Taraji P. Henson Opens Up About Her Mental Health & Stigma of Mental Illness in the Black Community

Taraji P. Henson is on the cover of Variety‘s Power of Women issue, out now.

Bette Midler and Christiane Amanpour also star on separate covers of the issue.

Here’s what the 48-year-old Empire actress had to say…

On stigma surrounding mental illness 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.”

On her own struggles with mental health: ”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.”

On fame and being a normal person: “It 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.”

For more from Taraji, head to Variety.com.