Ariana Grande
Ariana has been in the spotlight for years, consistently dropping top hits and impressing us with her outstanding vocal abilities. It is no secret that this past year has been very hard for her, filled with traumatic events. At her Manchester concert in May of 2017, there was a bombing that killed 22 and left hundreds injured. About one year later, she announced her breakup with rapper-producer Mac Miller. Although they split, she was outspoken about the continued support and love she had for him. Months later, it was public news that Mac Miller had died from an overdose. This news left Ariana completely broken. In an Instagram post dedicated to him, she shared how she was struggling to comprehend that someone she shared two years of her life with was suddenly no longer with us. In the midst of all of this, she entered a very public relationship with Pete Davidson that quickly led to an engagement. Very recently, their split and heartbreak was all over the internet for people to share their opinions and make their judgments. Throughout this time, Ariana has decided to use her voice to talk about her own mental health, specifically her battles with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
In her most recent album, Sweetener, she released a song called Breathin where she openly talked about being her experience with anxiety. She starts the song off singing, “some days, things just take way too much of my energy. I look up and the whole room’s spinning. You take my cares away. I can so over-complicate, people tell me to medicate.” In the chorus of the song, she shares that through all of the struggles anxiety brings, she is told to “just keep on breathin.” An interview with BBC was released recently where she delved deeper into the anxiety she battles. She told the interviewer that she can go weeks where she “feels like she’s crushing it with no anxiety, but it doesn’t last.” She mentions that something will trigger the anxiety leaving her feeling down for a couple of days. She explains that she feels like the “luckiest girl in the world,” with all of the opportunities she has received in life and because of that, has feelings of guilt attached to her experience with anxiety. Through this interview and her song, we are reminded that recovery is not linear and that anyone can experience battles with mental health conditions no matter how good their life is or seems to be. In addition to anxiety, Ariana has opened up a bit about her struggles with PTSD.
She has been open about her symptoms of PTSD after her concert in Manchester, saying that she does not think she will ever be able to think or talk about it without crying. Although healing from trauma is tough, she lets her fans know that it is something that is possible and something you can process through. She gave that reminder recently on twitter to her 58.7 million followers. After dropping her newest single, Thank u, next, a fan inspired by her undeniable strength jokingly tweeted, “who is ariana’s therapist and are they accepting new clients.” Ariana saw this tweet and took it as an opportunity to promote mental health care. She responded saying, “if you’re afraid to ask for help, don’t be. You don’t have to be in constant pain and you can process trauma.” She ends the tweet by saying that she also “has a lot of work to do, but it’s a start to even be aware that it’s possible.”
Ariana has been in the news quite a bit recently for amazing things like the incredible music she is putting out and also tough, personal things she has had to go through. With this spotlight on her, she has shown such strength and continues to promote and model healthy outlets like therapy. She reminds us that mental health is a process and although asking for and getting help is so hard, it is something that is so worthwhile.