Mandatory Mental Health: Michelle Obama Admits She’s Depressed (Just Like the Rest of Us)

We don’t usually think of celebrities having problems, at least, not problems like us. With so much success, money, and admiration, what could possibly be wrong with their lives? And yet, it turns out that celebrities are just like us and they struggle with mental health issues, too.

The latest to admit to emotional strife? Former First Lady Michelle Obama. Though she’s published a best-selling memoir and just launched a podcast, Mrs. Obama recently confessed that she’s suffering “some form of low-grade depression.” The mother of two ticked off the reasons why she’s down in the dumps: quarantine, racial strife, the Trump administration.

Of course, she’s not alone. As a nation, we’re collectively more depressed than we’ve been in the past. More than one-third of Americans reported symptoms of depression and anxiety in a recent survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s up from one in 10 only a year ago!

Obama admitted that because of lockdown, she’s not as active as she usually is, which turns into a vicious cycle where she isn’t tired enough to fall asleep. When she does sleep, she wakes up worrying. “There’s a heaviness,” she said (and we aren’t talking about the Quarantine 15). “Spiritually, these are not…fulfilling times.”

And yet, there have been some rays of sunshine despite being stuck indoors so much. The Obama family has been enjoying dinner together as well as playing card games and working on puzzles.

Her advice for others feeling the toxic side-effects of the current state of the world? Be gentle with yourself.

“I’ve gone through those emotional highs and lows that I think everybody feels, where you just don’t feel yourself,” she said. “And sometimes I’ve, there’ve been a week or so where I had to surrender to that, and not be so hard on myself.”

Cover Photo: BET Awards 2020 / Contributor (Getty Images)

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