Christine Quinn is opening up about coping with anxiety and depression — and the ways in which her Selling Sunset stardom has impacted her mental health.
The celebrity real estate agent, 31, shared that she has had a lifelong battle with anxiety and depression on an episode of the PodcastOne show Too Tired To Be Crazy with Violet Benson last week, sharing, “It’s something that I’ve always had, and I feel like people who are really creative especially struggle with this balance.”
She explained that she has taken the medication Lexapro to ease her symptoms at several points throughout her life (“It evens me out,” she says), and began taking it again daily after the first season of Selling Sunset debuted on Netflix.
“I know I’ve always had it, but the show definitely intensified it,” she explains of her mental health struggles. “It was the show coming out and dealing with people that were so horrible to me that triggered it.”
Often described as the “villain” on the hit reality show, Quinn says it was seeing constant negative messages about her that started putting her in a dark place.
“It’s just the fact that it is repetitive negativity,” she explains of the impact of social media trolls. “That is really something that I don’t want to be a part of. And it’s just annoying to have to delete it… that was just for me what was overwhelming.”
Quinn says it’s hard for her to believe that people can say such hurtful things to her. “It’s just so crazy,” she says, when asked to share the worst thing anybody has ever said to her. “But it’s a nuisance more than anything.” She has received death threats since being on the show.
An advocate for destigmatization, Quinn says she is happy to be open with fans about her mental health. (One in five Americans suffer from a form of mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and many suffer in silence.)
“I’m glad that other people are talking about it too,” she says. “Like, I know Hannah [Ferrier] from Below Deck Med, who is a friend of mine, was talking about it, and Stephanie Hollman from the Real Housewives of Dallas was talking about it.”
Last week, Ferrier spoke out about taking medication after an episode of Below Deck Mediterranean aired where she was fired for having undeclared Valium (an anti-anxiety medication) and a CBD vape pen (also for anxiety) onboard the ship she was working on.
In October 2019, Hollman opened on an episode of The Real Housewives of Dallas about being back on antidepressants to ease her struggles with depression, and revealed that she attempted suicide at age 22.
“I feel like it’s a conversation that needs to be had, that’s ready to be had,” Quinn continued. “And I just want to be part of it and I’m glad that the world [is] ready to receive that message.”
Seasons 1-3 of Selling Sunset are streaming now on Netflix.
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