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When it comes to mental health, Chase Stokes knows the importance of speaking up.
The Outer Banks star, 29, opened up about his own experience with anxiety while accepting an award from Glenn Close‘s organization Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) at the Revels & Revelations 9 event on Thursday.
Take care of yourself. Take care of your family well being. Don’t let others define that. Be patient. Be present. Love you all. Do what you need to do to be honest with yourself and to feel okay ❤️
— Chase Stokes (@hichasestokes) September 5, 2021
Stokes, who is a BC2M ambassador, told the audience during his acceptance speech for the Champion of Change Award that he was blindsided by his first anxiety attack when he was a teen.
“I remember being 15 and having my first anxiety attack and not knowing how to process it and not knowing where it came from, and wishing I had an outlet to figure out how to understand those things,” he said, per E! News.
The actor said he felt like he “found a second home,” with BC2M, explaining, “This [award] is not for me. This is for the 15-year-old Chase, who didn’t know his place in society. And was not sure who he was.”
Stokes, who is a vocal advocate for mental health, often uses social media to connect with fans and encourage them to take care of themselves.
“It’s okay to not be okay,” he tweeted in September. In a follow-up message, he wrote, “Take care of yourself. Take care of your family well being. Don’t let others define that. Be patient. Be present. Love you all. Do what you need to do to be honest with yourself and to feel okay.”
