Millie Bobby Brown Opens up about Mental Health Amid Online Hate

By now, we all know that growing up in the spotlight must be hard. Thanks to former child stars like Britney Spears, Drew Barrymore and, most recently, Nickelodeon's Jennette McCurdy bravely opening up about their experiences, the public has begun to realise the intense pressure and stress which attracting fame and scrutiny at a young age can bring.

However, realising how these young women were mistreated in the past doesn't always stop young stars being mistreated in the here and now. For example, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown has been the subject of online cyber-bullying by the public as well as individuals "criticising" her body.

While this will have no doubt taken a toll on her mental health, she recently opened up to a magazine to discuss how she is coming out on the other side and to get real about where her head is at.

For Millie, struggles with identity and loneliness go back a long way, even pre-fame. "I always struggled with self-identity and knowing who I was,” she told the magazine. “Even as a young person, I always felt like I didn’t quite belong in every room I was in. I also struggle with loneliness a bit.

However, the pressures of fame have only made this worse. Speaking of the online hate she has received, the 18-year-old actor discussed how difficult it has been as someone still growing, learning and developing their identity. “It’s really hard to be hated on when you don’t know who you are yet,” she said. “So it’s like, ‘What do they hate about me? ’Cause I don’t know who I am.’Then you just start shutting down because you’re like, ‘Who am I meant to be? Who do they need me to be for them?’"

However, by connecting with family and friends as well as getting off social media, she explains how she started to get into a better mental health space. "I started to grow more, and my family and friends really helped. It helped to be able to understand that I don’t need to be anything they said that I need to be. I just have to develop within myself. That’s what I did.”

Best of luck to Millie on her journey!