Source: Nicky Nelson/WENN.com / WENN
Gabrielle Union opened up about her mental health struggles during the In Goop Health virtual summit over the weekend. On March 6, Union was transparent during a conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow about a decline in her mental health that she said began in September 2020 due to symptoms of perimenopause, which is the transition into menopause.
“I thought I was losing my mind,” she said according to E! Online. “I thought I had early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s. I gained 20 pounds overnight of water retention, inflammation, bizarre. I couldn’t think. Now, when I have to public speak in the last few months, I’m so anxious, because I’m like, ‘Am I going to remember words?'”
Union said she had also noticed that her depression had worsened. After being sexually assaulted at 19, she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder so depression wasn’t a foreign experience for her. She noticed her depressive symptoms became more intense in December 2020 when she experienced suicidal thoughts.
“I’ve had more depressive episodes, but never for a long periods of time,” she continued. “Maybe a couple of weeks. I fell into something so dark in December that it scared me. I had a stupid argument with D, and instead of my usual problem-solving…immediately, my brain, that little inner voice said, ‘He’s never going to get it unless you’re dead.’ Only because I’ve been in therapy for half my life that I was like ‘No, I don’t know who is talking now, it’s not my intuition.'”
Union said she was able to get through that tough period thanks to psychotherapy and getting her hormones in check.
“I was able to get through it with talk therapy and diving into how I can regulate my hormones,” Gabrielle shared. “Luckily I was at home and I alerted everyone. Separating the symptoms from who you really are…to say that it’s a challenge, I don’t think I really have the words, or I lost them, to describe what these last few months have been.”
