Marsai Martin Speaks Out on Depression

Blackish star Marsai Martin penned a post on her Instagram platform recently giving thanks to God.   She honestly shares that she dealt with depression this year and struggled to get through dark times.

Marsai Martin has experienced a major year in 2019, producing her first film Little, in which stars in alongside Issa Rae and Regina Hall. She became owner of her own production company, Genuis productions, all while continuously starring on the hit ABC show Blackish. She is also a multi award winner.

The fascinating fact, with all of these major accomplishments, Marsai Martin is fourteen years old.  In the public we celebrated and encouraged her success. However we didn’t know at such a pivotal time of success, this rising star was also struggling to find her way out of the depth of depression.

Marsai mentions in her Instagram post she felt pressures to present a certain way, and uphold a look of perfection.  She shares that she put uneccessary pressures on herself. When she kept her feelings inside, they became worse. Eventually Martin shared her feelings with her parents and began to talk about them more.

Through prayer, communicating with others and spending time with people in her life, she soon began feeling better. In her gratitude post to God she writes “Thank you God for hearing my prayers, thank you for blessing me with the greatest family and friends.” Marsai Martin mentions now she feels the best she has in a long time. Lastly she recommends to readers to check on others as we never know who may be experiencing depression, even reaching out to those we don’t know very well.  Caring for others can have a huge positive effect.

View this post on Instagram

Appreciation post to God: I sometimes see these types of posts as corny but this is how I feel lol. This year has been a roller coaster. This year has been filled with crazy emotions and big blessings that I couldn’t even imagine me having. Moments from this year, I was in a dark place. A place that I didn’t think I was going to get out of. I thought I wasn’t good enough and I thought I needed to present myself in a way that was “perfect” when I didn’t need to. Putting so much pressure on myself. Fighting with myself. This feeling had nothing to do with how child actors think. These were my own personal thoughts. The more I kept how I was feeling hidden, the more this dark emotion got bigger. I finally talked to my parents even tho they already knew how I was feeling. It made me feel better about myself. A sense of relief. I started praying more, talking more, and spending more time with the people I love. Now I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt In a long time. Thank you God for hearing my prayers. Thank you God for blessing me with the greatest family and friends. I encourage everyone to speak their mind to anyone u trust. Even asking a random person “how are you?” Can mean something. Also, be yourself because no one can be like you, other than YOU. Okay I’m done bye♥️ – MM

A post shared by Marsai Martin (@marsaimartin) on Jun 25, 2019 at 12:07pm PDT

When shared on social media outlets, reactors to her honesty began to state “she is fourteen, she is too young to be depressed.”  According to research this statement is simply not true, approximately one to eleven children experience some form of depression by the time they are 14 years old.  It appears that slowly entertainers are coming around to discussing mental health and care, hopefully this will change the reactions of the public in how we deal with and discuss mental health. The more we honestly speak and share, the better off we could be.