Posts in Speak Out Sunday
Sandra Oh

Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh opened up about her challenges with mental health following the success of the popular ABC show. Her performance in a leading role as Dr. Christina Yang won five different emmys and significantly contributed to her rise to fame. In an interview with Women’s Health, Oh described her fame as traumatic and discussed the stress that comes with constantly protecting her privacy.

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Michael B. Jordan

In light of the much-anticipated release of the new and final Avengers film, it is important to look at the ways in which embodying a character, both physically and psychologically, can affect an actor or actress. Though portraying a heroic or fantastical character can be emboldening and empowering, playing the villain can also be damaging, an after-effect experienced by Michael B. Jordan.

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Lana Condor

Alongside her work both in advocating for increased diversity in entertainment and for environmental conservation, Condor is also passionate about positive perceptions of body image. Before she became serious about acting, Condor was classically trained in ballet and contemporary dance. It was a competitive environment to grow up in, and the pressure to look and perform a certain way inevitably affected her own body image.

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Chris Evans

Evans revealed that his anxiety almost kept him from accepting the role of Captain America. He knew that the press and a large amount of public speaking would be involved in becoming Cap, and he knew that his anxiety would be very loud in this environment. After talking to his friends, family, and therapist, he said, “It started to feel like maybe the thing you’re most scared of is exactly what you should do.”

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Shawn Mendes

Although most of Mendes’ songs in his first two albums are centered around relationships and romance, the experiences he drew from were very ambiguous. However, his self-titled 2018 album brings something different. His song ‘In My Blood’ contains emotional lyrics, including: “Help me, it’s like the walls are caving in. Sometimes I feel like giving up, no medicine is strong enough, someone help me, I’m crawling in my skin.”

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Lady Gaga: Part 3

Lady Gaga became the face for mental illness at the 2019 Grammys with her inspiring and emotionally raw speech that took a twist, both literally and figuratively, on the hearts of the millions who connected with her message. Upon receiving the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her duet “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper, Gaga quickly moved past the typical statements of appreciation to God, her family, costars, and industry personnel to a reflective statement regarding the film that produced “Shallow.”

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Clifford Beers

Clifford Beers is widely regarded as the pioneer of the “American mental hygiene movement.” This movement began when Beers learned he was suffering from bipolar disorder while working on Wall Street. This eventually led him to attempt suicide and spend years in and out of hospitals. Beers’ firsthand experience with a lack of proper treatment for mental health in hospitals spurred his work in the field.

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Michael Phelps

When you hear the name Michael Phelps, what comes to mind? Swimming, perhaps? Water, pools, the Olympics? Gold medals (23 of them!)? Any and all of these are reasonable connections to make. If you look up images of Michael Phelps online, most of them involve one or more of those things. But there’s another facet to Phelps’ life that is less conspicuous: depression.

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