Taraji P. Henson – I Suffer From Depression, My Anxiety Is Kicking Up More Every Day

Taraji P. Henson Starts Mental Health Foundation in Memory of Her Father

The hilarious and beautiful actress Taraji P. Henson‘s latest venture stemmed from a personal need. She committed to mental health awareness when in 2003 she looked tirelessly for a Black therapist for her young son, and couldn’t find one. After two major deaths in their family – her father and her son’s father – Taraji was determined to be proactive about her son’s mental health. The “Empire” matriarch said:

“When we started doing research and I started looking for a therapist that at least looked like him, so he could trust them, it was like looking for a unicorn.”

So, she decided to start the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, in honor of her late father who suffered from mental health issues after fighting in the Vietnam War. Taraji explained the need for therapists in the Black community:

“We’re walking around broken, wounded and hurt, and we don’t think it’s OK to talk about it. We don’t talk about it at home. It’s shunned. It’s something that makes you look weak. We’re told to pray it away. Everyone was always asking me, ‘Do you have a charity?’ Well, dammit, this is going to be my calling, because I’m sick of this. People are killing themselves. People are numbing out on drugs. Not everything is fixed with a pill.”

Taraji P. Henson says fame and fortune has stirred up her own battles with mental health issues. The actress added:

“I suffer from depression. My anxiety is kicking up even more every day, and I’ve never really dealt with anxiety like that. It’s something new…It [fame] was fun at first, but the older I get, the more private I want to be. I think there’s a misconception with people in the limelight that we have it all together, and because we have money now and are living out our dreams, everything is fine. That’s not the case. When they yell ‘Cut’ and ‘That’s a wrap,’ I go home to very serious problems. I’m still a real human.”

Taraji P. Henson

She says she regularly sits down with her own therapist:

“That’s the only way I can get through it. You can talk to your friends, but you need a professional who can give you exercises. So that when you’re on the ledge, you have things to say to yourself that will get you off that ledge and past your weakest moments.”

To learn more about the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation visit: www.borislhensonfoundation.org.

Written by Miata Shanay