Ryan Reynolds Credits His Daughters With Helping Him Open Up About Mental Health
"Part of my job as a parent is to model...what it's like to be sad."
Last month, Ryan Reynolds opened up about his mental health struggles on Instagram—specifically his issues with anxiety—telling his followers that he over-schedules himself, overthinks, overworks, and over-worries. In a June 5th interview with Entertainment Tonight, Reynolds said he decided to open up about his mental health so that he could set a good example for his three daughters, James, Inez, and Betty.
“Part of it is that I have three daughters at home and part of my job as a parent is to model behaviors and model what it’s like to be sad and model what it’s like to be anxious, or angry. That there’s space for all these things,” Reynolds said, talking about his decision to get candid. “The home that I grew in, that wasn’t modeled for me really. And that’s not to say that my parents were neglectful, but they come from a different generation.”
He continued, Part of that is to de-stigmatize things and create a conversation around [mental health].
“I know that when I felt at the absolute bottom it’s usually been because I felt like I was alone in something I was feeling,” Reynolds said. “So I think when people talk about it, I don’t necessarily dwell on it or lament on it, but I think it’s important to talk about it. And when you talk about it, it kind of sets other people free.”
He hopes that opening up about how he’s feeling can help others do the same. “A lot of it is just wanting to model certain things for my own kids and model things for anyone who might need to hear it,” Reynolds said.
None of us are alone in the fight for bettering our mental health. And so far, Reynolds is doing a great job being a role model for his own kids and others who need a reminder that they are walking this path with many, many others.
