Cara Delevingne on how she sank into depression during lockdown: ‘I lost my identity’

Cara Delevingne started lockdown with her girlfriend Ashley Benson, but when they split in 2020 she descended into depression in her Covid bubble.

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Cara Delevingne spiralled into depression during lockdown after she broke up with her ex-girlfriend Ashley Benson
Cara Delevingne spiralled into depression during lockdown after she broke up with her ex-girlfriend Ashley Benson

Cara Delevingne spiralled into depression during lockdown after she broke up with her ex-girlfriend Ashley Benson.

The 30-year-old model – now dating singer Leah Mason, aka Minke, 31, started the Covid quarantine with 30-year-old actress Ashley, who she had been dating for two years, but found herself afflicted with mental problems in her isolation “bubble” after they split in April 2020.

She told the April issue of Vouge in her cover interview for the magazine: “In the beginning, I was living with people in this COVID bubble in LA. We thought it was going to be a weeklong thing, and so it was fun.

“And then I was alone, really alone…it was a low point. I just had a complete existential crisis. All my sense of belonging, all my validation – my identity, everything – was so wrapped up in work.

“And when that was gone, I felt like I had no purpose. I just wasn’t worth anything without work, and that was scary.

“Instead of taking the time to really learn something new or do something new, I got very wrapped up in misery, wallowing, and partying. It was a really sad time.”

Then when the world started to open up again, single Cara threw herself back into her old ways of working hard and filling her downtime with partying.

She added about the ploy leading her to avoid tackling her mental health issues: “I’m classically good at avoiding things, I just didn’t want to deal with my issues. And those are things I’ve been running from since I was a kid.”

Cara revealed in the same chat she secretly went into rehab after photos of her erratic behaviour last year gave her a wake-up call.

She had fans worrying about her health after she was snapped in public looking dishevelled and Cara has now described the images as “heartbreaking”, but admitted she is “grateful” for the paparazzi shots as they drove her to seek help.

Cara added: “I hadn’t slept. I was not okay... it’s heartbreaking because I thought I was having fun, but at some point it was like, ‘Okay, I don’t look well.’

“You know, sometimes you need a reality check, so in a way those pictures were something to be grateful for.”

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