by Reem Makari, reporter

The celebrity world might be full of fame, fashion, and fabulousness but nothing is ever as perfect as it seems on the outside. With fame, comes unwanted attention, the haunting eyes of the media and the press on every little step that any celebrity takes. Waiting for them to make any mistake that they can immediately catch and turn their life into a living hell.

No wonder it has caused a number of deep mental health issues in numerous celebrities that are only speaking about it now. In the primal time where mental health issues are finally accepted and openly talked about. Yet they’ve been dealing with them and probably have been too scared talk about them for years.

Keira Knightley recently revealed that she had a mental breakdown at 22 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress order following her rise in fame after appearing on Bend it Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Love Actually.

“I felt pretty much like actually I didn’t exist and I was this weird creature with this weird face that people seemed to respond to in quite an extreme way, and I couldn’t quite figure any of it.” she spoke out in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter Awards Chatter podcast.

This doesn’t come as a shock as so many other celebrities have come out and spoken about dealing with mental issues after their dive into fame as a result of major criticism online on social media platforms.

Multiple singers and actors have spoken about their mental health issues following their journey to fame over the past few years. Pop singer Justin Bieber spoke to NME about the negative effect that fame had on his mental health. He mentioned: “I’m struggling just to get through the days. I think a lot of people are
This life can rip you apart. [I get depressed] all the time. And I feel isolated. You’re in your hotel room and there are fans all around, paparazzi following you everywhere, and it gets intense. When you can’t go anywhere or do anything alone you get depressed. I would not wish this upon anyone.”

Demi Lovato released her emotional documentary Simply Complicated in October of 2017 where she openly spoke about dealing with her eating disorder, depression, drug abuse, and her bipolar disorder. She mentioned: “The fame started to creep into my life… I started feeling pressure to look a certain way, to sing music that I felt people would like, rather than sing music that I would like. There was more pressure to succeed, ya know, numbers on charts. I was a perfectionist, and I really wanted to be the best of the best.”

The questions to ask here is who is to blame behind the struggles that these celebrities are going through? Is it the pressure of the press in their everyday life? Is it the online harsh criticism and commentary that is unfortunately filled with a whole side of hatred? How do we stop this?

The internet is a dangerous place where people can easily leave anonymous comments filled with hatred and bullying without having to deal with any consequences. As a result, celebrities with higher profiles have to constantly deal with hate comments on their Instagram and Twitter from ‘fans’ that are following their every move online.

As a result, many celebrities have deleted their online accounts because of the constant negativity they were receiving. A few examples are Ariel Winter, a co-star on Modern Family, who deleted her twitter in July 2018 after constantly being harassed on that platform. Even more shockingly, Milly Bobby Brown, a 14-year-old star on Netflix’s show Stranger Things, deleted her twitter due to a homophobic meme about her that went viral on Twitter.

Instead of using these online platforms to have fun and share their lives with their fans, many celebrities are receiving a large amount of hate that causes them to lose all interaction with social media because they’re scared of what response they’ll receive.

This doesn’t only happen in the celebrity world, it is also the case of what happens to many people in really life. Young people may be cyber-bullied on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter from fellow students or friends in an anonymous matter. This unfortunately has caused a number of young people to get mental health issues and in some cases even self-harm, or worse, kill themselves.

What should be done?

Many people should be educated from the younger generations about the harsh consequences of leaving hatred online. They should be taught that even though they may be anonymous, they have a huge impact on the person’s life. Whether it is a celebrity with a huge following or a fellow person in your life, there are consequences to each action.

More celebrities should be speaking up about mental health issues and encouraging each other to talk about the huge impact that online hatred can have on their lives and support each other through the process.