Empire star Taraji P. Henson has opened up about her battle with depression.
“I suffer from depression, My anxiety is kicking up, even more, every day, and I’ve never really dealt with anxiety like that. It’s something new,” Taraji said during an interview with Variety.
The Golden Globe-winning actress has since taken action and has gotten help.
“I talk to someone. I have a therapist that I speak to. That’s the only way I can get through it,” Henson told Variety.
For Henson, speaking out about her battle with depression is personal.
Last year, the actress started the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which is named after her father and works to eradicate the stigma with mental health issues in the black community.
Just two years before her father’s death, Henson’s ex-boyfriend William Lamar Johnson, the father of her son Marcell Johnson, was murdered.
After the two tragedies, Henson made it her mission to find her son a therapist. However, it wasn’t easy.
According to Taraji, besides talking to friends and family, it’s good to seek professional help because sometimes friends and family don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you the truth.
“I have a therapist that I speak to. That’s the only way I can get through it. 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,” she said.
“It’s a professional — someone who studies the human mind, and someone who has no stakes involved. Their job is to make sure you’re mentally sound, whatever that is and telling you the truth, which might hurt,” she added.
It was also a challenge for her in getting the right therapist.
“Going and talking to all these different therapists, that’s a craft. You’ve got to keep going until you find the right one. It’s like a relationship. I’ve got to feel comfortable because that’s the only way I’m going to keep coming back to you,” she said.