Sophie Turner Says She’s Experienced Mental Illness First Hand, Thanks To Brutal GOT Fans

Sophie Turner has been an open book as of late, first allowing Diplo to Instagram Live her surprise Las Vegas wedding to Joe Jonas, and now talking about her struggles with mental Illness. Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on HBO’s hit Game of Thrones, shared how body shaming affected her mental health in an interview for Marie Claire Australia’s June cover story.

“I have experienced mental illness firsthand, and I’ve seen what it can do to the people around [the sufferers] as well,” she said. “[In my teen years] my metabolism suddenly decided to fall to the depths of the ocean and I started to get spotty and gain weight, and all of this was happening to me on camera.”

On Dr. Phil McGraw’s podcast Phil in the Blanks last month Turner also shared some of the comments she would receive. “People used to say, ‘Damn, Sansa gained 10 pounds,’ or ‘Damn, Sansa needs to lose 10 pounds,’ or ‘Sansa got fat,’" she said. "It was just a lot of weight comments, or I would have spotty skin because I was a teenager and that’s normal."

At the time, Turner said she let comments like this – and social media in general – to affect her, revealing that she suffered from depression for over five years.

Turner said she would just believe all the nasty comments, admitting that worrying about her appearance impacted the way she did her job and how she interacted with the world: "I had no motivation to do anything or go out. Even with my best friends; I wouldn't want to see them; I wouldn't want to go out and eat with them."

With the help of her now-husband Jonas and therapy, she was able to work through it.

“Everyone needs a therapist, especially when people are constantly telling you [that] you’re not good enough and you don’t look good enough," she told Marie Claire. "I think it’s necessary to have someone to talk to, and to help you through that.”

Don’t get it twisted, Turner being transparent about her struggles has nothing to do with clout, which resident UK troll Piers Morgan tried to suggest until Sansa shut that ish down.

Earlier this year Morgan agreed with a tweet saying that celebrities are trying to make mental health problems “fashionable,” and Turner weighed in with a counter argument. “Or maybe they have a platform to speak out about it and help get rid of the stigma of mental illness which affects 1 in 4 people in UK per year,” she said. “But please go ahead and shun them back into silence. Twat.”