Sarah Hyland has been more open about her health issues recently [1], but the star's latest interview might be her most candid yet. The 28-year-old actress sat down with Ellen DeGeneres on Friday to discuss her various struggles — both mental and physical — and how she's been coping with them while still sticking to her acting duties.
Endometriosis. Six surgeries in just a few years. Two kidney transplants [2]. These are just a few of the health complications Sarah has dealt with in her life, and they ended up taking a toll on her mental wellbeing, too — so much so that she came "very, very, very, very close" to taking her own life. "After 26, 27 years of just always being sick and being in chronic pain every single day, and you don't know when you're going to have the next good day, it's really, really hard," Sarah told Ellen. The actress added that she even wrote suicide letters in her head, planning out how she would tell her loved ones about her decision, though she never wrote anything down on paper.
"It ended up being myself that got me out of that. I had to do it on my own."
So what helped pull Sarah out of that dark place? "It ended up being myself that got me out of that. I had to do it on my own," she said, explaining that she mentioned her struggles to a friend. "Saying it out loud helped immensely because I kept it to myself for months and months at a time." While Sarah noted that every person dealing with suicidal thoughts copes differently, she said that simply talking about it with a loved one or therapist can make a world of difference. "Saying it out loud really makes it sound almost ridiculous, and it puts everything into perspective."
If you or a loved one are in need of any help, the National Suicide Prevention organization has several resources and a 24/7 lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.