Amanda Seyfried gets candid about her struggle with mental illness

Actress Amanda Seyfried has opened up about her struggles with mental illness, specifically Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

In an interview with Allure Magazine, the Les Miserables actress said she has had the disorder for more than a decade.

She revealed when she was house shopping near the Catskill Mountains she made sure the home she bought did not include a stove, because she becomes constantly worried it will be left on and start a fire.

Seyfried revealed to the magazine she has been taking Lexapro, a medication used to treat depression and anxiety, for 11 years.

“I’ll never get off it,” she admitted to Allure.

“I don’t see the point of getting off of it.

“Whether it’s placebo or not, I don’t want to risk it. And what are you fighting against? Just the stigma of using a tool?”

Seyfried went on to say she believes mental illness “should be taken as seriously as anything else” but people continue to “cast (it) in a different category”.

“If you can treat it, you treat it,” she said, opening up about how when untreated her OCD triggered severe health fears.

“I had pretty bad health anxiety that came from the OCD and thought I had a tumor in my brain. I had an MRI, and the neurologist referred me to a psychiatrist,” she said.

“As I get older, the compulsive thoughts and fears have diminished a lot. Knowing that a lot of my fears are not reality-based really helps.”