5 Celebrities Who’ve Had Nervous Breakdowns

It can’t be easy keeping your cool and leading a normal life in the craziness that is Hollywood. While some cope well with the spotlight and all of the pressures that come with fame, others don’t do so well, or pile on too much work and find it suddenly hard to cope. These 5 celebrities candidly admit that they have had a nervous breakdown at some stage in their career when it all got too much or there was too much negative energy in their lives. Thankfully having recovered they are able to reflect on what went wrong, these stars have all spoken on the reason for their breakdown and have commented on their past experiences.

Demi Lovato

Never one to cover up the truth, Demi candidly admits she had a breakdown which resulted in her entry into rehab: “I basically had a nervous breakdown. I was really bad off. My parents and my manager pulled me aside and said, ‘You need to get some help.’ It was an intervention. I wanted freedom from the inner demons. I wanted to start my life over”.

Jack White

Musician Jack White limited himself so much that it resulted in a breakdown at the age of 19: “I would recognise characteristics in people like ego and temper and say, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ And it got to the point where I became so self-conscious that I sort of had a nervous breakdown when I was 19. I couldn’t handle it. There was nothing I would let myself do. I wouldn’t let myself enjoy anything. And remnants of that are still there. I don’t do drugs, I don’t get drunk. Girls I don’t do. With this whole band, it’s obvious how much we’re limiting ourselves all the time. In the end, I’m happy with what gets created, because I know we didn’t just throw it out there. But it’s not a fun journey.”

Kelly Osbourne

Kelly went through a hard rough patch in life where everything got too much: “My mum nearly died, somebody who I thought I was in love with broke my heart, my brother went into rehab, my dog Lulu died and I got dropped by my record company. It just seemed to be getting worse and worse and to be honest with you, it gave me a nervous breakdown in the summer. I got sent home from Europe because I was exhausted and emotionally f***ed. I’ve had to deal with every single person in the world judging me.”

Kylie Minogue

Kylie had what she says was a small breakdown because she took on too much work and felt overwhelmed: “I remember my dad saying to me years ago, when I had a small nervous breakdown, in Australia, ‘Darling, you know you turn up to work and that’s what you are employed for and that’s what you do – but you don’t have to say yes to everything.’ This style of work and living has been going for years and years and years and I’ve always been working. It’s part of my life and part of my nature. But now I do say ‘No’, and you know what? The world doesn’t cave in, nothing terrible happens, I just have a little bit more time for life.”

Mariah Carey

Mariah’s life spun out of control in 2001 but looking back now she feels as though it was a big breakthrough for her and she doesn’t regret a thing: “I’m far from perfect. I’m still learning. I overworked myself, and I paid the price.I consider the breakdown a breakthrough. I needed to hit rock bottom. I needed to understand the cost of pushing so hard; fighting so hard against the system. But was I out of control at that moment? Yes.”