Lena Dunham suffers "more anxiety" than her ‘Girls’ character Hannah Horvath.
The 30-year-old creator, writer and star of the HBO TV series has revealed that although she shares a few personality traits with her on-screen character, she suffers from a different kind of anxiety than Hannah.
She shared: "At the end of the day, I would say I have more anxiety than Hannah, only because Hannah has very specific anxiety about what’s going to happen to her.
"’Does this boy like me?’ ‘Did this job interview go OK?’ I’m slightly more aware of what’s happening on the planet, and I care more about how other people feel, so those are added elements to be anxious about.
"Sometimes when I have really bad anxiety, I do go, ‘Well, I’m just Hannah today. She has so many fewer problems than I do!’ And I’ll just put on ‘Stronger’ and be her. No one’s mad at her on Twitter!"
Lena has been diagnosed with a variety of different problems during her life, including separation anxiety, hypochondria and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
But thinks that the cocktail of drugs she was subsequently prescribed did her more harm than good.
She explained to Vulture: "I’m no doctor, even if I like to think I am, and I know now that they were over-prescribing for every single symptom that presented itself."
Lena’s concerns came to a head in dramatic fashion one day when she was standing outside her house in Brooklyn, New York City, staring at a car in front of her.
She recalled: "I felt like, ‘I could just walk right in front of that car, and I wouldn’t have to worry about this again. Maybe other people can move around on these drugs, but I can’t do it.’"