Written by: THE BALANCE
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Boss, MD
Last updated: January 19, 2026
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Quick Summary
  • It has an impact on the poor, the wealthy, the young, the elderly, the ailing, and the robust, among others.
  • Anxiety has no bounds, although some people are more likely to experience anxiety than others, anxiety disorders can affect people from all walks of life.
  • The world's most renowned, wealthy, and talented people, like everybody else, suffer anxiety.
Reading time: 13 min

Anyone can be affected by anxiety. It has an impact on the poor, the wealthy, the young, the elderly, the ailing, and the robust, among others. Anxiety has no bounds, although some people are more likely to experience anxiety than others, anxiety disorders can affect people from all walks of life.

The world’s most renowned, wealthy, and talented people, like everybody else, suffer anxiety. We will look at 10 different persons who have had anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder in this article.

For anyone struggling with anxiety problems, these tales of superstars and famous personalities with anxiety offer encouragement and a way to cope with your anxieties.

As per World Health Organization, anxiety disorders afflict 3.6% of the world’s population, and superstars and celebs are not immune. Given the challenging nature of their careers, anxiety is reasonably common in Hollywood as well as among others in the spotlight.

  1. Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian West, the fashion icon and reality TV celebrity, opened up regarding her anxiety, especially around vehicle crashes, in a 2016 edition of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and began seeing a therapist. (source: WHO, 2023)

Kendall Jenner, her younger sibling, also suffers from sleep paralysis and anxiety, and the two attend a meditation practice together in that same episode.

Kardashian had been chained and taken hostage at gunpoint in a Paris hotel just a month before that episode. In a September 2017 conversation with T: The New York Times Style Magazine Singapore, Kardashian West said that she certainly has a lot more anxiety now, simply with the thought that people know her every step.

  1. Gina Rodriguez

According to CNN, the Jane the Virgin actress took a brief, makeup-free video of herself in 2017 for photographer buddy Anton Soggiu’s Instagram project Ten Second Portraits.

“I suffer from anxiety. And watching this clip, I could see how anxious I was. But I empathize with myself,” Rodriquez captioned a post on Instagram. “I wanted to protect her and tell her it’s ok to be anxious, there is nothing different or strange about having anxiety and I will prevail. I like watching this video. It makes me uncomfortable, but there is a freedom I feel, maybe even an acceptance. This is me. Puro Gina.”

  1. Emma Stone

In an interaction with the Child Mind Institute in the October of 2018, the actress discussed her first panic attack and her anxiety when she was 7 years old. (source: NIMH, 2024)

According to Stone, she was at a friend’s house when she became sure that the household was on fire and was about to burn down. She said she was just lying in her room, and while the building wasn’t on fire, there was no part of her that didn’t believe they were going to be dead.

Stone began visiting a therapist soon after her initial panic attack, and she was labeled with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

She claims she still suffers panic attacks, but seeing a psychotherapist, meditation, and reaching out to others rather than being secluded has helped her deal.

  1. Lena Dunham

The director, executive producer, and writer for Girls has direct personal experience with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and has worked extensively about it in both her show and her biography, Not That Kind of Girl. For The New Yorker, she also provided a thorough description of her childhood treatment sessions.

According to Vogue, she acknowledged before a panel at New York-Youth Presbyterian’s Anxiety Center in February 2017 that she can’t remember “a time not being anxious.” (source: APA, n.d.)

In an exclusive conversation with People, Dunham said that she would tell her younger self to hug her dog tight, read books, breathe and meditate.  And to realize that she is not alone; that there are a lot of other kids out there who are going through the same thing as me, and that the best thing I can do for others and myself is, to be honest.

  1. Selena Gomez

As per People, pop diva Selena Gomez had a career vacation in 2016 due to panic attacks, anxiety, and depression related to her lupus. Then, in October 2018, People have reported that she received mental health care after having a panic attack while being hospitalized for a low white blood cell count, which is a common problem among lupus patients, and a kidney transplant (she had a kidney transplant from her best buddy, Francia in summer 2017 ). The singer has also received dialectical behavior therapy in different stages of her anxiety issues.

