When talking about living with anxiety on 'Red Table Talk', the Niobe depicter of 'The Matrix Revolutions' recalls that she used to show signs of the mental health disorder, but was not aware of it.
- April 29, 2022
AceShowbiz - Jada Pinkett Smith has a good reason to be grateful to her daughter. On her show "Red Table Talk", the Niobe depicter of "The Matrix Revolutions" opened up about being forced to examine her own mental health issue when watching Willow Smith struggle with anxiety.
During the Wednesday, April 27 episode of the Facebook series, the wife of Will Smith discussed about living with anxiety with Willow, her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, as well as guest stars Ireland Baldwin and Kim Basinger. "It took me a long time to understand Willow," she first admitted, "I mean, just her anxiety, I had a really difficult time relating."
However, as Jada tried to help Willow to cope, she realized it led her to discover her own problem. "One thing I would say in having to deal with, and learn about her anxiety, I've had to look at some of my own behaviors and the behaviors of my mother, and go, well of course I probably have some anxiety in regards to how I grew up," she divulged.
The 50-year-old actress confessed that she actually had displayed signs of anxiety, but was not aware of it. "I used to chew my fingernails down to the cuticles. But they didn't say that that was anxiety," she revealed, "I was a nail biter, that's it."
In terms of her inability to relate to Willow, Jada further explained, "Because, two things - her lifestyle and how she was brought up very different than mine, I don't know what it's like to be a child under hot lights." She confessed not knowing "how to comfort her [daughter], not knowing what help she needed, not understanding the behavior." She added, "It was very difficult, even to this day, in just being there for her in the way that she needs."
During the chat, Willow corroborated Jada's revelation. Sharing her side of the story, the 21-year-old singer noted how her anxiety used to "trigger" her actress mother. "You used to just be like, 'No. I can't look at this,' " she recalled.
The "Whip My Hair" hitmaker further spilled that her mental illness episodes consisted of her being on the floor, in tears, shaking, screaming and feeling confused. Whenever such incident took place, she remembered that her mother would react by saying, "What is that?"
