Mandy Moore: I Struggled With Depression

Actress-Singer Says Split With Zach Braff Didn't Help Matters

(CBS/AP)  Mandy Moore has a lot going for her, including a starring role opposite Diane Keaton in the upcoming comedy "Because I Said So." Even so, she says she's grappled with depression.

"A few months ago I felt really low, really sad. Depressed for no reason," the 22-year-old actress-singer says in an interview in the February issue of Jane magazine, on newsstands Tuesday.

"I'm a very positive person, and I've always been glass-half-full," she continues. "So it was like someone flipped a switch in me. I wanted to figure out why."

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Photos: Star Splits

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Moore, newly single after high-profile relationships with actor Zach Braff and tennis standout Andy Roddick, says her recent split with Braff didn't help matters.

"The breakup added to what I was going through, but it's not the complete reason," she tells the magazine. "It definitely doesn't help if you're already in that place ..."

For his part, Braff recently told Parade magazine that he thinks he may have a mild case of depression.

"I think I suffer from some mild depression," the "Scrubs" actor said. "So to have millions of people go, 'I watched your movie and related,' was the ultimate affirmation that I'm not a freak." Braff was referring to 2004's "Garden State."

Moore, who is working on a new record at a studio in Woodstock, N.Y., says writing songs "away from friends in L.A. or New York" is good for the soul.

"Writing has been really therapeutic," she says of her music. "These little nuggets that have come up over the past eight months have made me look at things in a different way."

Moore started out as a squeaky-clean teen singer and later crossed over into movies with featured roles in such films as "A Walk to Remember," "Saved" and "American Dreamz."

"I feel bad that people wasted their money on such trite, blah pop music," says Moore about her earlier music.

Moore has been looking inward a lot of late.

"I've been going through this really crazy time in my life — it's what I imagine people fresh out of college go through," she says. "I'm asking myself life-altering questions, like `Who am I? Where do I fit in this world? What am I doing, what do I want to do? Am I living to my full potential?' "

[neobb]

Depression should be taken seriously. But "pill juggling" is not the answer. Don't be lured by the PR machine of the pharmaceutical industry, nor the pill-pushing of way too many psychiatrists.

And you don't have to take Tom Cruise's word that the whole "chemical imbalance in the brain" is a hoax. Go read "Talking Back to Prozac" or take a look at psychtruth.org .

Popping pills is not the way to live a rich, fulfilling life. Work with someone to get to the bottom of the real reasons for your depression.

Pills will never get you there.

[kactus-kat]

Depression is still a taboo subject in this country. People with it are afraid to share their sadness with others because of fear of being rejected, fired from a job, made fun of in school, and even picked on for taking drugs that may help (like by Tom Cruise). If you come out about it, you risk negative judgement on the rest of your life. I have a daughter who is not only blind, has a kidney & bladder condition, but is also been diagnosed bipolar. She would say nothing is as devastating in her life as the bipolar. It takes years of psychiatry pill-juggling, and it is still always something she must push back to go on. She is working on her Master's degree now, but it continues to be a challenge and also plays a part in her self-esteem. She definitely needs, like Mandy....a "safe place"...away from the hustle/bustle of excitment. A good routine that is stuck to is one of the most important things...making time in it for things that de-stresses you (exercise, music, reading).

I'm not writing for sympathy...just enlightenment to the general public who brushes off depression as something that is "all in their head"....it's REAL, it is usually a chemical imbalance, and those with it need SUPPORT, not criticism.

[ajaxrose1]

If you're depressed enough to contemplate slitting your wrists, then yes, you know you're depressed. Sometimes, though, it's not apparent and you can even be in denial about it. I don't like the idea that it might be the "disease to have" in Hollywood, but whatever takes the stigma off it. Too many people don't seek treatment because, even in this day and age, there's still "shame" associated with any illness that involves the mind.

[Syndicate]

Depression is not a joke. It should be treated with more respect than the new disese to have in hollywood. No one thinks they have depression. You Know you have it. When you lay in bed and debate if you should just slit your wrist or actually get up and see how the world ***** with you today you have depression.