She spoke to Harper’s Bazaar earlier about her mental well-being and why she’s trying her best in making new music. She said that she has struggled with anxiety and depression for a long time and has been open about it, but she doesn’t think she will ever be able to conquer it. She further said that she wants to make certain that she maintains good health. Everything else will fall into place if that is good.

  1. Lady Gaga

In 2015, the vocalist of “Born This Way” spoke to Billboard about her mental health issues. “I’ve suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life; I still suffer with it every single day. I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way. This modern thing, where everyone is feeling shallow and less connected? “That’s not human,” Gaga stated emphatically. (source: NICE, 2011)

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, a Grammy Award winner, founded the Born This Way Foundation in 2012 to influence and motivate communities and increase mental health support for young adults.

In a 2016 talk with The Mirror, Gaga remarked that she openly acknowledges having suffered anxiety and depression, and she thinks lots of people do. Gaga further said that she believes it is preferable if we all say, ‘Cheers!’ And ‘fess up to it.’

  1. Ariana Grande

As per a British Vogue feature article in which she also confesses that she has long struggled with anxiety, Ariana Grande developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the bombing at her Manchester Arena show in May 2017.

“My anxiety has anxiety.” Grande further said that she has always struggled with anxiety. she has never really talked about it since I assumed everyone had it, but it was the worst it’s ever been when I came home from tour.

As per NME and other reports, the singer called off her engagement to actor Pete Davidson in October 2018 and missed rehearsals for the NBC program A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway, but she managed to make it to the shooting. (source: NICE, 2005)

“Can’t believe I almost let my anxiety ruin this for me today!” the vocalist wrote in a post on their Instagram story about participating in the special.

  1. Zayn Malik

The former One Direction member penned an article for Time explaining why he decided to go public with his anxiety problems since becoming a solo artist.

“Anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of; it affects millions of people every day.”  He wrote that he has fans who have gone through similar experiences, and he wanted to be honest and open for their sake, if for nothing else. His anxiety difficulties were severe while he was in One Direction, but they have been at least controllable within the band’s safety net. Zayn added that he felt much more vulnerable as a solo performer, and the mental trauma of performance had simply become too much for me to manage — at least at the time. He stated that he had to throw it all out there, instead of hiding it and sugar-coating it.

  1. Kesha

Kesha wrote a piece for Time over the 2017 Christmas season about how difficult the holidays can be when you have a mental illness. “It was during the holidays when I hit a low moment and with the help of my mother decided to seek help for my eating disorder,” Kesha stated.

Kesha filed a lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke in 2014, alleging emotional, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. (source: ADAA, n.d.)

“I’ve battled a lot of things, including anxiety and depression.” Kesha had told Billboard in an interview in 2016. She further said that it’s not easy to summon the courage to speak up against those things. But perhaps by sharing her story, she might help someone else who is going through a difficult moment.

  1. Michael Phelps

When he was a teen, Michael Phelps has struggled with stardom. When the record-breaking Olympian appeared to have it all together while swimming, he has spoken openly about his anxiety and depression difficulties. Due to his mental health issues, Phelps was arrested twice for DUI. Therapy has been credited for aiding his recovery.

  1. Kevin Love

Kevin Wesley Love is a professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is a 5-time All-Star who led the Cavaliers to the NBA title in 2016. Kevin Love penned a piece for The Players Tribune in 2018 regarding his mental health experience. As per Love, during an early-season game against the Atlanta Hawks, he had an altercation during halftime. He said he felt confined and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He didn’t realize he was having an anxiety attack until much later

Looking back, Love understood that he’d been dealing with anxiety his entire childhood but had been taught to keep it hidden.  Since then, Love says he’s learned to deal with anxiety and has become an ardent advocate for mental health care. Love’s statement was possibly the most open look into a player’s mental health that sports fans have ever seen, but he is far from alone in his issues.

