Published Feb 20, 2024

The Essence of Confidence & Cool, Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 43, Struggles With Anxiety– How He Copes

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Understanding You're Not Alone in Your Anxiety & How To Cope

HitRecord founder Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 43, has admitted to struggling with anxiety throughout his life. In an earlier interview, around when his comedy-drama series “Mr. Corman” was released, he raised awareness for mental health and the importance of communication.
Anxiety symptoms include feelings of irritability, fatigue, and nervousness. People struggling with anxiety also have trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and rapid heart rate which leads to hyperventilation.
Therapy and medication are the two most recommended forms of treatment for individuals with anxiety, and treatments vary depending on the type of anxiety an individual has.
Dr. Marianna Strongin, a clinical psychologist and founder of Strong In Therapy, has been helping the SurvivorNet community by sharing coping mechanisms and a structured way to think about handling these issues.

“500 Days of Summer” actor and HitRecord founder Joseph Gordon-Levitt has admitted to struggling with anxiety throughout his life—something he describes as “a normal thing” that’s important to talk about.

The 43-year-old loving husband, who rose to fame by playing Tommy Solomon on the TV sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun, raised awareness for mental health and communication in an earlier interview around the time his Apple TV+ series “Mr. Corman” was released. “Mr. Corman” is a comedy-drama series about a fifth-grade teacher who is unhappy in life as he misses creating music and following his passion.

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Gordon-Levitt, who wrote, directed, produced, and starred in “Mr. Corman,” spoke with Yahoo! Canada back when the series was released on August 6, 2021, revealing to reporter Marriska Fernandes that the main character of the show is very similar to his own self.

“[Corman is] a lot like me. I think he’s a lot like all of us; he’s somebody who’s doing his best and you know, has a lot to be grateful for in his life, and wants to be happy, but isn’t necessarily happy all the time,” Gordon-Levitt said.

“That’s something I relate to, I think it’s something that we could all relate to. And I have so much to be grateful for in my life. But sometimes my brain goes to these dark places, and I can’t help it.”

He added, “I tried to stop it. I said, ‘Hey, brain, don’t do that, you know, you have so much to be grateful for!’ My brain doesn’t always listen to me.”

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Referring to when the Mr. Corman has a panic attack in one of the series’ early episodes, Gordon-Levitt pointed out how he wrote the lines with his own experience with anxiety in mind.

Gordon-Levitt explained further to Yahoo! Canada, “I’ve had experiences like that in my life, maybe not as intense as the character in the show, [but] I have other people in my life that are close to me that have had really intense anxiety experiences.

“We also spoke to a doctor of neuropsychology to get the perspective from a scientist. And, you know, one of the things she said that really stuck with me was, ‘I want to make sure that this doesn’t stigmatize anxiety, but rather normalizes it, because so many people have these feelings.'”

After speaking to others about the topic of overwhelming emotions like anxiety, the beloved actor revealed, “It feels like everybody I talked to either has those feelings themselves, or is close with someone who has those feelings.”

The “Looper” star hoped his show “Mr. Corman” would inspire others to start speaking up about their mental health to people they care about as communication is key when it comes to getting help.

“A lot of people don’t feel comfortable to talk about it, because they’ll feel like, ‘Oh, people are gonna think I’m broken or weird, or people are going to think I’m whining or something,'” he said.

“But there’s no reason to think that that someone’s broken or weird or whining if they’re experiencing these feelings of anxiety,” Gordon-Levitt continued.

“It’s a normal thing. And the best is to not blame people for it, but to be forgiving, and accepting and supportive and kind to each other about it.”

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How To Manage Anxiety During High-Stress Times

Battling a mental health issue, cancer, or learning to move forward after treatment can be an extremely stressful time for so many people. How can you manage your anxiety while dealing with so many other things?

Dr. Marianna Strongin, a clinical psychologist and founder of Strong In Therapy, has been helping the SurvivorNet community by sharing coping mechanisms and a structured way to think about handling these issues.

Learning To Cope With Anxiety

“The way that I define anxiety is that it’s an internal question that we simply can’t find the answers to,” Dr. Strongin previously toldSurvivorNet.

Dr. Strongin says that one of the main causes of anxiety is uncertainty about life, and a cancer battle can fuel anxiety for individuals because of the lack of uncertainty about the future.

Many people will turn to media platforms for answers, but Dr. Strongin says that individuals often end up with more questions as a result which leads to more anxiety.

