Amanda Seyfried has consistently been open about her mental health. In 2010, she told Glamour that her anxiety made it difficult to have a social life. "It's sad, actually, because my anxiety keeps me from enjoying things as much as I should at this age," Seyfried said at the time. She also described her panic attacks, saying that "'it feels like you're going to die. There's nothing scarier."
In a 2016 interview with Allure, Seyfried once again spoke out about living with OCD and anxiety. "I'm on Lexapro, and I'll never get off of it. I've been on it since I was 19, so 11 years. I'm on the lowest dose," she shared. "I don't see the point of getting off of it. Whether it's [a] placebo or not, I don't want to risk it. And what are you fighting against? Just the stigma of using a tool?"
The actress also spoke about the stigma of mental illness and how it's treated differently than physical illness. "A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category [from other illnesses], but I don't think it is. It should be taken as seriously as anything else," she told Allure. "You don't see the mental illness: It's not a mass; it's not a cyst. But it's there. Why do you need to prove it? If you can treat it, you treat it."
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
