In a heartfelt, beautifully honest Instagram post, actress Abigail Spencer divulged how much her mental health had gone downhill since her last birthday, and the huge effects it had on her life.
She assures us she's doing better now, but this glimpse into her personal life reminds all of us that stress is worth taking seriously, as it can be detrimental to one's health.
Known for her roles in Grey's Anatomy and Suits, Spencer recently opened up in an Instagram post about the struggles she faced last year and the effects the stress had on her health.
She spoke of the events that followed her 40th birthday the year prior in the caption.
"August 4th 2021, I moved into the hardest year of my life. It almost killed me, and if I hadn't been in training for my mind, body & spirit for & surrounded myself with the most incredible community of friends & healers, I do not believe I would have survived it."
"Stress almost took me out. I literally felt like my insides were being eaten by stress. I couldn't get up off the floor some days. Fear & loss had gripped me. Anxiety would arrest me. In the fight of my life."
Her turmoil also manifested physically, explaining that she "cried so hard on multiple occasions that it led me to vomiting."
"At one point I thought I was having a heart attack. I talked to a cardiologist & he said I wasn't having a heart attack, that my heart was so broken & I needed to be held."
"I scheduled my grief & physical care like it was my effing job," she wrote, "Because it was."
She described how, over time, she started to let more light into her life and take better care of her mental health. She began returning to the person she knew before this sudden onset of stress.
She shared that her birthday wish this year is to bring more joy in the world, then wrote the most beautiful signoff.
"If you are in utter despair. Keep going, you are not alone. It won't be this way forever. I promise you. You are in the middle of your story. Stay open to magic."
h/t: People
