Anne Hathaway on her depression as a teen
Anne Hathaway recently told British magazine Tatler that she suffered from anxiety and depression as a teen, and has an interesting perspective on being a “different person” at the time:
“I said to Mom the other day, ‘Do you remember that girl? She has now gone, gone to sleep. She has said her piece and is gone.’ But then I thought, I so remember her, only she is no longer part of me. I am so sorry she was hurting for so long. It’s all so negatively narcissistic to be so consumed with self.” [Reported by Yahoo News]
Many people might take issue with thinking of depression as “consumed with self” – it is a provocative idea. But with my own past experience with depression, I think there is some validity to it.
Not that being “narcissistic” brings on depression, but that when you are suffering from it, your perspectives on life tend to get restricted to your dark moods.
Following her acclaimed acting in “Brokeback Mountain,” one of Hathaway’s next roles will be as novelist Jane Austen, who also reportedly experienced some depression.
According to the website Famous (Living) People Who Have Experienced Depression, women in the arts who have declared publicly they have had some form of the mood disorder include Sheryl Crow; Ellen DeGeneres; Patty Duke; Connie Francis; Mariette Hartley; Margot Kidder; Kristy McNichol; Kate Millett; Sinead O’Connor; Marie Osmond; Dolly Parton; Bonnie Raitt; Jeannie C. Riley; Roseanne, and Lili Taylor.
In my article Creativity and Depression, I note that development of a mood disorder may start early in life. C. Diane Ealy, Ph.D., in her book “The Woman’s Book of Creativity” writes: “Many studies have shown us that a young girl’s ideas are frequently discounted by her peers and teachers. In response, she stifles her creativity. The adult who isn’t expressing her creativity is falling short of her potential.”
Related Talent Development Resources pages:
depression : teen/young adult
depression : teen/young adult 2 articles books
depression articles
depression relief : products / programs
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