Sophie Turner Reveals She Used to Think About Suicide a Lot, Opens Up About Depression

Sophie Turner is bravely opening up about having past suicidal thoughts due to negativity over her appearance and her Game of Thrones performance.

“I think the biggest challenge — and I’ve had it for the longest, out of a lot of problems — is my depression. I’ve suffered with depression for about five or six years now,” Sophie told Dr. Phil on his “Phil in the Blanks” podcast. “The biggest challenge for me is just getting out of bed and getting out of the house and learning to love yourself is the biggest challenge, I think.”

“I really don’t think I had any issues with it up until I was, yeah, around 17. And then it just all of a sudden kind of hit me,” she continued.

“Everything was just like — I couldn’t believe I was going to get paid for it. I was like, ‘Oh my God, and I get paid for it as well! What an amazing show.’ Everything was incredible and it only started to kind of go downhill, I think, when I started to hit puberty and really puberty, though, at like 17. And my metabolism was like slowing down massively, and I was gaining weight. And then there was the social media scrutiny and everything, and that was when it kind of hit me,” Sophie continued.

Dr. Phil also asked if she ever thought about suicide being a “good option,” to which she said, “Yeah, yeah it did. I used to … it’s weird, I say that I wasn’t depressed very much when I was younger, but I used to think about suicide a lot when I was younger.”

“I don’t know why though,” she continued. “Maybe it’s just a weird fascination I used to have. But yeah, I used to think about it. I don’t think I ever would have gone through with it. I don’t know.”

“I love myself now, or more than I used to, I think. I don’t think I love myself at all, but I’m now with someone that makes me realize, you know, that I do have some redeeming qualities I suppose,” she said, referring to Joe Jonas. “And when someone tells you they love you every day, it makes you really think about why that is, and I think it makes you love yourself a little bit more. So, yeah, I love myself.”