How Psychiatric Medication Saved This 'Schitt's Creek' Star's Life

“Schitt’s Creek” and “Russian Doll” series actress Annie Murphy spoke up this week about her battle with depression, anxiety and mental health in light of celebrity culture within the United States as well as what the pandemic has done to Hollywood filming.

While her character Alexis Rose in the beloved Netflix series “Schitt’s Creek” is known for her spunky personality, great hair and hot takes, her upcoming role starring in the series “Kevin Can F**k Himself” is one that she plans to use to break into different roles outside the genre of comedy.

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Murphy’s co-star and beloved LGBTQIA+ actor Dan Levy has a strong relationship with Murphy and are known to be friends, supporting each other in their various career roles throughout the years. He posted on June 13 a throwback photo with the caption: “Lil sis has a big new show premiering today and I’m very proud of her. Go watch @annefrances shine in #kevincanfhimself on AMC+!”

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Murphy said that the long months without work during the pandemic have increased her anxiety levels significantly. She told “The Zoe Report,” “I’ve started to sweat just thinking about how anxious it makes me. Even though I Was coming off the huge and mind-bending success of ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ I still had the very vivid memory of my life before ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ when I wasn’t getting any work at all.” During the early 2020 live farewell tour of “Schitt’s Creek’,’ Murphy said that she was battling severe bouts of depression. Co-star Noah Reid who played Patrick on the show was her rock during that time, helping her put forward her “brave face” to go on with the show.

Just as soon as the tour was over, the lockdown was announced, and like many of us, Murphy flew home to spend the time with her family. It was around this time that she was diagnosed formally with depression. She said that while many people may think that this is some impassioned plea for attention, she said that it’s anything but and there were parts of herself during that time frame in her life that she didn’t feel comfortable opening up on social media about.

Murphy says that she is a big supporter of mental healthcare and getting the right medications necessary in order to treat the mental illnesses you may be fighting.

“They [the medication] truly, truly saved my life in the sense that I was not a functional human being, and I was able to be a functional human being,” said Murphy. 

While many of us are not celebrities, it’s important to remember that we do have some things in common with those that we look up to in life.

According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults or 7.1% of the United States population age 18 and older every year. This mental illness is also significantly more commonly found in women.

While depression can be experienced separately from other mental illnesses or physical illnesses or disabilities, serious medical conditions like cancer, HIV, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome and many others can be massively compounded by depression.

Treatment is very important as are coping strategies and the appropriate therapist for your needs. There are hundreds of thousands of resources available if you are struggling to pick yourself up and dust yourself off in light of the circumstances you find yourself in.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a serious, global health crisis that may have sparked some less than glamorous emotional responses for you…and that is perfectly okay. Like Annie Murphy, sometimes it just takes the right conversations and the right medications to find yourself again.