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By Movieguide® Staff
SHAZAM! star Zachary Levi has a powerful message about the relationship between mental health and faith.
“This is why mental health is so important,” he said during “The Storytellers” podcast. “Because y’all were all born with power. We’re all born with gifts. We’re all born with abilities and understandings that we’re supposed to bring into the world with God being the guide of them, being the hand on the instrument that we are.”
Levi continued, “But when we’re not healed in our mental health, our ego is the hand that’s guiding it. And all of our abilities and all of our powers that we have and we all do have myriad and it’s wonderful…what our creator creates and we’re all part of that, and that is wondrous.”
He shared that his own mother’s poor mental health impacted him but that God “redeemed” him, giving him strong relationships with other women in his life.
“It’s incredible, because it’s all just more evidence of our creator and our creator’s love,” Levi said.
Related: Movieguide® Award Nominated Actor Zachary Levi Shares Mental Health Journey
The actor has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression, telling the “Heart of the Matter” podcast, “I’ve struggled with this stuff most of my life. I didn’t realize that I was struggling with these things until I was 37, about five years ago, and I had a complete mental breakdown.”
The pressures of his Hollywood career, as well as his increasing dependence on drugs and alcohol, caused Levi to break down and pray, “God, help me.” He would go on to spend three weeks in “intensive life-changing, life-saving therapy.”
“Prayer and meditation are very important, which are also somewhat synonymous, I think, in some ways,” Levi shared. “Sometimes my prayer is meditation. Sometimes I’m just there and allowing God to take over what that time is. I’m not really saying anything as much as I’m just spending time.”
Speaking to CBN, the MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL actor said that one of his biggest career breaks, his part in SHAZAM!, “literally happened while I was finishing up my therapy. But only because God was like, ‘Good now that you have done the thing, now I can give you the blessing. You would have self-destructed had I given you this blessing before you did the work.’ And that’s the work.”
Levi’s comments are a reminder of the importance of maintaining your mental health through a strong relationship with God.
Read Next: Zachary Levi Reflects on the Grace and Plans of God
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