Celebrities: they’re just like us. No, most of us don’t have massive fandoms or are worldwide sensations. But most people do struggle with mental health, seeking help and self-love and acceptance.
Taylor Swift is a record-breaking international superstar. She has also openly struggled with an eating disorder. Harry Styles is a multi-Grammy-winning artist who rose to fame as a teenager in a boy band. He also openly discusses the importance of mental health while praising his own therapist. Lewis Capaldi is known for his heartfelt lyrics, moving performances and humorous outlook on life via social media. He’s also known for openly struggling with tourettes and sharing how this affects his life as a person and performer.
You are not alone if you are dealing with shame and self-doubt regarding your own mental health. If you are inspired to seek mental health help or have questions about therapy, click here to be connected with a qualified professional in Chicago.
Breaking stigmas around mental health disorders is critical. Stigmatization is defined as the discrimination or devaluation expressed towards, and experienced by, people with a mental health condition. The fear of stigmatization has its own negative consequences such as worsened psychological condition, inhibitions to seek help, poor treatment adherence and even reduced life expectancy.
On the other end of the spectrum, advocacy is a crucial part of decreasing stigma. Advocacy delivers facts and information to influential people and organizations, as well as economical, social and political institutions. And these celebs, it turns out, are incredible advocates for healthier approaches to talking about mental health.
Celebrities are a cornerstone to an unexpected approach that’s helping to change minds and improve knowledge about how our brains, bodies and hearts work—and it goes further than their art.
Artists, musicians and celebrities are important advocates for their own mental health. From Simone Biles excusing herself from Olympic competition to Selena Gomez publicly discussing her break from social media; these celebs are serious about prioritizing their mental health. Their influence encourages fans and casual consumers alike to prioritize self-care practices while normalizing therapy and seeking help for mental health. It champions courage and hope when such visible figures open up their lives to vulnerability and criticism in order to share these important messages.
Artists, singers and actors are not the only ones who can utilize creativity to aid in self-care, coping and self-acceptance. Many therapeutic interventions encourage creative outlets for exploring, processing and coping with our emotions.
Since the dawn of time, all people and all cultures have used creative expression such as dance, song and art for healing rituals and practices. Studies have found creative and artistic outlets have had benefits such as aesthetic engagement, involvement of the imagination, sensory activation, evocation of emotion, cognitive stimulation, social interaction, physical activity and engagement with themes of health.
It is promising that there is clear and readily available scientific evidence that art therapy engages the mind in ways that help to promote self-esteem, well-being and healthy processing of emotions.
Celebrity is often synonymous with success. So to hear people who are talented, well known, and successful also struggle with their mental health sometimes delivers an important message: mental health problems do not discriminate. No amount of success can effectively drive away the grip of depression or anxiety once it’s taken hold. Even those we respect for their artistic craft or skillset must do the hard work of recognizing the symptoms of mental health challenges in their lives and taking steps to make changes.
Lack of mental health awareness is a public health crisis that has made great strides in part due to the advocacy and de-stigmatization that people with powerful platforms and influence are actively working towards.
The more we talk about mental health, the more we destigmatize mental health and promote positivity around the conversation.
Promoting positivity instills hope. Hope instills promise of a future.
Singer-songwriter Halsey believes in educating her fans and followers (a mere 31.2 million people on Instagram) on her lived experience with bipolar disorder. When Halsey was confronted with someone else’s perception of what Bipolar should be in an interview, she challenged that stigma.
Halsey’s words remind us all that what we see is not always what we get, and we shouldn’t be so quick to judge: “They see a young woman who’s achieving all these goals, and they think, ‘Well, there really can’t be anything hindering her from that.”
Sharing her experience spreads important information that can be inspiring or motivational for someone to consider their own mental health. Sharing stories of symptoms, diagnosis, and therapy bolsters those who hear them with hope that they too can get help.
Incorporating self-care practices into your daily routine can help nurture your well-being and promote positive changes to your mental health and mindset. Creativity as a self-care practice encourages a growth mindset: which is defined as learning from challenging or different experiences and viewing them as learning opportunities. The purpose here is not perfection but building resilience through various avenues of creative expression.
Celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Oprah Winfrey have shared their own self-care practices; ranging from yoga, meditation, taking walks, listening to music, journaling and spending time in nature. Celebrities sharing their tips for self-care and well-being can help you get an idea of where to start developing your own self-care routine and see what works for you. But we also invite you to consider that it might just be a starting point. Working with a therapist one-on-one will help you seek out the blind spots in your life and develop the skills needed to cope with what life has in store.
If your interest has been piqued by high-profile stars sharing their mental health struggles to destigmatize them, we can give you more information on the importance of self-care and how you can personalize a routine for yourself.
