Wentworth Miller reveals he suffered from depression and contemplated suicide after a fat-shaming meme went viral.
Apparently, the popular website LAD Bible posted a picture that went viral. The meme features side-by-side photos of Miller – a promo photo of the toned and shirtless actor from the popular Fox series Prison Break, which aired from 2005 to 2009, and another in which he wears a red T-shirt and looks like he gained a bit of weight – with the joke, “When you break out of prison and find out about McDonald’s monopoly…”
Miller shared the post and unloaded a brutally honest account with his struggles with binge-eating, depression and suicide.
“Today I found myself the subject of an Internet meme. Not for the first time. This one, however, stands out from the rest,” he writes in the post, shared nearly 50,000 times by the end of the day.
He continues by explaining the days when he “suffered in silence” as a result of depression, something he has struggled with since he was a kid. “It’s a battle that’s cost me time, opportunities, relationships, and a thousand sleepless nights,” writes Miller, who first opened up about his mental health issues in 2013 after he came out of the closet and told the world he was gay.
“In 2010, at the lowest point in my adult life, I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction. And I turned to food. It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through. There were stretches when the highlight of my week was a favorite meal and a new episode of Top Chef. Sometimes that was enough. Had to be.”
Miller bluntly states, “And I put on weight. Big f—ing deal.”
This would have probably never been an issue had he not been photographed by paparazzi while hiking in Los Angeles. “They took my picture, and the photos were published alongside images of me from another time in my career. “Hunk To Chunk.” “Fit To Flab.” Etc.,” he writes. “Fighting for my mental health, it was the last thing I needed.”
But Miller admits that he lived and he hopes others identify with his experience and understand that there is help out there.
“Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle. My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. Some within. Some without,” he says, even if the meme’s existence initially took his breath away, in a bad way. “The first time I saw this meme pop up in my social media feed, I have to admit, it hurt to breathe. But as with everything in life, I get to assign meaning. And the meaning I assign to this/my image is Strength. Healing. Forgiveness.Of myself and others.”
Today I found myself the subject of an Internet meme. Not for the first time. This one, however, stands out from the…
Posted by Wentworth Miller on Monday, March 28, 2016
