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Jonathan van Ness says the fame he gained from "Queer Eye" wasn't all it was cracked up to be ... because the weight of fan expectations wrecked his mental health.

The reality star stylist got real about his struggles during an interview with the British outlet The Times ... telling the paper a fan ran up to him on the New York City subway shortly after the show first came out -- which he says was awesome and also overwhelming. Getty

Van Ness says he feels he lost the ability to be sad or disheveled in public because people were always looking at him ... and would run rampant with rumors if he didn't look immaculate.

He adds, "It got to the point where if I couldn’t be the Jonathan van Ness that I knew people wanted, I just wouldn’t go out. Ultimately it made me depressed

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