‘My anxiety is kicking up everyday’ — Taraji Henson speaks on battle with depression

Taraji P. Henson, popular US actress, who starred in ‘Acrimony’, a 2018 psychological thriller, says she suffers from anxiety and depression which is “kicking up everyday”.

Listed among the ‘Power of Women’ nominees, the 48-year-old movie star said this in an interview with Variety Magazine while sharing how she’s helping with tackling mental health stigmas in black communities.

“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,” she said.

Speaking on how she tackles her depression problems, Henson hinted she steers clear off social media to avoid having to compare herself with people living “false lives” and “filtering pictures”.

“Even if life is good for you, you can still get on there and become depressed because people are filtering pictures and living these false lives, and it makes you second guess yourself,” she said.

“I have a therapist that I speak to. That’s the only way I can get through it. You need a professional who can give you exercises, someone who studies the human mind and has no stakes involved.

“Their job is to make sure you’re mentally sound and tell you the truth, which might hurt. I remember the first time I went, I was angry because I was like, ‘She didn’t tell me nothing!’ You’re not going to figure it out in one sitting.”

Henson played the role ‘Melinda Gayle’ in the 2018 movie ‘Acrimony’, which portrayed her as a deranged; depressed; and disgruntled woman who became obsessed with her ex’s new relationship that she swore to destroy them both.

The Oscar-nominated star of ‘Empire’ is now being celebrated for her work on the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which she founded in 2018 in her late father’s memory.