Jameela Jamil wants women of colour to be given free therapy for mental health issues.
Jameela Jamil
The 34-year-old actress believes the best way to tackle mental health is to talk freely about our struggles but thinks things are much harder for marginalised people who could benefit better from therapy.
Asked why it’s important for women of colour to have access to healthcare, she told ELLE: “Because life is harder for them - in particular black women, by the way. I wish all women of color around the world were given free therapy. I genuinely think it's the thing that we most need, most deserve, because the world is harder for us to move through. I think this is probably true of all marginalized people. It's definitely something that would help us navigate a world that unfairly discriminates against us, and then gaslights us about our own experience.”
‘The Good Place’ star has advised people who are suffering to seek help as mental health is an invisible illness and without talking about their problems it is deemed as “fake news”.
She added: “If we can't talk about it, we can't deal with it. We can't see it even. Then we cover it up and we keep it to ourselves and it's able to continue consuming us. Matt Haig said that, ‘Depression is fake news. So if you don't come out and talk about it, you have no way to be able to see what is true and what is false. It tells you that your life will never get better, that you don't deserve love, and that you don't deserve to be happy. But you do. So I think it's really important to not give it that power to reign free over you.”
Jameela has learned to manage her dark thoughts by learning to accept who she is.
She said: “I am who I am at least. If you like me or don't like me, it's the real me. So that makes me feel closer to myself. I think that's really helped and made this feel less like I'm trying to live up to anyone's expectation. I'm just being completely authentic. I think that's a freedom that all women deserve.”
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