, if I don't calm down, I'm gonna be in serious trouble.'"
Kristen Bell takes medication for anxiety and she's not ashamed to say so.
Kristen has dealt with anxiety since she was a child and she is not ashamed of taking medication to help. She talked about it during in 2016 interview where she said: “I still take it today and I have no shame in that, because my mom had said to me, ‘If you start to feel this way, talk to your doctor, talk to a psychologist, see how you want to help yourself.’"
Miley Cyrus started having anxiety issues on set.
In a 2015 interview with Marie Claire, Miley shared that she would have anxiety attacks while filming Hannah Montana. "I would have anxiety attacks," she told the magazine. "I'd get hot flashes, feel like I was about to pass up or throw up. It would happen a lot before shows, and I'd have to cancel. Then the anxiety started coming from anxiety. I would be with my friends, thinking, I should be having so much fun. You get in this hole that seems like you're never going to be able to get out of."
Chrissy Teigen says there’s nothing wrong with taking meds.
She opened up about her anxiety and how it literally feels like, "every step I take feels a little shaky." She added: "It’s such a weird feeling that you wouldn’t know unless you have really bad anxiety… You feel like everyone is looking at you." Teigen admits to taking medication to treat her mental illness and wants to fight the stigma that meds makes a person “weak.”
Emma Stone has become a strong advocate for mental health awareness.
The actress shared her personal experiences with anxiety in a campaign or the Child Mind Institute. "It has always been something that I’ve lived with and it flares up in big ways at different times in my life," she shared. "Sometimes while it’s happening, like while I’m in a phase of real turmoil, or the anxiety is very strong, it feels like it’s never gonna end–but it does.” She’s learned over the years how to manage it. "It ebbs and flows in such a way that as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned how to manage it with so many tools and there are so many tools you can learn for it… I truly, as a kid, did not think I would be able to move away from home or be apart from people that I had separation anxiety with.”
Lena Dunham struggles with both anxiety and OCD.
"I’m a writer, director, an actor, and I have obsessive compulsive disorder and a generalized anxiety disorder that leads to dissociative anxiety,” she shared in an exclusive video interview with People magazine. "I feel so lucky that my parents were people who were comfortable with therapy, with medication, and conversations about anxiety. I would tell my younger self that there’s no shame in asking a teacher for help, telling a friend that you’re uncomfortable, and that it’s just the same as falling down and scraping your knee.”
Selena Gomez has struggled with depression and anxiety.
She cancelled a tour back in 2014 to enter into treatment. "Tours are a really lonely place for me,” she told Vogue. "My self-esteem was shot. I was depressed, anxious. I started to have panic attacks right before getting on stage, or right after leaving the stage.”
Gina Rodriguez struggles with anxiety.
She opened up about her disorder on Instagram. She posted a 10-second video of herself bare-faced and smiling but in the caption revealed how she suffers from anxiety. "It’s always great to be in front of the lens but this time it was just me. Bare and exposed in the streets of LA. No makeup. No styling. Just me. I suffer from anxiety. And watching this clip I could see how anxious I was but I empathize with myself. I wanted to protect her and tell her it’s ok to be anxious, there is nothing different or strange about having anxiety and I will prevail. I like watching this video. It makes me uncomfortable but there is a freedom I feel maybe even an acceptance. This is me. Puro Gina.”
Adele suffers from anxiety attacks.
She has serious stage fright and it’s something she’s still working on overcoming. "I have anxiety attacks, constant panicking on stage, my heart feels like it’s going to explode because I never feel like I’m going to deliver, ever.”
Amanda Seyfried has sought therapy for anxiety.
"I have a lot of anxiety and I’ve been struggling with my whole life,” she told Vogue. "So I have been working through it. I’m terrified, but this is exactly what I wanted."
Kristen Stewart struggles with anxiety.
"I went through so much stress and periods of strife. I would have panic attacks,” she told Elle UK. "I literally always had a stomach ache. And I was a control freak and I couldn’t anticipate what was going to happen in a given situation, so I’d be like, 'Maybe I’m going to get sick'… It’s kind of remarkable. I just grew out of it, but that’s not to say I don’t get worried.”
Demi Lovato has struggled with eating disorders, addiction, and anxiety.
She has even experienced anxiety attacks at award shows or performances. "The only thing that sucks about being in the public eye is doing some appearances. I don’t like award shows," she told Nylon magazine. "I don’t like award shows. Sometimes, a fan will come up and automatically put their arms around me and I just shut down and start hyperventilating."
