David Harbour feared his mental health issues were related to his money troubles
Stranger Things star David Harbour has opened up about his long-running battle with mental illness admitting he thought his issues were down to his financial problems until he started making good money and his problems continued.
David Harbour feared his mental health issues were related to his money troubles.
The Stranger Things star has opened up about his long-running battle with mental illness and revealed he previously thought his issues were down to his financial problems and the instability of a career in acting - until he started making good money as a castmember of the hit Netflix show and his problems continued.
David told The Hollywood Reporter: "I wonder about mental illness sometimes, whether it’s an actual disease, as they say, or whether it’s a recidivist condition like homelessness or something …
"It comes with certain components that feel like a disease, for sure - I still think I’m mentally ill even though I have more money!
"But a lot of people say: 'I wasn’t mentally ill. I was just broke.' And I do feel like there’s something about, 'The greatest sin in America is poverty.'
"There is something about being broke in the East Village [in New York], worried about being able to pay your rent, that causes stress on the nervous system. Also, I think the artistic life is a choice - you’re going into territories that other people don’t have to go to, and you in a sense say, ‘I want to go there'."
David also spoke about shooting to fame on Stranger Things back in 2016 - revealing he realised something had changed when the fans waiting for him at the stage door of a play he was working on suddenly shot up.
He told the publication: "I became famous overnight. I was doing this play, and at the time, [a few] people would always show up to see me in plays - there’d be one person at the stage door who would be like: 'Hey, David, you were great in this. We loved you in …'
"'Oh, thanks man.' It was really nice. And this time, it was Saturday night, and there were 20 people waiting for me, and I was like: 'Whoa'.
"They were like: 'We just saw this show [Stranger Things].’ And then Sunday night there were like 50 people waiting for me, and I was like: 'What the hell is going on?'
"They’re like: 'Sorry, man, we’re all just Stranger Things fans - we didn’t even see the play, but we heard you were here!' I was like: 'Oh, my God, what is happening?’ I think I’m still digesting it."
