In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month, actor Josh Gad has opened up about his experience with “extreme anxiety.”
The “Frozen” star filmed a video for the Child Mind Institute‘s mental health awareness series where he revealed his past struggles with generalized anxiety disorder.
“So when I was about 20 years old in college, I went through a period of extreme anxiety,” the 37-year-old actor explained. “Didn’t understand what was happening to me, thought that I was having a heart attack, literally felt like I couldn’t breathe, would suddenly be prone to bursts of sadness.”
“And I went to go speak to a psychiatrist and a psychologist, and I got the medical and professional help that I needed in order to overcome what, at the time I didn’t know, was general anxiety disorder.
“Seeking that help and receiving that help truly not only saved my life, but it afforded me the opportunity to do what I love doing today. And so I encourage all of you who have similar struggles to speak about them and to go get the answers that you too need for help.”
The Child Mind Institute is releasing a new video every day during the coming month for their #MyYoungerSelf series. Previous videos have featured Sarah Silverman, Henry Winkler, and Gabrielle Union, and more.
You can watch all the videos at childmind.org/myyoungerself.
