In 2022, for the first time in 14 years, Actress Kim Basinger opened up about her mental health.
The Academy Award winner was interviewed on Red Table Talk, which can be viewed on Facebook Watch. In her first interview in 14 years, the star talked about a terrible condition that she says she suffers from. That condition is agoraphobia.
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The now 69-year-old shared painful details about her challenges of coping with the condition — an anxiety disorder that causes panic for those affected when in certain places or situations.
Kim and her daughter, Ireland Baldwin, both sat down for the chat. The interview was deeply personal. In it, Kim said the condition was "really horrible." She also opened up about how hard she fought it, even before she understood what it was.
"I wouldn't leave the house. I would no longer go to dinner," she revealed. She also admitted that coping with the condition pushed her to her limits, saying it feels "like something just completely shuts down within you and you have to relearn everything."
For Kim, that even meant relearning how to drive. "I had to relearn to drive, and for many years I would not go through the tunnels at Malibu," she shared. "Everything used to make me nervous, like the glass [sliding] to open the door, or, 'Where do I step to open the door?' Everything became a big job to figure out how to do it."
Kim even acknowledged that the anxiety affected her physically. "You live with a dry mouth all the time, you're very shaky, you're just so exhausted all the time," she said.
While many celebrities have opened up about their mental health struggles in recent years, agoraphobia is not one that we often hear much about. Kim should be applauded for shining a light on this serious and painful condition.
Clearly, she's leading by example. In the same interview, Ireland shared some of her own mental health struggles, as well, opening up about abusing Xanax and alcohol during her low points.
