--- title: Emma Stone Gets Candid About Coping With Anxiety description: Find out what Emma Stone said about living with anxiety and panic attacks and how she learned to cope. canonical: https://time.com/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T16:21:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:32.219Z og:title: Emma Stone Gets Candid About Living With Anxiety og:description: ‘Nobody really understood’ og:url: https://time.com/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6022a682ad3c6a60/6988cb2f2dce01343f9ed3f7/emma-stone-anxiety.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Emma Stone Gets Candid About Living With Anxiety twitter:description: ‘Nobody really understood’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6022a682ad3c6a60/6988cb2f2dce01343f9ed3f7/emma-stone-anxiety.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Emma Stone Gets Candid About Living With Anxiety by [Kathy Ehrich Dowd / People](/author/people/) ## Kathy Ehrich Dowd / People Apr 28, 2017 4:21 PM CUT  BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actress Emma Stone attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by C Flanigan/Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actress Emma Stone attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by C Flanigan/Getty Images)C Flanigan—Getty Images by [Kathy Ehrich Dowd / People](/author/people/) ## Kathy Ehrich Dowd / People Apr 28, 2017 4:21 PM CUT [Emma Stone](http://people.com/tag/emma-stone/ "undefined") is opening up about her lifelong battle with anxiety, and the tools that help her live the “pretty normal” life she never thought possible. Teaming up for a new campaign with the [Child Mind Institute](https://childmind.org/ "undefined"), a nonprofit that works with children struggling with mental health and learning disorders, the [_La La Land_ actress](http://people.com/awards/oscars-2017-best-actress-emma-stone-la-la-land/ "undefined") opens up about [her own struggles with anxiety](http://people.com/celebrity/emma-stone-in-vogue-i-have-a-history-of-panic-attacks/ "undefined"). Stone’s video is part of a larger series the Child Mind Institute is launching in which celebrities including Stone, Michael Phelps, Jesse Eisenberg and others talk about their personal experience with — and the stigma surrounding — mental illness. “It has always been something that I’ve lived with and it flares up in big ways at different times in my life,” the 28-year-old says in the intimate video. “Sometimes while it’s happening, like while I’m in a phase of big turmoil, it feels like it’s never gonna end — but it does.” This year’s Best Actress Oscar winner said her struggles were so acute as a child that the idea of ever moving out of her house was unfathomable, but she has since developed tools for managing her anxiety, which “have led to me living a pretty normal and exciting and vibrant life.” “I truly, as a kid, did not think I would ever be able to move away from home or be apart from people I had separation anxiety with,” she adds. Ever since she was a child, Stone suffered from [anxiety and panic attacks](http://people.com/celebrity/emma-stone-in-vogue-i-have-a-history-of-panic-attacks/ "undefined"). “I was just kind of immobilized by it,” she told [_Vogue_ ](http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/emma-stone-comic-relief#1 "undefined")in 2016\. “I didn’t want to go to my friends’ houses or hang out with anybody, and nobody really understood.” Taking improv classes helped her overcome the attacks. Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz heads up the Child Mind Institute campaign, known as Speak Up for Kids, and says having stars like Stone talk so honestly about their struggles is impactful for kids. “Here are these remarkable individuals who give a message that says ‘if you are not ashamed, if you speak up, if you get a diagnosis and if you get treatment, your life can be as full and as productive as anyone’s — if not even more so than some average people,” he says, adding that 17 million kids in the U.S. have a mental health or learning disorder. “One of the things that change people’s minds about this is when we decrease stigma … And now I think it’s time for us to recognize how real, common and treatable these diseases are.” Stone also talks honestly about the successful formula she’s found for managing her anxiety, which includes “a great therapist” and cognitive behavior tools including meditation. “It’s so nice to know in those moments of real intensity that it will shift and it will change and there’s a lot I can do to help myself,” she says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/"},"headline":"Emma Stone Gets Candid About Living With Anxiety","datePublished":"2017-04-28T16:21:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:32.219Z","description":"‘Nobody really understood’","url":"https://time.com/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/","keywords":["motto","Anxiety","Emma Stone"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6022a682ad3c6a60/6988cb2f2dce01343f9ed3f7/emma-stone-anxiety.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathy Ehrich Dowd / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6022a682ad3c6a60/6988cb2f2dce01343f9ed3f7/emma-stone-anxiety.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals","caption":"2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals","creditText":"C Flanigan—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/4759646/emma-stone-candid-coping-anxiety/","name":"Emma Stone Gets Candid About Living With Anxiety"}}]}] ```