Goldie Hawn, widely known for her vibrant personality and celebrated acting career, has revealed that her rise to fame wasn’t without significant personal challenges. At just 21 years old, during a time when she was gaining attention for her role in the sitcom Good Morning World, Hawn began to experience severe depression and anxiety.
Despite her cheerful public persona, she admitted in interviews that she felt emotionally overwhelmed by the pressures of sudden fame. Her symptoms included intense fear of going outside, frequent panic attacks, and deep sadness. Hawn described this period as a turning point when she realized she needed professional help to manage her mental health.
Seeking Help and Learning to Heal
Understanding that something was wrong, Hawn consulted with both medical doctors and psychologists. She began therapy, where she learned strategies to calm her mind and improve her emotional resilience. Over time, she became deeply interested in how the brain works, particularly how stress and emotions impact mental wellness. Through education and mindfulness, she found tools to restore balance in her life and began a lifelong commitment to mental health advocacy.
Founding MindUp: A Mission Born from Experience
In 2003, Goldie Hawn founded The Goldie Hawn Foundation and launched the MindUp program. MindUp is a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed for children, parents, and educators. It is based on neuroscience and teaches students how to regulate stress, improve focus, and build emotional intelligence.
MindUp’s methods include daily mindfulness practices, exercises in gratitude, and lessons about the brain’s core functions. The program has been implemented in over 48 countries, reaching more than six million children. It has demonstrated measurable success in improving students’ optimism, empathy, and academic performance, while reducing anxiety and aggression in classroom settings.
Independent studies in countries such as the United States, Canada, Portugal, and Uganda have validated MindUp’s effectiveness. As a result, the program is recognized by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a model of effective SEL education.
Reaching Families and Schools During the Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Hawn and the MindUp team quickly adapted the curriculum to digital platforms, ensuring that families and teachers could still access mental wellness resources remotely. Goldie Hawn publicly emphasized that the pandemic caused significant emotional disruption for both children and adults, calling the situation a “mental health emergency.”
MindUp’s digital expansion included the development of an online learning platform and a partnership with the meditation app Insight Timer, which offered free guided mindfulness practices for families in several languages. Hawn stated that it was crucial to help children and caregivers alike understand their emotions and develop resilience during such uncertain times.
Creative Outreach: MindUp Brain Buddies
In May 2025, MindUp introduced a new educational tool for children called MindUp Brain Buddies, a short animated film aimed at explaining brain functions in a fun, accessible way. The story centers on three brain characters that represent the amygdala (emotion processing), hippocampus (memory), and prefrontal cortex (decision-making).
The film features voice acting from Goldie Hawn’s grandchildren—Wilder, Bodhi, and Rio—who helped bring the characters to life. Hawn explained that the film is designed to help young viewers understand what happens in their brains when they feel overwhelmed, angry, or stressed, and to encourage the practice of “brain breaks” and gratitude.
Public Advocacy for Mental Health
Goldie Hawn continues to use her platform to raise awareness about the importance of mental health, particularly for children and adolescents. She believes that early intervention is key to preventing long-term psychological problems and that emotional education should be part of every school’s curriculum.
In her words, people should not feel ashamed to seek help. “If you really aren’t happy, we need to be able to tend to ourselves, to go to a doctor. Don’t be embarrassed.” Her advocacy aligns with the growing consensus among health professionals and educators that mental wellness is as important as physical health.
Legacy of Support and Hope
Through MindUp, Goldie Hawn has transformed her personal challenges into a global mission to improve the lives of children, families, and teachers. The program’s holistic approach, grounded in science and compassion, continues to expand worldwide. With initiatives like MindUp Brain Buddies and digital learning platforms, Hawn and her team are helping build a future where emotional resilience and self-awareness are foundational life skills taught from a young age.
Her story serves as a reminder that even in moments of deep personal struggle, healing is possible—and that investing in the mental health of the next generation is one of the most powerful legacies anyone can create.
Sources
Self Magazine – Goldie Hawn Opens Up About Her Depression and the Importance of Mental Health
People – Goldie Hawn’s Grandchildren Join New MindUp Project
Good Morning Britain – Goldie Hawn Speaks About Her Depression and the Pandemic’s Impact on Children
MindUp Official Website – About MindUp and Research-Based Impact
Axios – Goldie Hawn Launches Digital Tool to Address Mental Health Crisis
BusinessWire – MindUp Partners With Insight Timer for Free Mental Wellness Resources
