Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner says criticism of Sansa Stark led to her depression

In an interview with Dr Phil on his podcast Phil in the Blanks, she said her depression started when she was around age 17.

“The biggest challenge is just for me getting out of bed and getting out of the house and learning to love yourself I think is the biggest challenge,” says the now 23-year-old.

She said she felt alone after her friends and brothers moved away for college, while she was working on Game of Thrones and living with her parents. Social media became a “catalyst” for her depression, she says. “It only started to kind of go downhill I think when I started to hit puberty, and really puberty, though, at like 17,” she adds.

“My metabolism was like slowing down massively, and I was gaining weight. And then there was the social media scrutiny and everything, and that was when it kind of hit me.” 

Turner also revealed that at the time, she was more sensitive about what people would say about her on social media. She said she would read comments talking about her weight and skin as well as criticism about her acting.

“I would just believe it,” she states. “I would just say, ‘Yeah, I am spotty. Yeah, I am fat. I am a bad actress.’ And I just believed it.”

She also shared she now she feels much better since seeking therapy and treatment.

“I love myself now, or more than I used to, I think. I don’t think I love myself at all, but I’m now with someone that makes me realise, you know, that I do have some redeeming qualities I suppose,” she says, referencing her fiancé, Joe Jonas. “When someone tells you they love you every day, it makes you really think about why that is, and I think it makes you love yourself a little bit more, so, yeah, I love myself.”