Cara Delevingne may be one of the most successful models in the world—and working her way to finding just as much success in the acting world—but it hasn't be an easy ride for the beauty.
The 23-year-old covers the September issue of ELLE magazine and opens up about her younger years and how she's come a long way in learning to deal with pain.
In April, Delevingne had revealed her battle with depression, tweeting, "I suffer from depression and was a model during a particularly rough patch of self hatred."
When asked why she decided to open up about her personal struggles with mental illness on social media, Delevingne explained, "I couldn't just sit there and listen to these girls, and boys, too, but usually girls, say this stuff, about bullying, about their sexuality, depression, and guilt and suicidal thoughts and just all of it, without being like, 'I have been through that, and it's going to be okay.'"
She continued, "If I can help a teenager go through a better time than they should be, then I am going to f--king do that. I mean, f--king being a teenager suuuccccks. And I somehow came through the other end."
Part of getting through her depression is learning how to manage her pain in a healthy way, which she's found by practicing yoga.
"For me, yoga's the only way I can really feel things and check how I am. Because there is always pain somewhere, even if it's completely irrational pain, and it's always good to find it and get it out," she explained. "If I don't cry pretty much every day I will hold it in, and it will manifest in me in things that are destructive, like my skin."
In fact, crying is bit of a rough subject for Delevingne, who associates it with her childhood. However, she's had to learn how to do so for her acting career.
"I don't think I have ever, ever cried in front of more than one person ever, ever," she admitted. "Because I grew up in this very 'Emotion is weak, head up, move on, onward and upward' kind of way. Which is not healthy."
She continued, "Will Smith was telling me he brought up his kids to put their emotions first, and when I heard that, I was just like, 'Oh my God, that sounds like a fairy tale.' Because emotions should be put first. It's the most important thing."
Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad star previously chatted with E! News about publicly discussing her depression, too.
"Mental illness goes unseen, but hopefully I don't want it to be unheard," Delevingne told us exclusively while promoting Suicide Squad at CinemaCon in April. "I want to speak up for it."
For more from Delevingne, read her full interview in ELLE's September issue, on newsstands nationwide August 16.