Emma Thompson’s Struggle with Depression

Sometimes you get the feeling that celebrities lead charmed lives where nothing ever goes wrong (well, ok, I get that feeling sometimes). But of course, they’re people just like the rest of us and struggle with similar problems. British actress Emma Thompson, currently on movie screens in "Last Chance Harvey," has battled depression for years, but says she’s found a way to deal with it.

The Oscar-winner first experienced the illness during a stint on the London stage in her 20s, and says it was one of the darkest times of her life.

"I’m prone to depression and to all sorts of mental illnesses," she said in a WENN news story. "I did a musical in the West End, and I became clinically depressed, even though I was being paid to be cheerful. I had no life at all. I lived like a nun. I didn’t drink. I didn’t have sex. I was 24, for crying out loud. No wonder I was depressed."

More after the jump…

Life goes on, but the depression still comes and goes. Thompson says her most recent bout with serious depression occurred as she struggled to get pregnant with her daughter, Gaia, who was born in 1999.

She’s found that writing helps. "With writing, you can pick up a pen and say, ‘I have to write.’ And you should certainly write your early experiences, because they are fascinating. Writing has freed me a lot."

That’s cool that she’s open about it. Hopefully, her experiences with the disease will help others deal with their own depression.

Image: Emma Thompson, Overture Films, 2008