Sophie Turnerhas decided to share her story about her mental health battle in a candid and long interview with Dr. Phil McGraw. She admitted criticism of her character led her to becoming depressed as she read into harsh social media comments in the early days of Game Of Thrones.
“It’s weird. I say I wasn’t very depressed when I was younger, but I used to think about suicide a lot when I was younger. I don’t know why though,” the 23 year old said on the Tuesday, April 16 episode of the Phil in the Blanks podcast. “Maybe it’s just a weird fascination I used to have, but yeah, I used to think about it. I don’t think I ever would have gone through with it. I don’t know.”
The Game of Thrones star explained that she started suffering from depression at age 17, four years after she began filming the hit medieval drama. Turner revealed that negative social media comments contributed to her mental health issues and she believed whatever haters would write about her.
“The character that I play on my show is called Sansa, and people used to say, ‘Damn, Sansa gained 10 lbs’ or ‘Damn, Sansa needs to lose 10 lbs or ‘Sansa got fat.’ It was just a lot of weight comments, or I would have spotty skin, because I was a teenager, and that’s normal, and I used to get a lot of comments about my skin and my weight and how I wasn’t a good actress,” she recalled.
“I would just believe it. I would say, ‘Yeah, I am spotty. I am fat. I am a bad actress.’ I would just believe it. I would get [the costume department] to tighten my corset a lot. I just got very, very self-conscious.” On the effects social media had on her mental state, she said: “I think it contributed [to depression]. I wouldn’t say it was the main reason, it’s some sort of chemical balance, but I think it was a catalyst.”
Sophie said she’d ‘ignore the 10 good messages’ and let the one negative comment ‘throw her off’. Sophie said her mental health issues still persist today.
But she also added that her fiancé, Joe Jonas, has helped her heal. “I [sometimes] don’t think I love myself at all, but I’m now with someone that makes me realize I do have some redeeming qualities, I suppose,” she explained. “And when someone tells you they love you every day, it makes you really think about why that is and I think that makes you love yourself a bit more. So yeah, I love myself.”
Check out the full interview below.
#Peace.Love.SophieTurner
