Sara Hyland Discusses Her Mental Health Conditions And How She Managed Them

Sarah Hyland, who starred in Modern Family, revealed how close she was to committing suicide. She has recently given a candid interview to Ellen DeGeneres on her popular TV talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Hyland is 28 years old and has undergone 6 surgeries in the past 16 months. These surgeries have left her with chronic pain which is the main reason behind her depression.

Sarah had been fighting off her illness while she was at the peak of her career. She had two kidneys transplanted through surgeries because both of her kidneys had stopped working. Beside this, she has been struggling with medical conditions called gout and endometriosis. All these conditions have led her to become severely depressed.

The Ellen Interview

In her recent interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Hyland revealed that she had been continuously bearing pain and illness for the last 27 years of her life. Because of this, she rarely hoped for a good day that will come in her life, a time when she will feel good about her health.

She admitted the fact that, initially, she did not want to discuss with anyone about the suicidal thoughts that were entering her mind. She was of the opinion that she did not want anyone to persuade her, and that’s why she kept these thoughts to herself.

In fact, she was so close to committing suicide that she kept preparing a suicide note to her family and friends. Not many people return from that stage, but such is the power of human connections as Sarah now feels much better and healthy.

When she was asked by Ellen about what stopped these thoughts from coming into her mind, she said that simply talking to people and expressing whatever was bothering her helped in getting her back to a normal state of mind.

She was so close to committing suicide that she kept preparing a suicide note to her family and friends. Not many people return from that stage, but such is the power of human connections as Sarah now feels much better and healthy

Hyland also remarked that a person needs an outlet for all the frustration that keeps on building inside the mind. Everyone has a unique personality and their own way of getting rid of the clutter, but talking problems out loud and seeking all the help she could get was what really helped her in coping with these frustrating thoughts. She also said that doing so helped her in putting her thoughts into perspective.

A Long Fought Battle

This is not the first time that Hyland has spoken about her physical and mental struggles, and the fact that they have originated from her chronic medical conditions. Before the Ellen Show, she gave one interview to Self, in which she talked about her second kidney transplant which she received back in 2017, donated by her father. The second kidney was donated by her brother. The impact of these events on her overall mental health was catastrophic.

Sarah told in one of her interviews that she was extremely depressed when her first kidney transplants failed. Her father gave her a second chance in life and failure of that kidney felt to her like she had failed in her whole life. She had recurring thoughts of suicide after that because she did not want to fail her brother like she had supposedly failed her father, although she did nothing wrong.

A Positive Approach

Although the struggle was tough for Sarah regarding her mental health condition, but she is of the opinion that this struggle should not be shameful for anyone who is fighting with severe health conditions and needs help as anyone can suffer from such situations.

According to her, such circumstances should not make you feel weaker than any other member of society or family. She had been reluctant about discussing her problems for a long time because she thought that she had to maintain a public image, but it was not going to help in the long run as she also had a budding career as an actress to uphold.

It was a very brave and rational decision on her part and she has received a lot of support on social media from general public. She acts as a role model for people who are dealing with depression around the world but find themselves unable to discuss it with family and friends because of perceived shame and image of weakness associated with this condition. Everyone has a story and good people are interested in listening to these stories.