--- title: Amanda Seyfried Opens Up About Mental Illness and Her OCD description: Amanda Seyfried gets candid about living with OCD and the stigmas that go along with seeking help for mental health issues. canonical: https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-18T13:56:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:37.117Z og:title: Amanda Seyfried: Mental Illness 'Should Be Taken As Seriously As Anything Else' og:description: 'I have a lot of anxiety that I’ve been struggling with my whole life' og:url: https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe3fc4ea4e095f1/6988aa5e8e06019fb2467e06/amanda-seyfried-mental-health-ocd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Amanda Seyfried Promotes Cle de Peau Beaute In Japan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Amanda Seyfried: Mental Illness 'Should Be Taken As Seriously As Anything Else' twitter:description: 'I have a lot of anxiety that I’ve been struggling with my whole life' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe3fc4ea4e095f1/6988aa5e8e06019fb2467e06/amanda-seyfried-mental-health-ocd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Amanda Seyfried: Mental Illness 'Should Be Taken As Seriously As Anything Else' > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Mike Miller / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Mike Miller / People Contributor Oct 18, 2016 1:56 PM UTC  TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 09: Amanda Seyfried attends the promotional event for Shiseido's Cle de Peau Beaute at the Palace Hotel on October 9, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jun Sato/Getty Images for cle de peau BEAUTE) TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 09: Amanda Seyfried attends the promotional event for Shiseido's Cle de Peau Beaute at the Palace Hotel on October 9, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jun Sato/Getty Images for cle de peau BEAUTE) Jun Sato—cle de peau BEAUTE/Getty Images by [Mike Miller / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Mike Miller / People Contributor Oct 18, 2016 1:56 PM UTC [Amanda Seyfried](http://people.com/tag/amanda-seyfried/) is getting candid about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the stigmas that go along with seeking help for mental health issues. The _Ted 2_ star is gracing the November cover of _Allure_, and the subject of mental health arose while discussing the recent renovations to her home in upstate New York. Asked whether her decision not to include a stove in the guest house (she was afraid a guest might burn the place down) was a result of her OCD, the actress replied, “Yes. About the gas. You could so easily burn down something if you leave the stove on. Or the oven.” As for whether she’s taking medication for the disorder, Seyfried said, “Yeah. I’m on Lexapro, and I’ll never get off of it. I’ve been on it since I was 19, so 11 years. I’m on the lowest dose. I don’t see the point of getting off of it. Whether it’s placebo or not, I don’t want to risk it. And what are you fighting against? Just the stigma of using a tool?” She continued, “A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category \[from other illnesses\], but I don’t think it is.” Instead, Seyfried argued, “It should be taken as seriously as anything else. You don’t see the mental illness: It’s not a mass; it’s not a cyst. But it’s there. Why do you need to prove it? If you can treat it, you treat it.” Seyfried added that at first, she believed her mental illness was manifesting itself physically. “I had pretty bad health anxiety that came from the OCD and thought I had a tumor in my brain,” she explained. “I had an MRI, and the neurologist referred me to a psychiatrist,” she continued. “As I get older, the compulsive thoughts and fears have diminished a lot. Knowing that a lot of my fears are not reality-based really helps.” This is not the first time Seyfried has spoken about her struggles with OCD, and her mental health. She admitted to seeing a psychologist to help her overcome stage fright. “I have a lot of anxiety that I’ve been struggling with my whole life,” Seyfried, 29, [told _Vogue_](http://people.com/movies/amanda-seyfried-says-she-sought-therapy-for-debilitating-anxiety/) last year. “So I have been working through it. I’m terrified, but this is exactly what I wanted.” In 2012, Seyfried [opened up to _InStyle_](http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/transformations/photos/0,,20290120%5F20366923%5F20781019,00.html?xid=people-zeta-seyfried-trans) about her OCD, saying, “I don’t feel like I’m struggling with it. I think OCD is a part of me that protects me. It’s also the part of me that I use in my job, in a positive way.”She added, “The only thing I’d like to get beyond is my fear of driving over bridges and through tunnels. I can’t overcome it.” _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/movies/amanda-seyfried-opens-up-about-her-ocd) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/"},"headline":"Amanda Seyfried: Mental Illness 'Should Be Taken As Seriously As Anything Else'","datePublished":"2016-10-18T13:56:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:37.117Z","description":"'I have a lot of anxiety that I’ve been struggling with my whole life'","url":"https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe3fc4ea4e095f1/6988aa5e8e06019fb2467e06/amanda-seyfried-mental-health-ocd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mike Miller / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe3fc4ea4e095f1/6988aa5e8e06019fb2467e06/amanda-seyfried-mental-health-ocd.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Amanda Seyfried Promotes Cle de Peau Beaute In Japan","caption":"Amanda Seyfried Promotes Cle de Peau Beaute In Japan","creditText":"Jun Sato—cle de peau BEAUTE/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4534804/amanda-seyfried-mental-illness-ocd/","name":"Amanda Seyfried: Mental Illness 'Should Be Taken As Seriously As Anything Else'"}}]}] ```