Actor Carrie Fisher was best known for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars, but she also left a legacy as an advocate for removing the stigma surrounding mental illness, changing minds by opening up about her own struggle with depression and bipolar disorder.
Fisher, who died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack days earlier, had a long history of drug abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. She turned that experience into the comic novel Postcards From the Edge. In the 1990s, she opened up about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder and her experiences with depression.
“I used to think I was a drug addict, pure and simple — just someone who could not stop taking drugs willfully,” Fisher told Diane Sawyer in 1995. “And I was that. But it turns out that I am severely manic depressive.”
Many have credited Fisher’s openness with breaking down stigma over mental health issues, and the topic was on the top of the minds of many of her admirers following her death.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
- Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
- 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
- If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
- The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
- Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com