Amanda Seyfried Opens Up About Living with Mental Illness

Amanda Seyfried has opened up about living with obsessive compulsive disorder, and the stigma that still exists around taking psychiatric medication.

"I'm on Lexapro, and I'll never get off of it," Seyfried told Allure, revealing that she has been taking the drug for 11 years. "I'm on the lowest dose, and I don't see the point of getting off of it. Whether it's placebo or not, I don't want to risk it."

If you can treat it, you treat it.
Amanda Seyfried

"What are you fighting against?" she asked. "Just the stigma of using a tool?" Although mental illness is often regarded as being in a different category than other illnesses, Seyfried pointed out that "it should be taken as seriously as anything else…If you can treat it, you treat it."

Seyfried, whose notable projects include Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables, and Showtime's upcoming Twin Peaks revival, went on to describe the health anxiety that stems from her OCD.

"I thought I had a tumor in my brain…I had an MRI, and the neurologist referred me to a psychiatrist," she said. "Knowing that a lot of my fears are not reality-based really helps."

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Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.