Jessica Barden Quotes

The mental health conversation is very important to me. I have friends that struggle with various mental illnesses. I've struggled with depression and anxiety. I'm very interested in how we deal with that.

The only reason I've shared my story is to take that tiny baby step of breaking down the stigma attached to depression.

Depression is a leading cause of ill health and disability, and many do not have access to mental health services and face significant social stigma around their disease.

There are lots of people with mental health disabilities, and that's just the way their life is; it's not like you see it in the movies.

It's estimated that 16 million people in the U.S. have struggled with depression - and I include myself in that statistic. It's real, and it's not shameful, and there is help available. You can bring it to the light, you can tell the truth, you can go to a meeting, you can reach out to a friend. None of us are alone.

The problem with the stigma around mental health is really about the stories that we tell ourselves as a society. What is normal? That's just a story that we tell ourselves.

Playing someone who has a mental illness, the responsibility to not stuff it up is really strong. You have to get it right. Not just for the people who are sufferers, but for the people who care about them - their loved ones.

In an ideal world, it would not take a film star to get the media focused on mental illness.

People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.

It's okay to talk about mental health issues. It's okay to admit that you have anxiety. It doesn't take away from your power. It's totally normal.

I'm not really interested in promoting 'Olive' as a series about depression or mental illness.

Writing 'The Noonday Demon' turned me into a professional depressive, which is a weird thing to be. A class at the university I attended assigns the book and invited me to be a guest lecturer.

People talk about physical fitness, but mental health is equally important. I see people suffering, and their families feel a sense of shame about it, which doesn't help. One needs support and understanding. I am now working on an initiative to create awareness about anxiety and depression and help people.

We know how to treat depression, we know how to treat mental illness, and we have not had the political will in our country to make it happen.

Time to Talk is all about tackling taboos and getting the nation talking about mental health.

There's such a stigma around mental illness, and this idea that you're going to come off as disturbed or weak somehow by being open about these things. I've never felt embarrassed or shy talking about it; it's such an integral part of my life.

As far as making people feel less depressed, that, in and of itself, is a political act.

There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform I have, whatever voice I have to help eliminate the stigma.

At Somerset I played with Marcus Trescothick who has spoken very openly about his battle with depression and anxiety. I had a few conversations with him about his problems but I also read his book which provided me with a great insight into what he went though.

It's so important that we all speak up on mental health.

I'm lucky to have depression less severely than a lot of people. I know some find it useful to talk about it and people are definitely doing that more. It's becoming less stigmatised.

It's always been something that I'm so able and willing to talk about that it's kind of foreign to me that people hide their depression and anxiety.

I am privileged to have people around me who understand mental illnesses and mental health. However, the stigma around it is huge.

It can be difficult for people to talk about it, because there still is that stigma around mental illness. But I would encourage people to do that, because they'll be surprised once they do 'come out' how many other people have had similar experiences.

Not talking about mental illness is killing people. We need that to stop.