Hannah Murray, best known for her roles in Skins and Game of Thrones, has spoken candidly about her experience with a wellness cult and subsequent psychotic episode that led to her being sectioned. In a new memoir, The Make-Believe, the 36-year-old actress details how she was drawn into a mysterious spiritual community that promised wisdom and specialness but cost her thousands of pounds and severely damaged her mental health.
Murray, who played Cassie in Skins and Gilly in Game of Thrones, described the pressures of acting that contributed to her vulnerability. She spoke of the relentless focus on her weight, the need to strip for cameras, and the highs and lows of the industry. 'That was a big factor of being an actor: being chosen for a role makes you feel incredibly special. But it lasts only for that project,' she said. 'I was on this hamster wheel of, “Where’s the thing that’s going to make me feel special for ever?”'
At 27, Murray joined a wellness cult that she now describes as 'ludicrous', with a leader who wore a symbolic necklace and carried a giant Starbucks cup. The experience culminated in a catastrophic psychotic episode, after which she was sectioned in an acute mental health unit. A psychiatrist later diagnosed her with bipolar disorder.
Now living in an East Anglian town, Murray says she feels 'a real surge of joy' at no longer being an actor. She stays away from the wellness industry and focuses on writing and cooking. Her memoir, The Make-Believe, is a frank exploration of the convergence of hedonism and self-help that led her into 'the underbelly of the wellness and spiritual world'.
