(Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
- Ryan Reynolds posted about his "lifelong pal, anxiety" for Mental Health Awareness Month.
- He wants others who "overschedule, overthink, overwork, over-worry" to know they're not alone.
- Reynolds has talked about his anxiety in the past, but it's not a focus of his Instagram posts.
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It's better late than never for Ryan Reynolds, who just opened up about his mental health on one of the last days of Mental Health Awareness Month.
"One of the reasons I'm posting this so late is I overschedule myself and important things slip up," he wrote on Instagram Wednesday. "And one of the reasons I overschedule myself is my lifelong pal, anxiety."
Reynolds, the 44-year-old "Deadpool" star and entrepreneur, went on to say "I know I'm not alone, and most importantly, to all those like me who overschedule, overthink, overwork, over-worry, and over-everything, please know you're not alone."
He said he wanted to destigmatize talking about mental health.
Celebrities and fans applauded Reynolds in the comments, with Hugh Jackman saying, "Mate, your honesty is not only brave but I'm positive it will help countless others who struggle with anxiety too. Good on you!"
Reynolds, who has three daughters with his wife, actress Blake Lively, has talked about his anxiety in the past, saying it's always been a part of his life in a 2018 New York Times profile.
"Both in the lighthearted 'I'm anxious about this' kind of thing, and I've been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun," he said. Reynolds even did many Deadpool interviews in character in order to help mange his fears, he said.
But anxiety is rarely the focus of his Instagram posts, which range from photos of Lively, to posts on film sets, to those about Aviatian Gin, a company in which he has a stake.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the US, affecting just over 18% of the population each year.