Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner & Her Path To Wellness

“For me, getting out of bed and getting out of the house and learning to love yourself is the biggest challenge.” — Sophie Turner

There can often be roadblocks to a person’s sense of wellness.

Sources of negativity online are one major reason that people struggle within the epidemic of unwellness that many seem to endure.

Actress Sophie Turner who found her niche on HBO’s Game Of Thrones as Sansa believes that a lot of the mental health problems she had stemmed from constant hate and criticism on social media.

Think about that: she openly acknowledges there’s a stream of constant hate directed towards her.

As a young teen coming of age on the set of a wildly popular television series she didn’t always have an outlet for normalcy or the ability to process her own fears.

So that hurtful commentary could very easily have seemed real.

“People used to say, ‘Damn, Sansa gained 10 lbs’ or ‘Damn, Sansa needs to lose 10 lbs’ or ‘Sansa got fat.’ It was just a lot of weight comments, or I would have spotty skin because I was a teenager and that’s normal, and I used to get a lot of comments about my skin and my weight and how I wasn’t a good actress,” she said.

Turner recently spoke with Dr. Phil on his podcast “Phil in the Blanks” about the impact of that unique kind of torment.

“I would just believe it. I would say, ‘Yeah, I am spotty. I am fat. I am a bad actress.’ I would just believe it. I would get [the costume department] to tighten my corset a lot. I just got very, very self-conscious.”

A major element of her finding a deeper sense of wellness and improved mental health were learning to love herself more. Tuning out the critics. Being able to disconnect and find a sense of purpose in her life’s goals of acting and expression in her career.

She’s also been candid about her experiences with mental health therapy. Which she said she regularly attends with the goal of working on herself and her life priorities more.

Turner also has said that medication has played a big role in her wellness.

It’s quite simply helped her find balance and given her a sense of relief over symptoms of her depression and anxiety which had become so magnified during the darker moments.

So what was the hardest part for her to face when life seemed so difficult?

“For me, getting out of bed and getting out of the house and learning to love yourself is the biggest challenge,” she said.

“I feel much better. I’ve been going to therapy at CAST Centers, actually. I’m on medication and I love myself now, or more than I used to, I think.”

Learning coping skills are a huge part of developing stability in the face of life’s challenges.

Asking for help and identifying people who you can trust that will be there to support you when you’re not feeling your best are both critical ways to make it through the gauntlet of mental illness.

For Sophie Turner it’s about the sum of all parts in treatment as she faces each day with redefined goals and a new sense of hope.

That’s a lesson we can all take something from in the internet age of social media as we work to reinforce our sense of self worth.

If you or someone you know is struggling please reach out for help. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is available 24 hours a day seven days a week at (1–800–273-TALK [8255]).

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And don’t forget you can also text CNQR to 741–741 if you’re in crisis and need support.