Matilda child star Mara Wilson says she struggled with severe anxiety and OCD

Mara Wilson has opened up about how she suffered from anxiety and severe obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child, saying she started having panic attacks and obsessive handwashing after filming Matilda.

The 35-year-old actress starred in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s iconic novel when his mother, Suzie Wilson, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died three months before the release of the 1996 film, which was dedicated to her.

Wilson, who rose to fame after appearing in Mrs. Doubtfire and the remake of Miracle on 34th Street, reflected on her early mental health struggles and the loss of her mother in the latest episode of The collapse of Mayim Bialik podcast.

“I was always very worried from a very young age. I was worried about death, I was worried about illness, I was that kind of worried. And it was weird because I was, like I said, kind of a very optimistic outgoing kid, or I was having an anxiety attack,” the former child star told Bialik.

Actress Mara Wilson, 35, reflected on her early mental health struggles and the loss of her mother on the latest episode of Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown podcast.

The former child star had just finished filming the film adaptation of Matilda (pictured) when she began suffering from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

‘When I was in third grade, that’s really when all the shit hit the fan. Third grade was when my mom was sick, I had just finished filming Matilda. I started having panic attacks from things like my hamster running away.

Wilson was also battling undiagnosed OCD, a mental health disorder characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears that lead to repetitive behaviors.

“I started washing my hands all the time, so much so that my hands were always red and cracked and raw and my mum had to put salves and salves on them and all her home remedies to make sure they didn’t hurt.

” much more,’ she recalled.

‘It was a very difficult time for me, and I knew it was weird. That was the thing. I knew it was strange. I knew this was something other people didn’t have and I started having panic attacks at school. I had a feeling this wasn’t something other kids had.’

“I was always very worried from a very young age. I was worried about death, I was worried about illness, it was that kind of worrying,” he told Bialik.

Wilson recalled “hearing the word anxiety” as a child, but did not understand the full scope of what that meant.

“I think my mother was probably scared because she knew that mental illness runs in her family,” she explained. “There was a lot of trauma in the family and there was a lot of mental illness in the family, and I think she was afraid that would happen to me.

“And she was also kind of a put-it-for-it-anyway mommy type,” he added. “So she was like, ‘Okay, get over it, you’ll be fine, deal with it.

‘” And she had cancer, she was dealing with her own thing at the time.

Bialik noted that mental health issues, especially in children, were not talked about much at the time, reflecting Wilson’s experience.

Wilson explained that her mother, Suzie Wilson, was battling breast cancer when she started having panic attacks. She is pictured with her parents at the premiere of Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993.

Wilson, who rose to fame after starring in the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street, was also battling undiagnosed OCD.

“I was going to the guidance counselor like every day, but they really didn’t seem to know what to do with a child with anxiety, a child with obsessions and compulsions,” she said.

“I think about it and the way that I talked about my symptoms and the way that I described them, if I were to hear a child describe them today, I would immediately think, even if I didn’t have extensive experience, I think if someone heard the way that was talking, they would immediately say that it sounds like OCD.

“I think we know a little bit more about OCD now because it’s been 25 years, but at the time, I guess people didn’t really have the knowledge that it could even happen to children.”

Wilson came to understand that he had OCD before he was formally diagnosed because of the research he had done.

The actress (pictured in 1995) would wash her hands to the point where they turned red and raw.

Wilson (pictured in 2000) was not officially diagnosed with OCD and was on medication until she began therapy at around age 12.

“I looked up OCD with the rudimentary internet that we had at the time and what I knew in the library and the encyclopedia, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got this.’ And I went to my guidance counselors, I said, “I think I know what’s wrong with me,” he recalled.

She didn’t trust many people at the time, but she did have a study teacher who made her feel less alone in her mental health issues.

“I confessed to him that it was weird, and I didn’t tell a lot of people about it, but I did tell them,” he said. ‘I was like, ‘I’m really weird. She says, “I’m a little weird too.” And I was like, “No, I get really anxious. It’s really scary.”

She said, “I have anxiety too. It’s okay.” And she made me think, “Oh, okay, there are adults who have this. Not everyone is in control all the time and they face it, they find ways to deal with it.”

Wilson (pictured in 2019) credits her diagnosis with saving her, saying it “couldn’t have worked” without the medication she was prescribed to control her symptoms.

“That diagnosis saved me,” Wilson told Bialik.

Wilson also recalled that it was difficult for his widowed father, Michael Wilson, to come to terms with the fact that he needed help.

“It took my dad a long time to accept that there was something wrong with me because I think parents want to blame themselves for that. And they don’t want to condemn their children with a diagnosis, ”he explained.

The actress started therapy when she was about 12 years old and was prescribed medication to help treat her OCD, which made a world of difference.

“I think I was on Zoloft at the time. Now I take Lexapro and it helps because I couldn’t function without it.

I was diagnosed with severe OCD and I couldn’t have functioned without it,” he said. Bialik.

That diagnosis saved me.