It takes a certain amount of pluck to confess to a national magazine that you were once "enormously co-dependent," but that's how Kirsten Dunst characterizes her pre-rehab mindset to Harper's Bazaar.

"I wasn't taking care of myself emotionally. I wasn't expressing my anger. I was making nice all the time," acknowledges the actress, who checked into Utah's swanky Cirque Lodge earlier this year. "When you spend your entire life as a child actress, being told where to go and where to stand, you're performing constantly for people. It definitely breeds the kind of person who's dependent on other people's approval."

Dunst, who was reportedly treated for depression, says that if she'd just "trusted myself and listened to myself all the times that I ignored myself, I would have been fine. But everyone has to learn their lesson, and now I've got it. Now, I'm great."

Another lesson she's learned is the lengthy life cycle an in-depth discussion about her time in rehab could have online.

"I don't want to get into too much detail, because I give a quote and then it's blogged about on the Internet for the rest of my life," explains Kirstin. "I don't want to be hassled about it. I would like to be a person who can help people, but privately."

She then sensibly adds, "Everyone goes through a hard time in their life. They just don't have to do it in front of tons of people and with our media the way it is. I did, and I'm lucky that I had the resources and the money to take care of myself. I learned a lot."

One resource she has but is unlikely to use is a, well, "gift" may be too strong a word here, so let's just say an "offering" from Tom Cruise, which -- color us shocked -- is Scientology-related.

Seems that not too long ago, Kirsten's onetime "Interview with the Vampire" co-star sent her a copy of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology Code of Honor, which includes such pronouncements as "Never fear to hurt another in a just cause" and "Don't desire to be liked or admired."

The mag points out that Dunst, who will soon be seen in the surprisingly non-Cruise-themed "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People," is not a Scientologist, and keeps the plastic-encased tome on her bookshelf "less for affirmation and more because it's just so L.A."

Meanwhile, Kirsten also touches on the rumors of a romance with Justin Long, brushing them off as "the funniest thing on the planet Earth. I don't know him from Adam. I met him once, and he and his friends were kind enough to walk me home. I've never seen him since."

But Kirsten, Justin and Adam apparently got to know each other pretty well in the time it took for the magazine to go to press, because in recent weeks she's been spotted laughing with the actor-cum-Mac guy over lunch and polishing his tonsils at a Los Angeles music festival.

"Listen, I'm happy single or not single," declares Dunst. "Everyone has to get to the point where they love themselves. Now I love me, so I'm okay."

Something else that's OK with her is Lindsay Lohan's relationship with Samantha Ronson, which she believes could have a positive impact on teens.

"I'm sure there are a lot of girls out there who are so much more comfortable because they love 'Mean Girls' and Lindsay's dating a girl," opines the starlet. "I think that couldn't be better. I know them enough to know that, deep down, they're both sweet girls."

Speaking of the so-called sweeties, Lindsay continues to go the coy route (wisely, we think) when it comes to talking about Samantha to the press.

In an interview with the October issue of Marie Claire, she responds to a direct question about their status by saying, "Um, people can think what they want. I'm really happy, and that's all that matters."

Still, the actress proudly shows off the star tattoo she had inked on her hand to match the ones emblazoned on her DJ inamorata, and she hints that she wants to settle down and buy a house "with someone."

She concedes that her previous residence at L.A.'s Chateau Marmont wasn't exactly the healthiest environment.

"I didn't want to be alone, so whatever I needed I could just go downstairs and there were people there," she says. "It wasn't a way of life. Not very consistent."

And these days, she's all about consistency, which includes proving herself with a guest-starring role on "Ugly Betty," a move she compares to Robert Downey Jr.'s attempt (not altogether successful at the time) to rebuild his career by appearing on "Ally McBeal."

"Look at people like that who have gone through s*** and had to work that much harder to get to where they are now," maintains Lindsay. "I've learned. I'll never go back. And it's not a never-say-never type thing -- it's just, I know. I know."

As for Sam, "She's a great person," enthuses the actress. "And she's a great influence on people around her. But I think that anything that's changed in my life is because of me. I've gone through it, and I've had to deal with it, and I've made the decision to move forward. So yeah, she's a great person."