Gabrielle Union has opened up about her mental health struggles. During the In Goop Health virtual summit this past weekend, she spoke on the decline in her mental health that began in September 2020 due to symptoms of peri menopause, which is the transition into menopause.
According to E! Online, she said, “I thought I was losing my mind. I thought I had early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s. I gained 20 pounds overnight of water retention, inflammation, bizarre. I couldn’t think. Now, when I have to public speak in the last few months, I’m so anxious, because I’m like, ‘Am I going to remember words?'”
She also revealed that she started having suicidal thoughts in December 2020. She said, “I’ve had more depressive episodes, but never for a long periods of time. Maybe a couple of weeks. I fell into something so dark in December that it scared me. I had a stupid argument with D, and instead of my usual problem-solving…immediately, my brain, that little inner voice said, ‘He’s never going to get it unless you’re dead.’ Only because I’ve been in therapy for half my life that I was like ‘No, I don’t know who is talking now, it’s not my intuition.'”
Gabrielle said that she was able to get through it thanks to psychotherapy and getting her hormones in check. She explained , “I was able to get through it with talk therapy and diving into how I can regulate my hormones. Luckily I was at home and I alerted everyone. Separating the symptoms from who you really are…to say that it’s a challenge, I don’t think I really have the words, or I lost them, to describe what these last few months have been.”