Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson got candid during her cover story with Variety’s Power of Women New York issue. The 48-year old actress revealed her personal struggles with mental health and anxiety and opened up about fame contributing to her condition.
Henson shared during her interview, “[Fame] was fun at first, but the older I get, the more private I want to be,’ she revealed. I think there’s a misconception with people in the limelight that we have it all together, and because we have money now and are living out our dreams, everything is fine. That’s not the case.”
I Suffer From Depression
Revealing that once the cameras cut and her days on set are done the actress told Variety, “I go home to very serious problems. I’m still a real human. I suffer from depression.”
She also shares that her anxiety kicks up each day and is something new that she is dealing with.
Henson revealed that she sees a therapist to help her navigate through some of her darkest moments, “You can talk to your friends, but you need a professional who can give you exercises. So that when you’re on the ledge, you have things to say to yourself that will get you off that ledge and past your weakest moments.”
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Ending the Stigma
Fighting to end the stigma of mental illness in the black community, Henson announced her charity, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018. The organization honors her late father who also struggled with mental health issues. Henson opened up about her father serving in the Vietnam War and struggling with his mental health once he returned home and how he received little to no help. Experiencing the death of her father also inspired Taraji to seek out a therapist for her son in hopes of breaking the cycle of suffering in silence, “When we started doing research and I started looking for a therapist that at least looked like him, so he could trust them” but Henson said it was like searching for a unicorn.
Doing the Work
Although Henson is struggling with her own bouts with mental illness, she walks the walk when it comes to her organization. During her press tour for the upcoming movie, ‘The Best of Emmies’ Henson spent her lunch break with young girls in Washington D.C. along with her childhood bestfriend, Traci Jenkins who also serves as the executive director of her foundation.
Henson wants to use her platform to get more therapists into schools and giving children the resources they need to cope with their mental health and work to break the cycle in the community.
