Cara Delevingne Struggles With Depression: ‘I Had A Bit Of A Mental Breakdown’

Cara Delevingne seems like she’s the life of the party, whether she’s attending fashion week or just hanging out with the love of her life, St. Vincent. But as Cara recently revealed, looks can truly be deceiving. In Ms. Delevingne’s case, her apparent happiness is sometimes concealing a struggle with one of the most common forms f mental illness: depression.

Paper Towns Actress And Model Cara Delevingne Knows Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

Cara may seem to have it all, but unlike many of her generation, Ms. Delevingne will be the first one to admit that the material desires of life are trivial in comparison to matters of the heart and mind. Cara says that society is a large part of the problem, because people are conditioned at a very young age to believe that beauty, money, and fame all equates to happiness, but Ms. Delevingne says that’s just not true, according to ABC News.

“I really wanted to do well at school to please my parents, to please my family,” said Delevingne. “I didn’t really care that much about school because I knew I was never going to be very good at it. I think I pushed myself so far, I got to the point where I had a bit of a mental breakdown.”

Cara revealed that she was consumed by a darkness in her life that became so overwhelming that she, at one time, considered suicide. Delevingne openly admits that she had gone mad for a while, feeling as though taking her own life seemed to be the only solution. Cara says that even though she knew she had her family and close friends, she still felt terribly alone.

“I wanted the world to swallow me up, and nothing seemed better to me than death.”

Cara Delevingne Says Even Her Fame And Success Couldn’t Chase Away Her Depression

Cara says that the fame brought about by her modeling career in later years added to the stresses common to inducing her depression and that as she reached one of many peaks in her life as a model, Ms. Delevingne was overcome by a particularly debilitating bout of depression. Cara confesses that it was her long-time friend, Kate Moss, who helped her get back on her feet and overcome that period of depression.

According to USA Today, Ms. Delevingne took a break from modeling to rest and recharge, giving Cara the time to discover more about herself. During her time away from work, Cara discovered that writing could help her to discover new aspects to her personality.

“It was like, I would write and I would read what I’d written, and it was like someone else is talking to me… it was like, ‘What? Is that how I feel?’ It was a very strange experience.”

Delevingne chose to open up so freely in the interview because she hopes to inspire other young girls struggling with similar problems and to show them that mental illness in its various forms is nothing of which to be ashamed. Cara hopes to send the message to people suffering from depression that they are not alone.

Ms. Delevingne wants to spread the message that each of us should accept ourselves, no matter what and that everyone should love themselves and embrace their flaws.

“I think flaws are things that make us special. The cracks within us are the beautiful parts that need to have light shed on them.”

Although she started out in modeling, Cara Delevingne has been actively pursuing her interests in acting and filmmaking. Most recently, Cara followed up her Paper Towns success with Pan, which is currently showing in theaters.

[Featured image: Cara Delevingne courtesy of Anthony Harvey/Getty Images]