The first step for coping during stressful circumstances is understanding one’s anxiety. To do this, Dr. Strongin suggests checking in with oneself everyday to see where the anxiety is manifesting and what questions are causing the anxiety. From there, it’s important to answer those questions and reassure oneself with positivity.

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“The answers are our coping skills,” Dr. Strongin says. “Some people are really good at always giving themselves answers…other people don’t have the coping skills to answer their anxiety and as a result the anxiety increases. … We are all facing the same questions.”

She continues, “Some are facing them much more than others and some are better at answering those questions than others. What’s really important is to pay attention to is what those questions are, what the frequency of those questions are, and how you’re answering them.”

Anxiety In The United States

According to the Anxiety Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States, affecting nearly 40 million adults 18 years and older. Anxiety can be developed through factors including genetics, personality, brain chemistry, and life circumstances. Despite being highly treatable, only 43.2% of people receive treatment for anxiety disorders.

Anxiety symptoms include feelings of irritability, fatigue, and nervousness. People struggling with anxiety also have trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and rapid heart rate which leads to hyperventilation.

Therapy and medication are the two most recommended forms of treatment for individuals with anxiety, and treatments vary depending on the type of anxiety an individual has.

Mental Health: The Basics

The term mental health refers to both our emotional and psychological well-being. Our mental health can affect how we think, feel, and behave. Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or change in your physical health can affect mental health. It’s really important to keep tabs on your mental health and, if necessary, seek treatment. This doesn’t necessarily mean traditional therapy because while it may be really helpful (even life-changing) for some, that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.

Problems with mood and overall mental well-being can be attributed to several factors. For some people it’s genetic, while others may be experiencing a response to some sort of stressor or past trauma.

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In order to keep your mental health in check, it’s important to be aware of signs which can be subtle that there is something affecting your mind. These signs include:

A change in eating or sleeping habits
Losing interest in people or usual activities
Experiencing little or no energy
Numb and/or hopeless feelings
Turning to drinking or drugs more than usual
Non-typical angry, upset, or on-edge feelings
Yelling/fighting with loved ones
Experiencing mood swings
Intrusive thoughts
Trouble getting through daily tasks

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These symptoms can be wide-ranging and vary a great deal from person to person. Everyone experiences grief differently, for example.

However, if you are feeling unusually sad, on-edge, or like you’re no longer interested in activities you used to love, know that there are many treatment options available and many different healthy ways to help you cope.

Understanding Treatment Options

Treatment options for people struggling with mental health really run the gamut. While some people may benefit from seeking the help of a psychologist and getting on medication, others see great improvement by simply implementing some lifestyle changes, such as prioritizing exercise and cutting back on alcohol.

Those struggling should know that they are not alone about one in five American adults has experienced some sort of mental health issue, according to mentalhealth.gov.

However, what worked to help someone else cope may not necessarily help you as treatment must be individualized.

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To maintain a positive mindset and address mental health struggles you may be having, treatment may include:

Seeking professional help from a psychiatrist or therapist
Learning healthy coping skills
Medication such as antidepressants
Adding more physical activity to your routine
Adjusting your sleep schedule
Connecting with others via support groups
Mindfulness and meditation

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Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you find yourself struggling with a mental health issue, or a diagnosis, or even helping a loved one cope with their emotions, consider asking your doctor the following questions:

How can I go about improving my outlook/mental health?
Are there any activities I can do to encourage positive feelings?
When should I seek other interventions if I’m still struggling?
What are the steps to finding a different therapist if the one I’m using is not working out?

Stress and Health

Many people believe that stress causes cancer and other health issues, which isn’t exactly true. But there is a correlation.

Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon and surgical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, tells us that stress can decrease your body’s ability to fight certain cancers.

Patients Do Better When They are Less Stressed

“There is no doubt that stress and your immune system affect your body and affect your body’s chance of healing,” Dr. Yeo tells SurvivorNet.

“Many patients are very anxious and worried that they cause their own cancer through stress or anxiety. I always tell patients, you can’t look in the past and you certainly can’t blame yourself.”

Although many top experts including Dr. Yeo do not think that there is a direct connection between stress and cancer, stress can negatively affect the body.

“Stress certainly decreases your immune system and it may decrease your body’s ability to fight certain cancers.” When there is an excess of stress hormones going on, “your body has a hard time recovering and cancer takes advantage of that.”