Jesse Eisenbergs anxiety made him prepared for battle as a child
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I’ve appreciated the numerous stories from people who have spoken out recently about living with anxiety and depression. People can often downplay others’ mental health struggles: “Get over it. You’re fine. X isn’t a big deal. You worry too much. It will all be OK. Just focus on the positive!” None of that is useful to someone living with anxiety and/or depression.
During a recent interview, Jesse Eisenberg talked about living with anxiety, how it impacted him as a child, and the steps he takes to manage it as a father. People has more:
The 35-year-old actor spoke about his struggle during an Advertising Week fireside chat with Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, the president of the Child Mind Institute, in which he explained that while he’d never been bullied as a child, his anxiety made it impossible for him to relax with other children fully.
“I kept one tissue for crying and one for bleeding. I was prepared for battle, but nothing ever happened, which was almost worse,” Eisenberg said.
He also talked about how discussions of mental health could have helped his younger self:
“If 12-year-old me was able to see something like this, it would show me that life ebbs and flows,” Eisenberg said of public discussions that have promoted mental health awareness. “It helps destigmatize something that is incorrectly stigmatized.”
When asked if anxiety continues to be something that Eisenberg deals with, he said, “Just in the morning, afternoon and evening.”
Jesse is trying to not inadvertently spur his 3-year-old son to be more anxious than warranted:
“To me, there’s nothing better for one’s mental health than to worry about things that are real, and when you have a child, you can only worry about something that’s real,” he said.
He added, “I resist all of the temptations I have to make [my son] neurotic because I know it’s not helpful. I know that what might feel good in the moment of consoling a kid who appears nervous may be detrimental in the long term.”
As I said, I’m glad that Jesse is adding his voice to the chorus of those that are working to destigmatize mental health issues by sharing their own experiences. I know so many people who could have benefited at a younger age from conversations about mental health. Being a 12-year-old is stressful enough on its own, even if you don’t already live with depression or anxiety. By having age-appropriate conversations around mental health issues, we can destigmatize them and give pre-teens the advice and support that they can use should they realize that they are struggling, along with talking to trusted adults.
I also understand that Jesse doesn’t want to make his son unduly anxious, but he’s in a fantastic position to respond to his son’s potential anxiety with empathy rather than annoyance, because he “gets” it. He can also share healthy ways to manage anxiety, should those conversations be necessary in the future.
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