Sadie Sink Curbed Her Social Media Intake After Feeling 'Really Anxious' About People Taking Photos Without Her Permission

Sadie Sink is protecting her peace when it comes to social media.

The Stranger Things alum, 22, got candid about how being in the public eye has affected her mental health what she's been doing to drown out the noise.

"It’s tricky. I want to put certain aspects of myself out there because there are really beautiful people, [like] devoted fans who make art. There’s a craving to stay in touch because it is so special and can make me feel really good," Sink explained about dealing with life online in a recent interview. "But I find, more often than not, even if people are saying kind things, there’s always going to be something you don’t want to see."

"The last straw was that I would get really anxious if I saw a photo of me taken without my permission," The Whale star continued. "[I didn’t have to be] doing anything, just sitting or being out and about. But anytime I would see it, it would make me really, really nervous and [make me] not want to leave the house. By not having access to social media, I don’t know if someone took a photo of me while I was getting coffee in the morning. Therefore, it doesn’t bother me. Therefore I can get up the next morning and do it again."

In Sink's latest project, the psychological thriller A Sacrifice, she plays a student who gets caught up in a cult that disguises itself as a wellness group. However, she was shocked by how easily people can end up in vulnerable situations. "My research wasn't necessarily about cults, but rather how one finds themself in that situation, and the type of people that fall victim to them," she explained.

"I had a very casual fascination with the subject beforehand — just your typical YouTube rabbit hole, midnight to 2 a.m. situation. But once I started diving in, what I found is that, yes, there is a certain naïveté or vulnerability that comes with victims, but it can also happen to very self-aware, smart people," she continued.

"What makes something have a cult following, or what makes it an actual cult? There’s a lot of scary stuff out there. The idea of wellness centers and retreats that are painted as 'health and wellness journeys' or a 'self-discovery trip,' they have cultlike qualities, [even if] we don’t realize it," Sink noted.

Even being a part of a huge teen show, the actress can see how devoted lovers of something can take it too far. "Fan culture is such a beautiful thing, all these people meeting each other and finding community. But there are two ends of the spectrum. [On one hand,] it’s just a joyous hobby you can celebrate with others. But then the wrong people will feed off of that need for belonging and [turn it into] a self-indulgent, malicious scheme of some sort," she added.

Bustle conducted the interview with Sink.