AnnaLynne McCord is opening up about her mental health struggles.
The “90210” alum has disclosed she was previously diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID), which was formerly known as multiple personality disorder, reported People.
The 33-year-old announced her history with DID during a conversation with Dr. Daniel Amen of Amen Clinics and said she was “uninterested in shame.”
"There is nothing about my journey that I invite shame into anymore," McCord added. "And that's how we get to the point where we can articulate the nature of these pervasive traumas and stuff, as horrible as they are."
The “Nip/Tuck” actress shared how her acting roles helped shed light on her DID.
“In my history, you’ll see me, I would just show up with the black wig and a new personality and I was this tough little baddie,” McCord said.
“And then I’d be the bohemian flower child and also being an actress, my ability to split all of my roles — all of my roles were split, but I didn’t even realize I was doing it at all until I did a project [during] 90210.”
McCord played Naomi Clarke on the CW series “90210” from 2008 to 2013.
It was a darker role in the 2012 horror movie “Excision” that acted as a trigger as she “couldn’t get out” of character.
"I played a very cerebral, disturbed, strange little girl that was very close to who I feel I am on the inside," the actress noted. "It was very exposing, very confronting, probably a bit retraumatizing without realizing it. Maybe even a bit healing as well, some of it."
Since production on the film overlapped with her role on the “Beverly Hills, 90210” spinoff, McCord would find difficulty making the switch between characters.
"I wrapped that film at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday and had to be happy, crazy Beverly Hills blonde bombshell on Wednesday at noon. And I couldn’t find her. She was not accessible," she recalled. "I was dark. I was very deep into this character, Pauline, and I couldn’t get [out]. When I look back in hindsight, I'm like, 'Oh my dear god.'"
McCord previously disclosed having undergone eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to process and overcome sexual abuse in her past, reported Page Six.
She now hopes her story can be used to change the stigma of DID.
“For me, my heart is to change this narrative around these behaviors that follow [the] trial of the trauma, and not treating someone or responding to someone or judging someone from their actions,” McCord told Dr. Amen. “But asking what happened to you, how did we get here?”
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