Jameela Jamil reveals she attempted to take her own life 6 years ago, promises 'things can turn around'

On World Mental Health Day, actress Jameela Jamil shared on Twitter that she had attempted to take her life six years ago. With the powerful and heartbreaking admission, she promised her followers that things "can turn around."

On Thursday, the 33-year-old British actress wrote on Twitter that she was "lucky" she survived and that the treatment she sought after the incident has helped her with the "severe PTSD" she experienced. Her tweet is helping to show others, who may be struggling, that suicide is preventable and that they should not feel ashamed to ask for help.

"This month, 6 years ago, I tried to take my own life," “The Good Place” star wrote. "I’m so lucky that I survived, and went on to use EMDR to treat my severe PTSD."

EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a psychotherapy treatment that "enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences," according to the EMDR Institute, Inc.

The non-traditional psychotherapy, unlike most forms of talk therapy, focuses on the emotions and symptoms that are a result of a traumatic event rather than the event itself. A therapist will help a patient focus on desensitization surrounding the event. The goal of the treatment results in a person being trained to replace negatives feelings, such as shame or fear, with positive ones, such as a feeling of strength for having survived their traumatic event.

"I urge you to hang on just a bit longer and ask for help if you need it," the body-positivity activist tweeted. "Because things can turn around. I promise."

This is not the first time that Jamil has praised EMDR for helping with her mental health.

"It’s ok not to be,” Jamil wrote on Instagram in July, referring to feeling happy. “Well done for just getting through the damn day. I had a therapy called EMDR that I used for depression, anxiety, eating disorder issues and PTSD, and if you should be lucky enough to access any mental healthcare I would urge you to spend your money on that before ANYTHING else that isn’t a necessity for your life. Saved my life."

In an interview with Elle in January, Jamil revealed that, "within a matter of months," the therapy helped her extract "the root of the problem, which meant that I didn't have to deal with the symptoms anymore," adding that at the age of 29, any money she had saved for corrective or beauty items were now dedicated to therapy.

She called it the "biggest act of self love I've ever done."

"There is so much work to do in Improving awareness and mental health care, and we need to further de-stigmatize the conversation around asking for help," Jamil wrote in a follow-up tweet to her original post.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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