Bryce Dallas Howard thinks battling depression has been the "biggest challenge to [her] identity".

The 41-year-old actress has taken to Instagram to discuss her mental health journey, acknowledging that negative thoughts are "integral to the human experience".

Bryce - who has Theodore, 15, and Beatrice, 10, with her husband Seth Gabel - wrote on the photo-sharing platform: "My entire life, I had been so hyper-focused on blocking negative thoughts that I failed to embrace or appreciate that these feelings and emotions and crises were not only not to be avoided, but that they were integral to the human experience."

The Hollywood star explained that having children proved to be a turning point in her own mental health journey.

She said: "It was the last day on my first job as a new mother. I was still in the throes of postpartum depression, and I was in a car, alone, heading straight into the exquisite sunset we'd anxiously awaited all day. It was an existential moment, and since no one could hear me, I asked the question aloud: What is the purpose of ALL OF THIS?! (sic)"

Meanwhile, Bryce recently revealed that she faced pressure to lose weight for 'Jurassic World Dominion'.

The actress - who plays Claire Dearing in the money-spinning film franchise - shared: "[I’ve] been asked to not use my natural body in cinema.

"On the third movie, it was actually because there were so many women cast, it was something that Colin [Trevorrow, the director] felt very strongly about in terms of protecting me … because the conversation came up again, 'we need to ask Bryce to lose weight'.

"He was like, 'There are lots of different kinds of women on this planet and there are lots of different kinds of women in our film' and I got to do so many stunts that wouldn’t have been possible if I had been dieting.

"So I’m really thrilled [at] all the action I got to do, and I got to do it with my body - she was at her maximum strength, and I hope it is just yet another indication of what’s possible."