Camila Cabello opens up about Her Mental Health and her Path to Managing Anxiety

The famous Havana singer went through ‘multiple roller-coaster rides’ every single day as she coped with her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She admitted that she has really ‘struggled’ with it for the past year, leaving people feeling distant. 

Writing in an open emotional essay for the Wall Street Journal magazine, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, she revealed her private experiences with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

She begins the essay by admitting the contrast between her Instagram feed and her real-life, explaining that while she may appear happy and carefree in her frequent posts, more is going on off-screen. The singer explained: how she kept going and kept showing up, never letting people around her know how much she was really struggling. 

The Senorita hitmaker continued: ‘But you probably felt my distance on some level. All my loved ones did … I didn’t want the people who thought I was strong and capable and confident – the people who most believed in me – to find out that I felt weak.’ ‘The little voice in my head was telling me that if I was honest about my mental health struggle and my internal battles (i.e. being human), people would think there was something wrong with me, or that I wasn’t strong, or that I couldn’t handle things. Camila said she has struggled over the past year 

‘That same little voice also told me maybe I was being too ungrateful for all the good in my life – and that hiding the open wound I’d been avoiding the last few years was the easiest and fastest solution.’ 

The former Fifth Harmony star admitted that she’s learned to become ‘good friends’ with her anxiety as a way of managing her feelings. She agreed that she’s been distant from loved-up ones during her struggle.

She added: ‘It also took a lot of self-love (believing I am inherently worthy of happiness, belonging, love and joy, no matter what), self-compassion (not emotionally beating myself up for struggling) and self-awareness. ‘For a long time, the anxiety felt like it was robbing me of my humor, my joy, my creativity and my trust.’ 

Camila Cabello says loving boyfriend Shawn Mendes can be ’emotionally exhausting‘.  The singer concluded making a note saying ‘I listen to anxiety, because I know she’s just trying to keep me safe, but I don’t give her too much attention. And I sure as hell don’t let her make any decisions.

The 23-year-old singer admitted that after seeking help, she feels the “healthiest and most connected to herself she has ever been”. With the help of cognitive-behavioral therapy, meditation, breathing exercises, and other techniques, she has managed her “internal war.”

Over to you

Cabello concluded her personal essay by encouraging fans to speak up and seek help for their mental health struggles.

“We live in a culture that pursues an unattainable perfection,” she wrote. “Social media can make us feel like we should be as perfect as everybody else seems to be. Far from being a sign of weakness, owning our struggles and taking the steps to heal is powerful.”