Amanda Seyfried opens up about 'really extreme' teen diagnosis

Amanda Seyfried spoke openly about her life with OCD, disclosing that she was diagnosed in her terms with "really extreme OCD" as a teenager.

In a recent interview with Vogue, the 40-year-old actress, cogitated about the way at just 19 and how the condition impacted her daily life and later influenced her early career.

The mother of two recalled that during her stay in Marina del Rey for filming of Big Love, she had developed severe symptoms that her mother had taken a one-month sabbatical leave at work in Pennsylvania to come and stay with her. 

The Testament of Ann Lee actress has been taken through brain scans and started taking medicine during that period which she continues to take at night. 

“It’s the nature of the beast,” she said, adding that she often opted out of social scenes and nightclubs, giving credit to her OCD for keeping her grounded.

Further, the star went on to emphasise, “A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category [from other illnesses], but I don’t think it is,” she said.

“It should be taken as seriously as anything else. You don’t see the mental illness: It’s not a mass; it’s not a cyst. But it’s there. Why do you need to prove it? If you can treat it, you treat it.”

Seyfried also touched upon stigma on mental health stating that OCD is no different than any physical disease. 

Notably, Seyfried is openly part of an emerging discussion in Hollywood that promotes early intervention and better awareness of mental health issues.