The “Mean Girls” alum said she never entered “the realm of nightclubs.”

Amanda Seyfried credits ‘really extreme’ OCD with helping her avoid alcohol and drugs as a young star

The "Mean Girls" alum said she never entered "the realm of nightclubs."

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW's editorial guidelines

January 19, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Amanda Seyfried attends 37th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival "The Testament of Ann Lee" Talking Pictures Presented By Kering | Women In Motion at Palm Springs High School on Jan. 03, 2026. Credit:

Presley Ann/Getty

Amanda Seyfried is embracing her mental health journey two decades after getting diagnosed with OCD.

The *Testament of Ann Lee *actress recently opened up about her struggles with the condition during an interview with Vogue, sharing that she was formally diagnosed with "really extreme" obsessive-compulsive disorder when she was just 19.

By that point, Seyfried had enjoyed her breakthrough as Karen Smith in the iconic 2004 comedy *Mean Girls,* and her schedule got busier, including a recurring role as Lilly Kane on Veronica Mars and a main role in *Big Love,* the Bill Paxton-fronted drama about a fundamentalist Mormon household in contemporary Utah.

"I was living in Marina del Rey at the time, shooting *Big Love* and my mom had to take a sabbatical from work in Pennsylvania to live with me for a month," Seyfried said of that period. "I got my brain scans, and that’s when I got on medication — which to this day, I’m on every night."

Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Rachel McAdams in 'Mean Girls'.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "OCD features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions)" and can "interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress."

Seyfried said that despite her condition, she was largely unfazed by professional rejection, noting, "It's the nature of the beast." But she did have to make an effort to avoid triggering factors that other young stars were frequently embracing, such as "drinking too much alcohol, or doing any drugs at all, or staying out too late."

Amanda Seyfried shares 8-year-old daughter's reaction after watching 'Mean Girls' for first time

Luke Combs reveals struggle with severe OCD: 'Held me back so many times in my life'

In some ways, it was for the best: she avoided the clubbing mentality that consumed many of her contemporaries. "I would make plans and then just not go," Seyfried laughed. "I guess I did make choices…. I didn’t enter that realm of nightclubs. I gotta give credit to my OCD."

Seyfried noted that it probably helped that her stardom came much later in her teenage years, as opposed to peers like her *Mean Girls* costar Lindsay Lohan, who grew up in the spotlight. "I didn’t get more famous or recognizable in any way until I was 18," Seyfried shared. "I wasn’t the star. I didn’t become super-famous overnight. I was just somewhat recognizable and appreciated."

Amanda Seyfried attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Searchlight Pictures' "The Testament of Ann Lee" at Linwood Dunn Theater on December 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

This isn't the first time Seyfried has opened up about getting diagnosed with OCD. She also spoke candidly about the process of getting diagnosed and the medication that she still takes to this day during a 2016 interview with *Allure*.

"I had an MRI, and the neurologist referred me to a psychiatrist," Seyfried recounted. "As I get older, the compulsive thoughts and fears have diminished a lot. Knowing that a lot of my fears are not reality-based really helps."

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

*The Housemaid *star continued, “A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category [from other illnesses], but I don’t think it is. It should be taken as seriously as anything else. You don’t see the mental illness: It’s not a mass; it’s not a cyst. But it’s there. Why do you need to prove it? If you can treat it, you treat it."

Seyfried shared that she's been on Lexapro ever since and doesn't "see the point of getting off of it." She explained, "Whether it’s placebo or not, I don’t want to risk it. And what are you fighting against? Just the stigma of using a tool?"

- Celebrities & Creators

- Entertainment Industry Roles

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Actors”