Admittedly, not everything celebrities do and say is worth repeating. However, sometimes, celebrities like these use their influence for health awareness and the good of the world.
Take a look at six celebrities who opened up about their own personal health struggles and taught us some valuable lessons in 2015…
1. Avril Lavigne
Singer, Avril Lavigne, gave us a valuable wake up call to the reality of Lyme disease in April 2015. After months of misdiagnosis, she broke down about contracting the infectious disease to People magazine.
Avril spoke out about tick prevention, proper precautions for spending time in nature, and characterized her fight with the disease. She said, “It was literally the worst time in my life…I could barely eat…and had to leave my 30th birthday party to go lie in bed…when my friends asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ I didn’t know.”
2. Charlie Sheen
Fan or not of bad boy, Charlie Sheen, his HIV diagnosis was tragic. In November, he revealed he was infected with the virus that causes AIDs in an interview with Matt Lauer.
Social media blew up with folks both condemning and thanking the actor for his public admission. Either way, Charlie is giving light to the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDs, saying, “[I hope] what I’m doing today will better myself and help a lot of other people come forward.”
3. Selena Gomez
In October 2015, Selena Gomez raised awareness of lupus a chronic autoimmune disease, giving new voice and face to a disease that’s often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.
In the interview with Billboard magazine, Gomez confessed taking time off for lupus treatment even though it was rumored she was being treated for addiction. Gomez taught us that looks can be deceiving when it comes to chronic diseases, “I wanted to badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea’…I was diagnosed with lupus…I’ve been through chemotherapy…but I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable.”
4. Hayden Panettiere
In a Live! with Kelly and Michael interview in September, actress, Hayden Panettiere didn’t mince her words when she expressed her personal struggle with postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya with boxer, Wladimir Klitschko. Rather than sweeping it under the rug, Panettiere said, “Women need to know they’re not alone…it’s something that needs to be talked about.”
Panettiere even sought treatment for the disorder in October 2015, when a spokesperson revealed the Nashville actress was, “Voluntarily seeking professional help at a treatment center as she battles postpartum depression…and asks that the media respect her privacy during this time.”
5. Angelina Jolie Pitt
If you recall March 2015 of this year, the media was a buzz with Angelina’s preventative surgery to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure against ovarian cancer. Just 2 years previous, the actress decided to undergo a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer after she was found to carry the BRCA1 gene, which heightened her risk of developing both cancers.
Speaking up for women to educate themselves about BRCA mutations and to learn about options, Angelina said, “I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt…telling myself to stay calm, be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn’t see my children grow up…”
6. Chrissy Teigen
Life might seem like a fairy tale for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and wife of singer husband, John Legend. But Teigen set us all straight when she admitted her struggles with infertility in an E! News interview, this past September 2015.
Tiegen described how hurtful and intrusive it is to ask when a couple plans on having children, “Anytime somebody asks me if I’m going to have kids, I’m like, ‘One day, you’re going to ask the wrong girl who’s really struggling…I hate that…John and I are having trouble…my gosh, it’s been a process.”
