Los Angeles, May 1 (IANS): "The Flash" star Grant Gustin has opened up about his lifelong battle with anxiety and depression, saying he has "always been really hard" on himself.

In Michael Rosenbaum's "Inside Of You" podcast, Gustin said he understands what it is like to deal with anxiety and depression, reports eonline.com. He added that he has been experiencing it for his entire life.

"Since probably four or five, I've dealt with anxiety, depression," said the 30-year-old actor.

The star recalled experiencing "weird, anxious-type dreams" as a child, stating that personal things had surfaced when he and his wife Andrea Thoma went for couples therapy before they got married.

"I knew I had always dealt with anxiety, but getting pinpointed ideas about where things started and why you were feeling that way," he said, added: "Anxiety is ever-present in my life, for sure."

"I've come a long way with taking a little pressure off myself...I've always been really hard on myself and I still am, but I put way too much pressure on myself early on and got in my way a lot and I think it shows, in my opinion at least, in the work, like how wound up I was and how focused I was on getting it right. It gets in your way for sure," he said.