Sandra Oh underwent therapy during her 'traumatic' rise to fame on 'Grey's Anatomy'

Sandra Oh, who rose to fame playing Dr Cristina Yang in 'Grey's Anatomy', recently opened up about how she underwent therapy to deal with the fame.

Oh appearing on `Sunday Today with Willie Geist` t and opened up about her "traumatic" experience becoming a household name after the success of the ABC medical drama.

Oh played Dr Cristina Yang for the first 10 seasons of Grey`s before announcing her departure in 2013.

She earned her first Golden Globe, as well as five Emmy nominations for the role.But despite the success of her role and the series, the actor told Geist the sudden fame was definitely an adjustment.

Oh said, "To be perfectly honest, it was traumatic. The reason why I`m saying that is the circumstances you need to do your work is with a lot of privacy."

She continued, "So when one loses one`s anonymity, you have to build skills to still try and be real. I went from not being able to go out, like hiding in restaurants, to then being able to manage attention, manage expectation, while not losing the sense of self."

The actor then shared that she was able to cope with the fame and new lifestyle because she had a good therapist."I`m not joking. It`s very, very important. You just have to work at finding your way to stay grounded. And a lot of times that`s by saying no," she said about dealing with her mental health.

Oh left `Grey`s Anatomy` seven years ago and fans have been hoping she might make a return to the series one day as season 17 of the medical drama welcomed back a number of former stars including Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd, TR Knight as George O`Malley, Chyler Leigh as Lexie Grey, Eric Dane as Mark Sloan, and Sarah Drew as April Kepner.

However, in May, Oh shut down the possibility of reprising her role as Cristina Yang, noting on the Los Angeles Times` podcast Asian Enough that she has "moved on."

"It`s very rare, I would say, to be able to see in such a way the impact of a character. In some ways, you do your work as a bubble and you let it go. I left that show, my God, seven years ago almost. So in my mind, it`s gone. But for a lot of people, it`s still very much alive. And while I understand and I love it, I have moved on," she said at the time.

Oh added, "I love it, though, and this is also why I really appreciate the show ... that I still get asked this."

Since her exit, Oh has moved on with other projects, including the hit series `Killing Eve`, which will return for a fourth and final season next year, and Netflix`s latest series `The Chair`.