"When I was young, I became depressed. I was 21 and I [was] rising to success," the 75-year-old actress said. "I know it sounds terrible, but it's a very, very difficult thing. I didn't necessarily want that."
"I was very depressed and I had a lot of these issues where I couldn't even go outside in public. I didn't want to be a big deal. I wanted to go home. I wanted to [get married], I wanted to be a dancing school teacher. I did have a plan [and] I didn't have delusions of grandeur on any level; I was extremely realistic."
Hawn emphasized that depression is a clinical condition and can be treated through medical intervention. She shared that this is what worked for her.
"This is something that, for me, I worked through. I went to a doctor, I went to a psychologist, I learned about quieting my mind and what happens to the brain," she said.
She has spent much of her career working to spread awareness on depression and other mental health disorders. She founded the MindUp program, which provides resources to parents and teachers with the intention of helping kids understand their emotions.
And Hawn isn't the only celebrity raising awareness on mental health. Reently, Kendall Jenner opened up about her experiences with anxiety.
Speaking to Vogue, the model said, “There are going to be those people who say, ‘Okay, what does she have to worry about? What does she have to be anxious about? And I’ll never sit here and say that I’m not fortunate - I know I live a very privileged, amazing lifestyle. I’m a very blessed girl.
“But I still have one of these,” she continued, pointing towards her head, “And I don’t know, it’s not always happy, it’s not always connecting. I’m still a human being at the end of the day. And no matter what someone has or doesn’t have, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have real life feelings.”
Similarly, Goldie Hawn encourages everyone to become more aware of mental health disorders and how common they truly are.
"For every one of us, we may have a different reason why we may feel low, or anxious, or depressed," she said. "All I want to say is that if you really aren't happy, we do need to be able to tend to ourselves, to go to a doctor. Don't be embarrassed."