'I used to think about suicide a lot': Game of Thrones' star reveals she has depression

Sophie Turner is getting candid about her mental health struggles.

In a lengthy and at times emotional interview with Dr. Phil McGraw on his podcast, Phil in the Blanks, the Game of Thrones star opened up about her battle with depression, which she believes was partly catalyzed by the attention she received growing up in the public eye, People reports.

“Since I was really young, we’ve had a whole mental health thing in my family,” said Turner, 22. “My immediate family, and myself, as well. I’ve suffered with depression for about five or six years now.”

“It’s weird. I say I wasn’t very depressed when I was younger, but I used to think about suicide a lot when I was younger,” she continued. “I don’t know why though. Maybe it’s just a weird fascination I used to have, but yeah, I used to think about it. I don’t think I ever would have gone through with it.”

Turner said she began struggling with depression when she was about 17, saying, “all of a sudden it just kind of hit me.”

“My friends were all going to university and I was working. But I was still living at my parents’ house, so I felt very alone,” she explained. “It only started to go downhill when I started to hit puberty and I was gaining weight. Then there was the social media scrutiny and everything — that was when it kind of hit me.”

Turner said she was seriously affected by negative comments she would read about herself as trolls criticized everything from her physical appearance to her acting skills.