Alan Ritchson Credits God for Saving Him Amid Mental Health Struggles

Alan Ritchson attends the Los Angeles special screening of Prime Video series "Reacher" Season 2 at the Culver Theater in Culver City, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2023. David Livingston/Getty Images

Alan Ritchson, star of Prime Video’s action-crime series “Reacher,” has appeared in a swath of big-name films like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013), “Fast X” (2023), and, more recently, the faith-based film, “Ordinary Angels,” which just debuted in theaters. Although Mr. Ritchson has experienced many highs throughout his illustrious career, he has been very open about the mental health struggles he has faced along the way.

During a recent interview with The Christian Post, the 41-year-old actor—who shares three sons with his wife, Catherine—discussed how leaning into his faith helped him to heal after he once attempted to take his own life.

“My family was there for me, some doctors were there for me, and I got help and pulled through,” he told the publication. “But I had to find what meaning and purpose look like after that, and it looked like serving others and having a real relationship with God.”

Mr. Ritchson, who was raised in a Catholic home, recalled this pivotal point in his life while speaking to Christian Huff, husband of “Duck Dynasty” star Sadie Robertson, during a February 2022 episode of the social media influencer’s “The 4:8 Men Podcast.“ At the time, the actor said he was experiencing ”an early midlife crisis.” He was grappling with issues within his marriage, struggling with the toxic aspect of fame, as well as dealing with problems stemming from the business side of his career.

“I just fell apart and I really struggled to figure out who I was and what I wanted and it was hard,” he explained. “I was not in a close relationship with God and so there was this crossroads where it was like either I give up ... and I’m out of here, or I find a real reason to live.”

Despite not being active in his faith, Mr. Ritchson came to the realization that God had never deserted him. “It’s in my darkest hours, in the most tumultuous storms, the places where I’ve felt like I’m so far from God right now, there’s no chance I can find my way back—it’s in those moments that you realize He is right there.”

Finding Purpose Through Faith

Mr. Ritchson explained that this period of transition in his life didn’t happen overnight. He still battled mentally and emotionally with intense feelings of anger, rage, and shame. However, he always made it a point to never let the sun go down without first praying to God and reading scripture from his Bible.

“The worst day, I was still on my knees no matter what,” he recalled. “I think that’s really when the transformation happened for me was realizing that God is willing to meet us there.” Mr. Ritchson said that over time, he was eventually able to “see the ship course correcting.”

Today, the actor’s Christian faith is a central aspect of his life. “I really do live to try and delight in the Lord and to live in a way that he delights in me,” he shared.

In 2022, he launched his YouTube channel “InstaChurch,” where he regularly posts uplifting and introspective videos covering a wide range of topics all anchored in faith, from marriage advice to discussions about mental health conditions, such as addiction, depression, and bipolar disorder—the lattermost of which Mr. Ritchson has been open about his diagnosis of.

“We’re all really struggling to figure it out, and to withhold the truth about what I’ve experienced, I think would be living a huge lie,” he shared during a December 2023 episode of the “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum“ podcast.

“I think it would be missing the entire purpose of life, which is to figure out how to enjoy this together—to connect with one another—if it brings us closer together, if it will help us heal, if it will help us feel safe or, like, understood, or less alone,” he continued.

Mr. Ritchson hopes that by sharing his traumas with the world, others will be inspired to do the same. “We connect through our pain, truly,” he explained. “We have to connect through our pain, and no one’s going to start that conversation for us. We have to be the one to start it in our personal lives, we have to be willing to have deeper conversations.”

The actor acknowledged that it takes a tremendous amount of courage and bravery to speak out about “even the simplest pains.” However, he said that opening up about personal trials and tribulations with others can help foster an emotional link that transcends far beyond words.

“You leave feeling like you know them better,” he said. “And now we can understand, and now empathy can enter in ... I think it’s our responsibility to foster that conversation.”