“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson said she has depression and she’s seeing a therapist about her growing anxiety.
In a candid interview with Variety posted Tuesday, the Golden Globe-winning actress delved into the mental health issues she is facing.
“I suffer from depression,” Henson said. “My anxiety is kicking up even more every day, and I’ve never really dealt with anxiety like that. It’s something new.”
Henson, 48, said the lack of privacy she experiences as a public figure has contributed to her distress. “It wears on me,” she conceded to the showbiz outlet. “It does. I have to be conscious about everything. Everything. Every move I make, everything that comes out of my mouth. I have to go over it. That’s not living.”
She urged others to seek help from a mental health professional, as she has. “You can talk to your friends, but you need a professional who can give you exercises,” she told Variety. “So that when you’re on the ledge, you have things to say to yourself that will get you off that ledge and past your weakest moments. It’s a professional — someone who studies the human mind and someone who has no stakes involved.”
The one-time Oscar nominee is among millions of Americans with depression. In 2018, Henson launched a foundation named after her father Boris, who, according to the charity’s website, “suffered with mental health challenges as a result of his tour of duty in the Vietnam War.”
Head over to Variety for the full interview.