5 Inspiring Celebrity Memoirs About Mental Health

Though, sadly, many celebrities are still being villainized for their mental health struggles, several famous faces have courageously opened up about their experiences. Their brave attempts to remove the stigma and take back control through their memoirs haven't come a minute too soon.

The late Carrie Fisher, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dealt with substance abuse issues, got very candid about her journey and brought more visibility to mental health in her 2008 memoir, "Wishful Drinking." "Living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls," she wrote. "At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you're living with this illness and functioning at all, it's something to be proud of, not ashamed of," she shared. We couldn't agree more, as even the most high-functioning mental illness struggles are valid. And, thankfully, she's not the only one bravely championing open discussions through writing.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

In Gabourey Sidibe's candid 2017 memoir, "This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare," she recalled speaking to her mom about her depression, but found she didn't have the tools to help. Feeling isolated, Sidibe developed suicidal thoughts and considered ways to end her life. "If there was a button I could've pushed to erase my existence from earth, I would have pushed it," reads one excerpt. The "American Horror Story" star bravely shared that her depression eventually led to panic attacks and bulimia. "I never ate anything, until I wanted to throw up — and only when I did could I distract myself from whatever thought was swirling around my head," she wrote. Sidibe later sought treatment and learned how to better manage her mental health, which included working with a therapist and a nutritionist. Speaking to People in 2017, she shared more on how she learned to overcome the toll of depression, stating, "I just accepted depression as something that's part of my anatomy; it's part of my chemistry, it's part of my biology. When it's too big for me to just turn around on my own, I see a therapist. I see a therapist anyway. We all should see a therapist."

On Goodreads, "This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare" readers commented on how well Sidibe balanced honesty and positivity. "Gabourey has dealt with issues of her body image, eating disorders, and fair share of bullying from her classmates. However, that hasn't deterred her from embracing life and becoming the success that she is today," one review read.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

Jada Pinkett Smith shared dark feelings too many people can relate to in her 2023 memoir, "Worthy." In one section, the actor recalled how she'd dealt privately with depression for years, even though her life appeared picture-perfect. "I had been putting on a good face, going with the flow, telling everyone I was okay. Yet underneath, bouts of depression and overwhelming hopelessness had smoldered until they turned into raging hellfire in my broken heart," she shared, confirming she felt underserving of love and unfulfilled. Promoting the book in an interview with People, she recalled hearing voices that told her to end her life, which led her to contemplate suicide. Pinkett Smith turned to ayahuasca, a brew made of hallucinogenic ingredients, which she said stopped her suicidal thoughts. "Ayahuasca helped me, it gave me a new intimate relationship with myself that I had never had before," she said. However, ayahuasca is a risk to the nervous system and is mostly illegal in the U.S., so it should never be used without consulting a professional first.

On Goodreads, "Worthy" readers were inspired by the "Girls Trip" star's unwavering honesty, as well as her decision to open up about her tough journey to self-love and acceptance. One reader shared, "This book truly is excellent. Insightful, raw, vulnerable, gripping, and self-aware. Jada Pinkett Smith opens up about every aspect of her life that's ever been put under the microscope."

Portia de Rossi wrote about her experience with eating disorders in her 2010 memoir, "Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain." She candidly shared how body dysmorphia led to anorexia and bulimia and recalled how she once envied anorexic people before she was diagnosed due to her warped view of self-control. "I always knew that I was underweight, but anorexia was never something that I thought I could have ... Not just anyone could have anorexia. It was a disorder of the highly accomplished, cultured, beautiful," she wrote. When promoting the book on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," de Rossi recalled her mental health really began to spiral during her "Ally McBeal" days, so much so she weighed 82 pounds and had a dangerously low daily intake of 300 calories — far less than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans' suggested intake of 1,600 to 3,000 calories for those 21 and older. After some poignant words from her family, de Rossi got help.

In a Goodreads review for the memoir, one reader wrote, "'Unbearable Lightness' is brutal, scary, well written and shocking in its honesty, chronicling Portia's almost lifelong struggle with an eating disorder." They continued, "Sad, frightening, tortuous and just plain crazy, this was engrossing yet at times painful to read."

Kerry Washington explained that her hatred of her own body morphed into an eating disorder and depression in her 2023 memoir, "Thicker than Water." "My relationship with food and my body had become a toxic cycle of self-abuse that utilized the tools of starvation, binge eating, body obsession, and compulsive exercise," she wrote, recalling her food issues really took hold while she was in college. "Though they eventually led to unfathomable levels of depression, food and exercise were at first ideal ways to indulge compulsive behaviors because I could hide them more easily than drugs or alcohol," she noted, sharing her extremely unhealthy habits made her feel she had some control. A number of Goodreads reviewers shared how moved they felt by Washington's story, with one reviewer writing, "Kerry Washington is an intensely private person ... 'Thicker than Water' isn't a juicy tell all, it's a captivating and beautiful story."

Speaking on "Good Morning America" in 2023, Washington shared that she turned to religion for help with her mental health and learned important tools to manage her relationship with eating. "I wouldn't say that I never act out with food, it's just very different now. It's not to the extreme. There's no suicidal ideation, that is not where I am anymore," she said.

Mel B has been very open about her mental health struggles, including sharing one of the most difficult times in her life in her 2018 release, "Brutally Honest." In an excerpt shared by The Sun, the former Spice Girl and "America's Got Talent" judge recalled the heartbreaking moment she attempted to die by suicide after writing notes to her eldest daughter, Phoenix. Per the outlet, Mel B frankly confessed, "Behind the glitter of fame, I felt emotionally battered, estranged from my family. I felt ugly and detested by the very man who once promised to love and protect me." But she quickly had a change of heart. "Suicide was not the answer. I had to make my life count. I had to get to a hospital ... My head was spinning." The singer and TV personality got help just in time and told The Sun in 2024 that she'd undergone electric brain therapy to help with her suicidal thoughts. "I can honestly say it worked for me — and I am going to have another treatment," she shared. It's important to seek professional help before attempting any kind of Electroconvulsive Therapy, which comes with its own risks.

One "Brutally Honest" reviewer on Goodreads wrote of Mel B's openness, "...I didn't expect her to be quite so upfront about what really went on behind those closed doors for 10 years. This really is brutally honest, and I admire the courage and strength that it must have taken for her to put this all to paper."