Ashley Tisdale, who is currently expecting a baby girl with her husband Christopher French, discussed her ongoing experiences with depression and anxiety.
During Monday’s episode of Dear Media podcast, Looking Up with host Dr. Deepika Chopra, the 35-year-old actress reflected on moving from New Jersey to Valencia, California, before starting the seventh grade.
‘I was the new the new girl from New Jersey, who had to find friends, and went to public school,’ she reflected, after describing herself as shy and quirky teenager.
Open book: Ashley Tisdale, who is currently expecting a baby girl with husband Christopher French, discussed her ongoing experiences with depression and anxiety; seen in February
The conversation pivoted when Chopra, also known as the Optimism Doctor, asked the former Disney Channel star to recall the last time she cried.
‘I would say a couple months ago,’ Tisdale replied, before talking about mourning her dog, Maui, on the one-year anniversary of her death in June.
She continued: ‘I don’t cry often, because it takes me a minute … it has to be really sad for me to cry. I’m not really dramatic in that way.’
Further elaborating, the singer explained she is still healing from her pup’s passing and recently woke up in tears because of the ‘anxiety leading up to that date.’
Reflection: During Monday’s episode of Dear Media podcast, Looking Up with host Dr. Deepika Chopra, the actress reflected on moving from New Jersey California before starting the seventh grade (pictured in December)
She also spoke of being having an optimistic view of the world, despite going through challenges over the years, including battling anxiety and depression.
‘I choose to look at those things in not a negative way, but in a very optimistic, this is part of my story, and I think it’s a beautiful part of my story,’ she explained.
Looking back on darker times, she examined how starting her career at a very young age, which included a lot of rejection, affected her.
Tough times: She spoke of being having an optimistic view of the world, despite going through challenges over the years, including going through anxiety and depression
‘I’ve been in this business sine I was three-years-old, so I’ve been acting since I was very young and I’ve had to deal with times I don’t get the job, or not working as much an actress, but doing something on the production side,’ she began.
Tisdale added: ‘I have a really thick skin and I also don’t take things personally in my business.’
‘The most challenging thing I ever did, and dark time, was when I took over my makeup company. It was, just, a very hard thing,’ revealed.
Perfect match: The Symptoms crooner also noted she finds comfort and joy waking up to her husband every morning and their other two puppies
Tisdale said she ‘didn’t realize how hard it was to be be a CEO’ and single founder, which she says made her go through a depression because of the ‘stress of it.’
The star, who first launched her Illuminate beauty brand in collaboration with BH Cosmetics around 2016, before taking full control of the brand a few years later, ended up shutting down the company in February.
‘What Instagram and social media doesn’t teach you is, you see the successes of everything, but you don’t see how hard it takes to get to that point. And, not everything is overnight,’ she told listeners.
Reflection: The Suite Life of Zack & Cody said she ‘didn’t realize how hard it would be to serve as a CEO of her makeup company and became depressed because of the ‘stress of it’
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The experience became a ‘lesson’ for her, as she revealed she learned to listen to her intuition and look more closely at ‘red flags.’
‘It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done!’ she exclaimed. ‘I would wake up at 4 am crying hysterically feeling like I failed.’
The pressure at work and shooting a Netflix series, however, led her finding the book, Attacking Anxiety and Depression by Lucinda Bassett.
‘It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done!’ she said of becoming a CEO of her Illuminate beauty brand. ‘I would wake up at 4 am crying hysterically feeling like I failed’ (seen in 2018)
‘That is what got me through that period of my mental health, and to be honest, I would not have been in a place to lose my dog if I hadn’t got through that book,’ she said of the self-help guide.
She also said she was grateful for the ‘dark time’ because it pushed her to better understand her mental health struggles.
‘What I learned was anxiety usually coincides with depression, so if you have anxiety, you most likely have depression,’ she said, before talking about mediation, therapy and panic attacks.
‘What I learned was anxiety usually coincides with depression, so if you have anxiety, you most likely have depression,’ she said, before talking about mediation, therapy and panic attacks; pictured in December
Her anxiety, which she said was ‘debilitating’ at times, caused her to feel frozen or physically shake.
‘It got to a point where I was like, something has to change, I can’t live my life this way,’ she said before turning to the life-changing book, which is a 15-week program.
Ultimately, the experience prompted to speak publicly of her mental health journey to help end the stigma attached to mood and anxiety disorders.
‘It got to a point where I was like, something has to change, I can’t live my life this way,’ she said before turning to the book, which is a 15-week program
‘We need to take the power out of the word depression,’ Tisdale began, before the host agreed.
The High School Musical alum also spoke of her her new wellness blog, Freshne, where she has talked about her experience with plastic surgery.
With a laugh, she said she didn’t have the most positive experience with plastic surgery, which included a rhinoplasty and getting breast implants.
Work in process: She’s currently working to embrace a non-toxic lifestyle, which she adapted slowly, from changing her deodorant and toothpaste to getting rid of all plastic in her kitchen
The beauty, who underwent breast-implant removal surgery this summer, suffered from minor health issues from the procedure, like food sensitivities and gut issues.
Now, she’s working to embrace a non-toxic lifestyle, which she is adapting slowly, from changing her deodorant and toothpaste to getting rid of all plastic in her kitchen.
On the bright side, the Symptoms crooner spoke of finding joy waking up to her husband every morning and working on creative fulfillment.
Happily married: The Symptoms crooner spoke of finding joy waking up to her husband every morning and working on creative fulfillment
Source: Daily Mail
