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Having a mental health condition such as bipolar 1 disorder can feel isolating. You might not know anyone else with your diagnosis, which can make it seem like no one around you truly understands what you’re going through.
But you’re not alone. Researchers estimate that 40 million people around the world are living with bipolar disorder. That means many others know what it’s like to face the highs of mania and lows of depression.
Famous people are no exception. Many people in the public eye live with mental health conditions, and some have opened up about their experiences with bipolar disorder. Here are five celebrities who’ve shared what it’s like to live with bipolar 1 disorder.
Singer-songwriter Bleta “Bebe” Rexha is best known for her collaborations, including the chart-topper “Meant To Be,” a Grammy-nominated song recorded with the band Florida Georgia Line. The pop star is also the founder of Women in Harmony, an annual event uniting female songwriters, musicians, and other musical creatives.
In April 2019, Rexha shared on social media that she was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder. Since then, she has shared details of how bipolar 1 has affected her. “It made me feel just weird feelings, weird emotions, weird thoughts all the time. I’d be in the passenger seat of the car and I would want to open the door and jump out and just get … squashed, which is terrible,” she said in an interview with Self magazine.
Rexha also has premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome), and hormone changes before her period caused intense mood swings. “I would feel like my world was ending,” she said. “I would get into these funks and be really depressed and not want to leave my house.”
She now works with a therapist and psychiatrist, managing her condition with therapy and medication. Rexha explained her decision to seek bipolar 1 treatment: “I felt very sick, and there’s only so much you can take as a human being.”
Rexha decided to share her diagnosis with her 1.6 million followers. “I felt like me opening up to my fans was me finally saying, ‘I’m not going to be imprisoned by this.’ And maybe it’ll make somebody not feel imprisoned, in that moment, if they feel like they’re going through a rough time.”
Maurice Benard is best known for playing Sonny Corinthos, Jr., a beloved mob boss on the daytime soap “General Hospital.” His performance has earned him multiple Daytime Emmy Awards. What some fans may not know is that at age 22, Benard was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder.
The diagnosis came when Benard was hospitalized following a heated exchange with his parents. “I pretty much attacked my mother one night and told my mom and dad I was the devil,” which scared his parents enough to call the police, he said in an interview with BpHope.com. The next morning, his parents brought him to the hospital.
Later, Benard chose to bring his real-life diagnosis into his work. In 2006, at Benard’s request, “Sonny” was revealed to have bipolar disorder on “General Hospital.” However, in one dramatic scene, Benard said, he went too far. “I felt I was hearing my mom and dad speak as the actors were speaking,” he recalled. “Then I had an anxiety attack at the end of it. I thought I was having my fourth breakdown. So that was like ‘Oh no, what have I done?’”
Benard manages his condition by being active and consistently taking his meds. He’s used lithium, a mood-stabilizing medication, since that hospital stay more than 15 years ago.
Outside of acting, Benard works to raise awareness about mental health issues. He hosts the podcast “State of Mind” and advocates for mental wellness as a motivational speaker. In 2020, he published the memoir “Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me on and off General Hospital,” which became a New York Times bestseller.
Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, better known as Halsey, is a Grammy-nominated singer who has spoken openly about living with a bipolar diagnosis, although she hasn’t specified which type. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Halsey revealed that she wrote her third album during a manic episode. Writing songs during bipolar episodes allows her to better understand her condition, Halsey said.
Halsey described mania as “that thing in the back of our minds that drives us to outrageous thoughts. Like … you’re on top of a building, and you’re like, ‘What if I just jump?’” she said. “You are controlled by those impulses rather than logic and reason.” Mania is a defining feature of bipolar 1 disorder, and a milder version called hypomania may appear in other types.
Halsey also shared that she has admitted herself to the hospital when she sensed a severe episode coming on. “I’ve been committed twice since [I became] Halsey,” she said. “It’s been my choice. I’ve said to [my manager], ‘Hey, I’m not going to do anything bad right now, but I’m getting to the point where I’m scared that I might, so I need to go figure this out.’”
Singer and actor Selena Gomez rose to stardom on the Disney channel. In her 20s, she faced mental health challenges that led to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. “I’ve been to four treatment centers. I think when I started hitting my early 20s is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad,” she told Rolling Stone.
Gomez hasn’t said which type of bipolar disorder she has, but before her diagnosis, she also experienced bipolar psychosis — when someone loses touch with reality, sometimes hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there. Psychosis can occur with both types but is more common in bipolar 1 disorder.
Gomez has described manic and depressive episodes lasting for weeks or months. During one period of mania, she believed she had to buy a car for everyone she knew, she said. In periods of depression, she would isolate herself. “It was just me not being able to move from my bed. I didn’t want anyone to talk to me,” she said. “Sometimes it was weeks I’d be in bed, to where even walking downstairs would get me out of breath.” Gomez also shared that she’d had suicidal thoughts but didn’t act on them.
Note: If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or chatting online.
Finding the right medications proved difficult. Early treatments left Gomez feeling that she “was gone,” she said: “There was no part of me that was there anymore.” Since finding the right treatment plan, Gomez has started to heal. Her mental health story is featured in the Apple TV+ documentary “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.”
David Harbour is best known for his role as Jim Hopper on the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Behind the scenes, Harbour has been open about living with bipolar disorder, a diagnosis he received at age 25.
He hasn’t said which type of bipolar disorder he has, but Harbour has described periods of mania. In an interview on the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast, Harbour described the manic episode that led to his diagnosis. “I really had, like, a bit of a break where I thought I was in connection to some sort of god that I wasn’t really in connection to,” he said. “It was like I had all the answers, suddenly.” This episode prompted his parents to check him into a mental health facility.
Harbour has found that his condition seems to have a specific trigger. “The funny thing about my particular brain or mental illness is that every time that I’ve had an episode like that, it’s always coupled with spirituality,” he said. “The minute I get close to that — what I consider a flame — of, like, ‘the answers’ and the mysticism, and I’m completely ‘present,’ it’s like I’m out of my mind.”
Harbour said he manages his bipolar disorder with medication and has learned what helps him feel grounded in everyday life: “Sit on the couch, play some video games.”
Like many mental health conditions, bipolar disorder has long faced a lot of stigma — unfair judgment or shame. But now, more public figures are choosing to share their personal experiences, including their mental health struggles, with their fans.
It can be comforting to know that someone else shares your condition, especially a celebrity you admire. By using their large platforms, celebs can help spread mental health awareness so that people better understand bipolar 1 disorder.
MyDepressionTeam is the social network for people with depression and other mental health conditions and their loved ones. On MyDepressionTeam, more than 150,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with depression and bipolar disorder.
Can you relate to these celebrities’ experiences? Do you know of other people in the public eye who are living with bipolar 1? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.
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