Inspiring Celebrity Quotes on Mental Health: Powerful Words from the Stars

Celebrities aren’t immune to mental illness. In fact, more and more famous people are opening up about their mental health struggles, offering support to those who are also struggling with similar disorders.  We’re all just people out here being people—and these great celebrity mental health quotes are proof of that. Check out some important reminders and real talk worth saving or sticking on your mirror. Take what works and leave the rest. 

Selena Gomez has shared many mental health awareness quotes. She recently opened up about her bipolar disorder diagnosis on Miley Cyrus’s talk show “Bright Minded.” The singer, actress, and makeup guru shared that she frequently experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression. She didn’t realize her condition until she sought out a more advanced mental health treatment. Based on her experiences with bipolar disorder, Gomez shared:  

Mental health quote:

“I was equal parts terrified and relieved [when I was diagnosed] – terrified because the veil was lifted but relieved that I finally had the knowledge of why I had suffered with various depressions and anxieties for so many years. I never had full awareness or answers about this condition. When I have more information, it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me once I know it.” 

Loved by many, singer Shawn Mendes is one of the many people who suffer from anxiety. It wasn’t until he experienced this condition that he understood how debilitating it could be. He even used his condition as an inspiration for one of his hit songs, “In My Blood.” Since then, he’s continuously opened up about his achievements despite his anxiety and has even shared:  

Mental health quote:

“I still struggle with it, but just remember every day that everyone deals with some level of anxiety or pressure. We’re all in it together.” 

“For me, depression is not sadness,” actress Kristen Bell wrote in a 2016 piece for TIME Magazine. “It’s not having a bad day and needing a hug. It gave me a complete and utter sense of isolation and loneliness. Its debilitation was all-consuming, and it shut down my mental circuit board. I felt worthless, like I had nothing to offer, like I was a failure. Now, after seeking help, I can see that those thoughts, of course, couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s important for me to be candid about this so people in a similar situation can realize that they are not worthless and that they do have something to offer. We all do.”

Learning to identify which thoughts are not serving you or aren’t truly “You” can break down this thinking. Therapy helps to identify what is going on and ongoing talk therapy can help to treat negative thought patterns. 

Mental health quote:

“Therapy can actually rewire the brain and create new neural pathways for healthier and accurate thoughts.”

In 2016, Gaga penned an open letter to fans on the Born This Way Foundation, which she founded with her mom to empower youth and inspire bravery. Leading by example, she disclosed that she lives with a mental illness and that she takes medication, two difficult things for people with mental illnesses to disclose to others.

Mental health quote:

“I believe that the most inexpensive and perhaps the best medicine in the world is words. Kind words … positive words … words that help people who feel ashamed of an invisible illness to overcome their shame and feel free.”

She struggled with anxiety and panic attacks as a child growing up in Arizona. “I would go to the nurse at lunch most days and just wring my hands. I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later. I just needed to know that no one was going to die and nothing was going to change,” she shared in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Mental health quote:

“The first time I had a panic attack, I was at my friend’s house. And I thought the house was burning down. I called  my mom and she brought me home. For the next three years it just wouldn’t stop.”

In a 2021 episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast, Liam Payne said he’d experienced suicidal thoughts during his time in One Direction.

Mental health quote:

“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be,” he said. “Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it… There is some stuff that I have definitely never, never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. And it was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that, I was like, ‘Right, I need to fix myself.’ “

In July 2023, Payne announced he was celebrating six months of sobriety, telling fans in a YouTube video that he’d spend nearly 100 days in a rehab facility in Louisiana.

The star said he enjoyed being off the grid, as it helped him focus on his recovery. Still, it wasn’t until he attended a Hans Zimmer concert in January 2023 that he had the a-ha moment that inspired him to give up drinking.

It’s so important to have open and honest conversations about mental health. It can help you feel better in realizing you don’t have to struggle alone, and it helps end the pointless stigma around having a mental health condition. We hope these celebrity mental health quotes can comfort you and help you start that conversation.