Image Source: Getty / Mark Sagliocco
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and after more than a year of navigating one stressful situation after the next, it’s important to have candid conversations about managing our mental health. In an Instagram graphic on Wednesday, Ryan Reynolds opened up about his personal experience with anxiety in an effort to inspire fans to be honest about their mental health needs with themselves and their loved ones.
“We don’t talk enough about mental health and we don’t do enough to destigmatize talking about it.”
“May is almost over. It’s also Mental Health Awareness Month. Which brings me to this,” the graphic reads. “One of the reasons I’m posting this so late is I overschedule myself and important things slip. And one of the reasons I overschedule myself is my lifelong pal, anxiety. I know I’m not alone, and more importantly, to all those like me who overschedule, overthink, overwork, over-worry and over-everything, please know you’re not alone. We don’t talk enough about mental health and we don’t do enough to destigmatize talking about it. But, as with this post, better late than never. I hope . . . “
Reynolds first addressed his personal history with anxiety in a 2018 interview with The New York Times, saying, “I have anxiety, I’ve always had anxiety. 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.” Following his most recent statement, Reynolds’s celebrity best friend Hugh Jackman commended the Deadpool star’s courage in opening up about his mental health history. “Mate — your honesty is not only brave but, I’m positive will help countless others who struggle with anxiety too. Good on you!” he wrote. Read Reynolds’s full Instagram post here.