Riverdale's Lili Reinhart on Twitter backlash: I did not mean depressed people should 'stop being sad'

In a series of tweets, Riverdale's Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) opened up about her struggles with depression before landing the lead role in the CW show.

Sharing her experience during the Mental Health Awareness Month, the actress assured she is trying to put some "love out into the world".

Unfortunately, her tweets – one in particular – didn't go down well with the fans as they thought the 20-year-old actress was seemingly shaming those dealing with mental health issues.

Reinhart had initially tweeted, "Your mental health should be your priority. Don't forget that. This is your life... and you've only got one. So don't waste it by being sad." However, the Twitterverse interpreted it differently and slammed Reinhart for urging depressed people to stop being sad.

One of the users commented, "Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be happy in all of the f*****g ppl who downgraded me? how can i not be sad? tell me...HOW?!?!(sic)" adding,"You cant avoid being sad Lili, all ppl felt being sad already. So the moment we got sad, we just wasted part of our life? havent u got sad?"

While some fans justified Reinhart's point of view, most people bombarded the actress for her stand on mental disorders. "So people with clinical depression.... should just..... stop.... feeling .. sad," an observer asked, to which another one added, "So people with a MENTAL illness should just stop feeling "sad" sad is an emotion depression is a mental illness.U can be depressed and happy (sic)".

Following the unexpected backlash over a seemingly well-intended tweet, Reinhart tried to do some damage control as she clarified her tweets.

"Apparently everything I say is going to be taken the wrong way from this point on in my life. Which is disheartening that people want," she wrote adding, "To make me a villain. So no... I in no way meant that depressed people should just 'stop being sad'".

The 20-year-old actress went on to recall her own journey as she dealt with depression and urged her social media followers to seek help and not "wait for things to change". "You have to go out and get that for yourself. You have to find your own happiness and be willing to get better," she wrote.

"And that's what I did when I moved to LA for the second time, trying to follow my dream. I was proactive about changing my life.

"Keep my mouth shut about mental health because some people are looking to be mad about something," Reinhart's final tweets read, as she concluded, "Don't like what I have to say? I don't fucking care. I'm going to talk about mental health and my own experience with depression whether I have your permission or not."

Before her tweets turned into a Twitter war of words, the actress recalled the time before Riverdale and before she became an "actress with a steady job".

"Riverdale came into my life when I was going through the worst depression I had ever experienced. And in the end it completely saved me," she had originally tweeted.

If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, please contact a free support service at Mind.org.uk or call 0300 123 3393 (charges apply).