R U OK? Day is for starting conversations about mental health, but what do you do if someone says "No"? Here are some tips to help you have those difficult conversations about depression or suicide.
Mental health: How to talk about it with someone who needs help 1:02
BIG Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik opened up about her struggle with depression in a new video for Mental Health Awareness Month in the US.
In a candid video for the Child Mind Institute’s mental health awareness campaign, the star openly talked about her battle with depression.
“I think what I would have liked to tell my younger self about my mental health is that there are answers,” Bialik said in the video. “For me, some of those answers I had to wait years to find and I needed to get different help, which ended up being really the right kind of help.”
She continued on to encourage others who also struggle with mental health issues and said, “But I had this notion when I was younger that if something didn’t work once, or if a therapist didn’t work, or if a medication didn’t work, that nothing would ever work,” she adds. “I wish I could have told my younger self that something will work — it’s just going to take sometimes more research, sometimes more referrals, and really figuring things out like your life depends on it. Because for me, it did.”
A post shared by Child Mind Institute (@childmindinstitute) on May 10, 2018 at 7:11am PDT
Earlier this month, Ryan Reynolds opened up about his own mental health struggles.
“I have anxiety, I’ve always had anxiety,” the Deadpool star told The New York Times. “Both in the lighthearted ‘I’m anxious about this’ kind of thing, and I’ve been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun.”
With success from the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Reynolds’ early 20s became his “real unhinged phase.”
“I was partying and just trying to make myself vanish in some way,” he admitted.
This story originally appeared in Fox News and is republished here with permission.
Mayim Bialik has an important message for anyone struggling with mental health: Don’t give up on seeking help.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Child Mind Institute is partnering with a number of celebrities to release a daily video as part of its #MyYoungerSelf campaign to end the stigma attached to mental health and learning disorders. Recorded at home on their smartphones, the stars are sharing powerful, inspiring messages while speaking to a younger version of themselves.
PEOPLE has your exclusive first look at Bialik’s video, in which the Big Bang Theory star gets candid about her struggle with depression.
“I think what I would have liked to tell my younger self about my mental health is that there are answers,” she says. “For me, some of those answers I had to wait years to find and I needed to get different help, which ended up being really the right kind of help.”
“But I had this notion when I was younger that if something didn’t work once, or if a therapist didn’t work, or if a medication didn’t work, that nothing would ever work,” she adds. “I wish I could have told my younger self that something will work — it’s just going to take sometimes more research, sometimes more referrals, and really figuring things out like your life depends on it. Because for me, it did.”
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Mayim Bialik Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
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The social media campaign brings together more than three dozen actors, Olympians, authors, comedians, advocates and other influencers in the hopes of eliminating stigma by showing children and adolescents who struggle that there is a bright future ahead if they open up and ask for help.
Other celebrities participating this year include Kristen Bell, Mikaela Shiffrin, James Van Der Beek, Gabrielle Union, Brittany Snow and Sarah Silverman.
For more information, visit childmind.org.
Mayim Bialik advises those struggling with mental health issues and finding the right treatment plan not to give up.
“I think what I would have liked to tell my younger self about my mental health is that there are answers,” the “Big Bang Theory” actress said in a video for the Child Mind Institute (via People). “For me, some of those answers I had to wait years to find and I needed to get different help, which ended up being really the right kind of help.”
The 42-year-old, in addition to other celebrities such as Kristen Bell, James Van Der Beek, Gabrielle Union, Brittany Snow and Sarah Silverman, is hoping to eliminate the stigma against mental illness through the Child Mind Institute’s #MyYoungerSelf campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month.
The former child star previously told Page Six she’s been in therapy since she was 18, and almost gave up on seeking treatment because she became frustrated when she couldn’t find any relief.
“But I had this notion when I was younger that if something didn’t work once, or if a therapist didn’t work, or if a medication didn’t work, that nothing would ever work,” she said. “I wish I could have told my younger self that something will work — it’s just going to take sometimes more research, sometimes more referrals, and really figuring things out like your life depends on it.
“Because for me, it did.”
