‘Bubbly’ Goldie Hawn recalls depression battle in her 20s

From the outside looking in, American actress Goldie Hawn has had a pretty amazing life. She had her first big break at the age of 23 when she joined the cast of NBC comedy sketch show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In, which ran from 1968 to 1973. From there, she went on to star in a number of popular films, such as Cactus Flower (for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), There’s a Girl in My Soup and Butterflies Are Free.

But the early days of her career were anything but perfect, with Goldie telling Good Morning Britain hosts Alastair Campbell and Susanna Reid on Tuesday that she suffered from depression in her early 20s when her career was taking off.

“When I was young, I felt I became depressed,” she shared. “I was 21 and I was rising to success. I know it sounds terrible, but it’s a very, very difficult thing — I didn’t necessarily want that. Now, in doing so, I was very depressed. And I had a lot of these issues where I couldn’t even go outside in public. This is something … I worked through. I went to a doctor. I went to a psychologist. I learned about quieting my mind and what happens to the brain, and then I studied the brain.”

Goldie went on to say that she’d always envisioned a career in dancing, so the sudden shift had an impact on her mental health in more ways than one. “Happiness is a choice,” she said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t want to be a big deal. I wanted to go home … I wanted to be a dance school teacher. I did have a plan. So I didn’t have delusions of grandeur on any level, I was extremely realistic. The problem was, I was a dancer. And then things changed.”

Goldie, who is mum to Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson and Wyatt Russell, opened up about her personal experience with depression while she spoke about the devastating impact the pandemic has had on children’s mental health for Mental Health Awareness Month. The actress is a keen advocate for mental health and launched MindUP, a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning program for early learning services and schools, in 2003.

“So, for every one of us, we may have a different reason why we feel low, depressed, anxious … a lot of these things,” she concluded. “If you really are unhappy, we do need to be able to tender ourselves to go to a doctor. Don’t be embarrassed. Mental health is real … never be ashamed to say, ‘I’m feeling sad’.”

If you’re depressed or need someone to talk to, there are many 27/4 support lines available, including Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.