Katherine Heigl says her mental health suffered after Hollywood labeled her 'difficult'

"Grey's Anatomy" alum Katherine Heigl reflected on her turbulent time in Hollywood after she began speaking her mind about her career.

In a candid interview with The Washington Post, the 42-year-old actress opened up about the time she was branded "difficult" and Hollywood started "shunning" her -- which she says was punishment for advocating for herself.

"I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" said Heigl. "What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don't like?"

The "Firefly Lane" star said she wouldn't shy away from discussing what she liked and didn't like about her current projects, most famously when she called Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up "a little sexist" for making certain women appear as "shrews."

Heigl said she wasn't deterred from speaking her mind back then, adding, "You can be the most awful, difficult, horrible person on the planet, but if you're making them money, they're going to keep hiring you ... but then my films started to make not quite as much money."

The "Suits" alum said her deteriorating reputation caused her mental health to spiral.

"I think my family, my mother, my husband, my friends were scared. And I regret deeply that I scared them like that. But I just couldn't control it. I had no tools," the "27 Dresses" star said, adding, "I asked my mom and my husband to find me somewhere to go that could help me because I felt like I would rather be dead."

Heigl, who was recently diagnosed with anxiety and is now regularly seeing a therapist, said she is unafraid to return to Hollywood and speak her mind.