It's Ok To Not Be Ok

More public figures are now speaking up about their personal struggles with mental health issues hoping that their voice and journey will help change the stigma of mental health issues

- Jerrica Leong

In our fast pace world where our intensely competitive culture rewards achievement and success, depression is already rated as an epidemic in just the United States itself. According to Mel Schwartz, L.C.S.W. MPhil, a psychotherapist practicing in Westport, Connecticut, our community is turning visionless and passionless and is just mere systematic robots devoted to achieving success and often forgetting the balance in life that makes us humans. It is easy to fall into depression but it is not often an easy journey out of the issue. It takes a whole army to pull one out of depression and in some cases requires a few months of serious rehabilitation in specialized centers as the most effective way.

Popular stars like Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and most recently, Selena Gomez, have famously suffered from break downs and were checked into rehab for stints for some much-needed self-healing. Many celebrities have since spoken up about their struggles with various mental illnesses like our very own cover girl Alexandra Shipp who has admitted to attempting to end her life at 16 years old. When our editor Azza sat down with Alexandra, she illustrated how she had managed to chose life, recover from her depression and made a point that everyone’s struggles are different.

And those words rang true as it is obvious in celebrities just how many types of mental health struggles there are in the world. Singer-songwriter Adele admitted in 2016 that she suffered from severe postpartum depression after the birth of her son while Catherine Zeta-Jones had checked into rehab for a short stint to treat bipolar II disorder developed from caring for her husband Michael Douglas’ cancer. Even famous author, JK Rowling has admitted that she too battled with depression and suicidal thoughts while she worked around the stress as a penniless single mother while penning her first book.