On World Mental Health Day, Reese Witherspoon’s daughter Ava Phillippe is opening up about her personal mental health journey.
The 25-year-old took to social media on Thursday, October 10, to post a video via Instagram, speaking about challenges she faced with mental health.
“On this #worldmentalhealthday @kidsmentalhealthfoundation & I want to ask you to ‘Take 5′ for kids’ mental health by spending 5 minutes (or more!) checking in and spending time with a child in your life,” Phillippe captioned the post. “You might be surprised at the difference just 5 minutes can make for their mental health— and yours! Click the link in my bio or go to kidsmentalhealthfoundation.org to learn more. 🧠🩵”
“Beautifully said,” proud mom Witherspoon, 48, responded in the comments section and in a show of support. (Witherspoon shares Ava and son Deacon, 20, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. Witherspoon is also mom to 9-year-old son Tennessee, whom she shares with ex-husband Jim Toth.)
In the video, Ava detailed the importance of being honest and open about mental health, revealing that she has wanted to be a therapist herself for a long time, and that her love for therapy is a direct result of the impact therapists have had on her. She added that mental health professionals “truly changed my life.”
“We should all take time to check in on those most important to us, and how they’re feeling, especially though, the people who are a little earlier on in their journey,” she noted. “It’s important to put these things out in the open and to talk about the way you feel, even if it doesn’t make sense, even if it feels stupid or silly, to make time for the way you feel, because it’s important.”
Ava is no stranger to speaking out about topics that are important to her. During an “Ask Me Anything” questionnaire via her Instagram Story on January 10, 2022, a fan asked her, “Do u like boys or girls?” Ava responded, “I’m attracted to… people! (Gender is whatever).”
As a result, Ava said she received several hateful messages, which she later addressed. “Quick reminder: I can & will block profiles commenting bigoted/hateful messages under my posts,” she wrote on her Instagram Story at the time. “My Instagram profile is not a place for cruelty/hate speech & I intend to do what I can to keep it that way. Peace & love.”
And in celebration of this year’s pride month, Ava shared a picture via Instagram of herself holding a pride flag with pink dyed hair. She captioned the June 1 post, “Once upon a time, some gal on the internet said ‘gender is whatever’ in reference to her own sexuality. Many took her words out of context, but she knew what she meant. Anyways, this is her posting for the first day of pride month 2024. 🌈✨🪩🫶🏻.”
