Hannah Murray recalled having a psychotic breakdown after joining a wellness cult in 2017.
âItâs easy to go, âWell, that would never happen to me,â but we do ourselves a disservice when we start saying that, because you donât know,â the âGame of Thronesâ actress told the Guardian in an interview published on Saturday.
Murray â who talks about her harrowing experience in her forthcoming memoir, âThe Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madnessâ â said she âhad no idea [she] was going to go through any of the things in the book.â
âI wouldâve assumed I couldnât, that I was safe. I was well educated, from a middle-class family; everything should have been fine,â the âSkinsâ alum told the outlet.
âI thought, âIâm smart. I make good choices.â Well, I made terrible choices. But itâs important to understand why people do these things, rather than going, âOh, they must be idiots.â Or, âHow stupid could you be?ââ she added.
Murray, 36, said she was first introduced to the alleged cult by an âenergy healer,â whom she met through her personal trainer while on the set of âDetroit.â
âMy own experience felt highly eroticized, without anything explicitly physical happening. There was just this charge to the energy in the room. I think there often is in these hierarchical spiritual organizations,â she recalled.
âI found it interesting that it was a primarily quite female space â the teachers, the healer â and then this man walks in and heâs incredibly confident and magnetic,â Murray, who would name the cult or the leader, added.
âThe first thing he says is a joke about sex. From this quite floaty, quite gentle, wishy-washy energy, it was suddenly, like, âHey, Iâm here,â and, âLetâs fâk.â I think he was doing that deliberately.â
Murray said she spent thousands of dollars trying to obtain âwisdom and specialness,â but was rather admitted to a psychiatric unit after having a psychotic episode. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Now, the âCharlie Saysâ star is staying away from anything connected to the wellness industry.
âEven the tame stuff can feel quite distressing. I donât meditate any more. I wouldnât go into a crystal shop. IÂ donât do yoga, because I donât quite know what might come up that might feel a bit too woo-woo for my personal threshold,â she told the Guardian.
âBut I realize now how pervasive it is. How often people you donât know will offer it as a remedy. Youâll say, âIâm not really sleeping,â and theyâll say, âHave you tried meditation?â Itâs everywhere, seen as an inherently positive solution,â Murray shared.
âAnd there are harmless or positive versions. But as someone looking for something to fix me entirely, a magic wand or silver bullet, the promise felt seductive and addictive.â
Murray, best known for her roles as Cassie Ainsworth on âSkinsâ and Gilly on âGame of Thrones,â has retired from acting.
âThe Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madnessâ will be released on June 23.
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