Kendall Jenner opened up about her mental health for a new video series with Vogue, making it clear that coming from a famous family and being one of the biggest models in the world doesn’t make you immune from experiencing anxiety or sadness.
Speaking with clinical psychologist and professor of psychology Ramani Durvasula in the first episode of the four-part Open Minded series, Jenner explained that she was nervous being so candid about her struggles with anxiety, but feels it’s important people know that this is something that can effect anyone regardless of fame or Instagram followers. “I am very aware of my anxieties. I don’t like the pity party. I don’t like talking about when I don’t feel too well,” she said. “I am a little nervous. Just being kinda open about what I struggle with, and making it known to other people, is a bit nerve-wracking.” She continued, “I think being overworked and being in the situation that I’m in now is kinda what set it out of control in a way. I’ve had times where I feel like I need to be rushed to the hospital because I think that my heart’s failing and I can’t breathe and I need someone to help me. Sometimes I think I’m dying, sometimes parts of my body will go numb, and it can be really…yeah, intense and scary.”
She added that she knows many people think her “privilege” should make her immune to these types of personal struggles. “There is going to be those people that say, ‘Oh, OK, what does she have to worry about? What does she have to be anxious about?’” she said. “I’ll never sit here and say that I’m not fortunate. I know I live a very privileged, amazing lifestyle—I’m a very blessed girl.” But, she continued, gesturing to her head, “I still have one of these, you know what I mean? And that thing up there sometimes doesn’t always…I don’t know, it’s not always happy, and it’s not always connecting, and I’m still a human being at the end of the day.” She concluded, “No matter what someone has or doesn’t have, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have real-life feelings and emotions.”
Kendall previously addressed her anxiety in 2016 on her since-shuttered app, explaining that it became particularly bad after her older sister, Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint during Paris Fashion Week. “Anxiety was a huge hurdle for me to deal with this past year (and security concerns didn’t help), but I think I’m finally learning how to cope,” she wrote. In a 2018 interview with her friend Cara Delevingne for Harper’s Bazaar, the model also called her anxiety “debilitating,” explaining that is caused her to “wake up in the middle of the night with full-on panic attacks.” She said, “I just think that the world needs so much love. I wish I had the power to send Cupid around the planet, as cheesy as that sounds. You go online and you see everyone saying the worst things to each other, and it’s hard to stay positive. It’s hard not to get eaten alive by all the negativity.”
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