Cara Delevingne suffered from a ''massive wave'' of depression as a young girl.

The 'Paper Towns' star has admitted she struggled with anxiety and depression in her childhood, which led her to self-harm.

She said: ''This is something I haven't been open about, but it's a huge part of who I am. All of a sudden I was hit with a massive wave of depression and anxiety and self-hatred, where the feelings were so painful that I would slam my head against a tree to try to knock myself out.

''I never cut, but I'd scratch myself to the point of bleeding. I just wanted to dematerialise and have someone sweep me away.''

The 22-year-old model and actress also admitted to feeling ''guilty'' about the negative emotions she felt towards her life.

She added to Vogue magazine: ''I smoked a lot of pot as a teenager, but I was completely mental with or without drugs.

''I thought that if I wanted to act, I'd need to finish school, but I got so I couldn't wake up in the morning. The worst thing was that I knew I was a lucky girl, and the fact that you would rather be dead ... you just feel so guilty for those feelings, and it's this vicious circle. Like, how dare I feel that way? So you just attack yourself some more.''