Sandra Oh
Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh opened up about her challenges with mental health following the success of the popular ABC show. Her performance in a leading role as Dr. Christina Yang won five different emmys and significantly contributed to her rise to fame. In an interview with Women’s Health, Oh described her fame as traumatic and discussed the stress that comes with constantly protecting her privacy. She also talked about her process of learning to live with the frequent attention following her sudden fame, saying that “when one loses one’s anonymity, you have to build skills to still try and be real.” According to Oh, there was a time when she was unable to leave her house without extreme anxiety about being recognized and found herself hiding in restaurants in order to avoid unwanted attention from fans. After working with a therapist, Oh learned coping skills that allowed her to navigate her fame and public attention, including learning to set boundaries around her time and energy by not returning to the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy and limiting her commitments to what feels manageable. She reported being more comfortable going out and the skills that she developed allowed her to be in public with less anxiety.
As she told Women’s Health, “You just have to work at finding ways to stay grounded. And a lot of times that’s by saying no.” Despite fan requests for her to return for the seventeenth season of Grey’s Anatomy, Oh revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that she has “moved on” but continues to advocate for Asian-American representation in the media through talking about her new projects. Setting boundaries is difficult for everyone, but presents a particular challenge for someone who is famous and recognizable. By speaking out about her own experience, Sandra Oh sets a positive example for self-care and boundary-setting that I believe many people can learn from.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2021/08/30/sandra-oh-i-needed-therapy-after-greys-anatomy-fame/