  1. Marcus Morris

Marcus Morris, a Boston Celtics strong forward, was raised in a gang-infested North Philadelphia neighborhood, which he claims led to his depression and anxiety. “At that time, I didn’t trust any white people because I didn’t know any white people,” Morris remarked in a 2018 ESPN interview (source: MedlinePlus, n.d.)

He further said that he didn’t trust anyone — not even the people in his neighborhood, whom he had known my entire life.

He used to like playing basketball with his twin brother, Markieff, as a kid. However, as he entered the NBA and began jumping from club to club, he became increasingly worried, resorting to sleeping drugs and marijuana for relaxation but with little success.

He claims that visiting a mental health professional helped him feel more relaxed, happy, and productive. Morris also claims that regular meditation helps him stay in touch with his inner self.

  1. Mardy Fish

Tennis player Mardy Fish withdrew from the 2012 United States Open due to “health reasons.” The problem was ultimately discovered to be a severe anxiety disorder, which manifested itself in sleepless nights, panic attacks, and days spent alone. He began to feel better once his psychiatrist suggested medication. (source: SAMHSA, n.d.)

He has subsequently withdrawn from tennis and replaced his racquet with a golf club, claiming that worry is no longer his adversary. Once USA Today questioned Fish if golf disturbed his inner peace, he remarked, “The truth is you want to stress in your life. You don’t want an actual anxiety-free life. What would the fun be there?”

  1. David Freese

Fans may consider MLB player David Freese a World Series hero, but it doesn’t indicate he is immune to the same issues that beset millions of Americans. The third baseman has indeed been open about his alcoholism problems, admitting that he utilized drinking to cope with despair and anxiety.

Freese claims that his wife pushed him to work on his problems. He trained up his brain and stopped drinking. “Now, it’s so different,” Freese told USA Today. He said that these days he is always looking forward to getting out of bed in the morning and when you get out of bed, you’re ready to take on the world. To be truthful, I had no idea I could be that content.

  1. Abraham Lincoln

While it’s impossible to evaluate a person’s mental health based just on historical evidence, many people believe Abraham Lincoln struggled with acute anxiety and depression. It shouldn’t come as a shock. The most renowned president in history was constantly confronted with difficulties, and the world behind him was frequently in disarray. He once stated that we live in the middle of alarms; anxiety shadows the future; for each newspaper we read, we await some new tragedy.

  1. Charles M. Schultz

Charles M. Schultz, a comic book icon, developed characters such as Charlie Brown and Snoopy in his comics series Peanuts. (source: Cochrane, 2013)

Despite being a hugely accomplished writer and artist, he struggled with severe anxiety. In an interview, Schultz stated that he get this dreadful sense of impending doom and it feels like he is in a funeral-like environment when he wakes up

  1. John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck, one of America’s most well-known authors, is best known for his novels Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden. He also had depression and anxiety, for which he sought help from psychotherapist Gertrudis Brenner. Steinbeck viewed anxiety and depression as a “sad soul can kill faster than a germ.”

  1. Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Seyfried, who has starred in films such as Mama Mia, Mean Girls, and Les Misérables, has struggled with anxiety ever since she was a child.

 Seyfried remarked after receiving therapy for her mental health condition that she wish she knew it was not impossible to go through it, since at one moment she didn’t think there was another side, t can paralyze you.”

  1. Khalil Greene

Khalil Greene was a veteran major league baseball shortstop who played for the San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers before being placed on the injured list due to social anxiety disorder. (source: NCBI Bookshelf, 2024)

In an interview with USA Today, he noted, “[Baseball] is a source of a lot of joy.” “But, it’s also a source of a lot of frustration,  sadness, and fear.”

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