{"id":118050,"date":"2025-05-20T21:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T21:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/118050\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T21:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T21:14:17","slug":"lili-reinhart-and-lizzy-mcalpine-get-real-about-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/118050\/","title":{"rendered":"Lili Reinhart and Lizzy McAlpine Get Real About Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hard work of destigmatizing mental health struggles<\/a> like depression<\/a>, anxiety<\/a>, and OCD<\/a> can occasionally fall in the hands of public figures who choose to be up front about their own experiences. And in 2025, actor Lili Reinhart and musician Lizzy McAlpine are leading that charge. At Hearst Magazines\u2019 second annual Women\u2019s Health lab in New York City, the artists sat down with Cosmopolitan\u2019s editor-in-chief Willa Bennett<\/a> to explain why they are committed to keeping their fans aware it\u2019s not all happy thoughts all the time, even as famous faces. <\/p>\n

\"women's<\/p>\n

Getty Images for Hearst Magazines<\/p>\n

\u201cI was diagnosed with depression and anxiety when I was 12, so I\u2019ve been living with this for half my life,\u201d Lili said. \u201cAlthough I don\u2019t look at this as part of my identity, it\u2019s a part of my story. So when I started doing interviews, it felt organic to talk about my experience with my mental health. Not that there weren\u2019t other people in the industry talking about their mental health, but I was 19 at the time on this big show, and I think people were surprised I could have the capacity to feel depression. So I was constantly encouraged to keep talking about it.\u201d
<\/p>\n

\"women's<\/p>\n

Getty Images for Hearst Magazines<\/p>\n

Lizzy said while she is forthcoming about her struggles, setting up boundaries online has also been a protective measure for maintaining her own mental wellness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to post a lot more on social media, and I was open with my life. It kind of got to a point where I felt like people felt they had a say in what I was doing, and that was affecting me. So I\u2019ve really scaled back the amount I share because I need to make sure my mental health stays sane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"women's<\/p>\n

Getty Images for Hearst Magazines<\/p>\n

Lili adheres to similar boundary-setting practices: \u201cThere\u2019s a weird balance between wanting to be open about your mental health but also understanding how badly social media can affect your mental health. I try to be open and honest about when I\u2019m in a rut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Lizzy and Lili detailed how they see their artistic work as a release. Lizzy\u2014who is starring in the Tony-nominated musical Floyd Collins\u2014said the experience is \u201chealing [her] inner child\u201d and she finds working on her own music to be therapeutic. \u201cI have to write songs or I\u2019ll be depressed all the time. Without music, I don\u2019t know where I would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"women's<\/p>\n

Getty Images for Hearst Magazines<\/p>\n

As for Lili, she finds acting to be a helpful gateway, offering her a sense of ease in being emotional on set. \u201cSometimes a camera in my face gives me permission in a weird way. I know that whatever emotion I\u2019m presenting on film will be captured, and people will maybe be able to see themselves in it. So it\u2019s almost permission to let myself feel to the fullest extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Willa asked about the advice they\u2019d offer their younger selves, Lizzy said she\u2019d focus on the strength of sitting with emotions. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to feel everything you\u2019re feeling. I feel like for a while and still sometimes, if I\u2019m having a feeling I don\u2019t want to have, I\u2019m like, Okay, need to push that away. But if you don\u2019t let it move through you, then it will never go away completely. I wish someone had told me that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lili fully agreed. \u201cI viewed depression as a dragon that needed to be defeated rather than something I needed to learn to have compassion for. I\u2019ve always been on a quest to feel better\u2014to try medication and therapy and Reiki and all these different energetic healing works\u2014and it\u2019s not for this end goal of \u2018I need to be this to be happy.\u2019 It\u2019s sort of like \u2018How can I manage this and how can I live with this thing that\u2019s a part of me and my existence?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I [went] toward it with compassion and empathy, maybe it would have made my younger self a little bit more accepting when I was 12, 13 and not really understanding why I felt the way I felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

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