Throughout her time in the spotlight, Dove Cameron has been super open about her mental health issues. Most recently, the Descendants star penned a heartfelt letter to her 35.5 million Instagram followers about her current “healing process,” and shared the importance of self care. Now, the 24-year-old has explained why she decided to speak out and share her struggles with fans.
“Because we’re all in the same experience it’s so easy to compare,” she said during a recent interview with Build Series. “I just figure, if I’m going to have this massive following, that I somehow stumbled upon having, I want to be the girl that if I was 13 or 15 or, f**k it, my age, I want to be somebody that if they already look to me — I don’t want to be that person that they look to and think ‘Oh they have it all together, so I’m going to make myself have it all together.’ Because that becomes so toxic so quickly.”
The blonde beauty continued, “I want people to know that I don’t have it all together and that I’m so sad somedays and that I’m struggling to get through my day to make it more accessible, so that they can feel that way. So, they can talk about it and we can all process together.”
Previously, in March, fans became worried about the Disney Channel starlet after she posted a photo of herself crying. Captioning it with the crying emoji, she shared an up-close snap of her face, which showed a single tear rolling down her cheek. The actress also got real with fans on Twitter and admitted that she’s been feeling “pretty sad” for “a while.” Naturally, her followers were quick to send messages of support, and some even shared their own stories.
During the interview, Dove also spoke specifically about her most recent Instagram post and admitted that she thinks “productivity culture” during this current period of self-isolation can be harmful to social media users.
“With the people that I follow [social media is] inspiring a lot of people to be really honest, but I do think it’s also encouraging this ‘productivity culture’ that is a bit double-edged,” she explained. “While we’re all looking for ways to be creative and be productive and continue our life in this new circumstance, I think that ‘productivity culture’ can quickly shift to damaging and sort of create this unrealistic expectation for a time that is really very hard for many of us. And as well create this kind of toxic relationship within ourselves.”
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Youth Crisis Hotline at 1-800-448-4663.
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