Jodie Sweetin is getting candid about her mental health struggles—and how they took a toll on her body during the pandemic.
The Full House alum revealed on a recent episode of the Allison Interviews podcast that while much of the world was in lockdown in 2020 due to COVID-19, she was struggling with anxiety and depression at home and "lost almost 37 pounds" as a result.
"I know I was a mess during the pandemic," Sweetin began. "I was not a fully functioning person."
Calling herself "a stress starver, and not in a good way," the 39-year-old actress went on to explain to host Allison Kugel, "I just stopped eating. I couldn't keep food down."
"I'll be really honest about it; the pandemic was not good for me," she shared. "I have severe anxiety and depression anyway, so it really didn't do any favors for my mental health. I really struggled with it and, for me, it was a time of feeling really out of control."
Elsewhere in the interview, Sweetin said that she "would love to go back and change the course of this pandemic."
"The pain and the loss and the death was awful, but also the impact that it's had on our kids, on our families, on our politics, on everything," she continued. "I think it brought something to the surface that needed to be, but I also think it has forever altered the course of our lives in a very, very complicated way."
Despite her personal struggles with mental health, Sweetin said that her family "did well" in handling quarantine.
"As semi-smooth sailing it was for us, I can't imagine what other people are going through," she said. "I think that sort of collective trauma and pain has really affected us, and I think it's really going to affect people's mental health in ways that we haven't seen yet."
Sweetin has been open about her mental health struggles in the past. In 2019, she marked World Mental Health Day by sharing a selfie she described as "picture of a mom who had a full panic attack in the bathroom that day."
Alongside the photo, which showed the Fuller House star smiling with her two daughters Zoie and Beatrix, she wrote on her Instagram, "When our outsides look good, our insides can still be shattered. Those of us with anxiety/depression/ptsd can walk through the world without anyone knowing just how broken they are."
"So, on this #worldsmentalhealthday, remember that mental illness and pain doesn't always look like what it should," she added at the time. "And that if someone reaches out for help, know that it has taken a world of pain to get them there. Be kind. Be a safe space. There's far too much anger and sharpness in the world these days."