Lili Reinhart says depression made her feel like she was ‘dying’: ‘I had to face my own pain head-on'

Actor said she has used lockdown to process the life changes she has gone through

Lili Reinhart has opened up about her depression and how she has been using lockdown to work on herself.

In a new interview with Refinery29, the Riverdale star discussed her mental health and said that the coronavirus pandemic has allowed her to come to terms with the major life changes she has experienced.

“This has been the first time in four years where I've been able to like stop and process the immense life changes that I've gone through,” she said, adding that at one point her depression became so bad she felt like she was in a “black tunnel [that] was never going to end.”

“I couldn't see the light. I was like, ‘I feel like I'm dying’. It was f***ing rough, and there's no other way through it than just through it,” she said.

“I've seen a lot of people when it comes to heartache and grief and breakups, and they try to get that void filled with sex, with coke, with food, with drinking, [but] the void is still there. I took the road less travelled and just dealt with my s***. I had to face my own pain head-on.”

Reinhart went on to explain that she has found the last few months to be the “most emotional” of her entire life but that she is on the road to recovery with the help of her therapist.

“My therapist [told] me, ‘Your body's going through withdrawal from love. You're used to having this exchange of happy chemicals between you and the person that you're with’,” Reinhart said.

“In moments of my life, I have dropped every ounce of pride that I had just to be like, ‘Love me. Please take the pain away for a day, a second, an hour’, just so I can feel that fix again.”

Reinhart later clarified that her comments in the interview were not in reference to her recent breakup with Cole Sprouse.

“Quotes taken from my most recent interview are not about a 'breakup,'” she wrote on Twitter.

“They are about the depression I’ve felt over these last few months. Tired of people taking my words out of context and piecing together their own story for clickbait.”

She continued: “I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup. That’s incredibly private. I was addressing my depression.”

The Hustlers star also opened up about how she has been using her time during lockdown, saying that she has gone out of her way to ensure it would be helpful to her in some way.

“I very much have looked inward and really worked on myself and I can feel myself having grown a lot,” she said.

“Even just the way I'm thinking is different and I'm less judgmental and I'm more open to meeting new people. I've gone out of my way to try to better myself as a human being.”

This is not the first time that Reinhart has spoken about her mental health.

In 2018, the actor told Harpers Bazaar that depression is “a very real thing, a day-to-day thing, not just you sitting in a dark room alone.”

“It’s something that comes in all shapes and colours and all different scenarios, all different types of people,” she said.

“When I do conventions, and I can meet fans one on one, they tell me, ‘You speaking about mental health has really helped me a lot.’ It’s very surreal.”

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk, samaritans.org.