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Lizzo [3] is fierce. Lizzo is a force. And Lizzo, like so many of us, struggles with depression (17.3 million adults in the US had at least one major depressive episode in 2017 [4]). The 31-year-old singer opened up on Instagram recently about her mental health. First, she posted a brief video [5] mentioning that "nothing anyone can do" will help the depression she feels, calling it "hopeless" and writing in the caption, "I self-love so hard because everything feels like rejection."
In the Instagram video that followed, an emotional Lizzo said to the camera, "I know that something really incredible is about to happen and something incredible has already happened, and I know that I'm just in between that incredible moment." Lizzo went on to say that she's used sadness as a "tool for gratitude," and it's humbling that she gets to feel these emotions "because I know that because of this sadness, I'm going to be able to feel joy."
She reflected more in the caption: "I learned in the last 24 hrs that being emotionally honest can save your life. Reaching out may be hard but as soon as I did it, I was immediately covered in love. I used to think of sadness as a constant with fleeting moments of joy in between . . . but it's a wave." Her sadness can be as temporary as her joy, and it passes. "My triggers are: rejection and inadequacy. But I love that I'm more emotionally honest lately. I love that I can use my sadness constructively in real time for gratitude." Check out the full post above.
Lizzo bounced back and gave an incredible performance at the BET Awards [6] on June 23. This just goes to show that self-love is so important — she's emphasized this in the past [7] — but it's also the help of others around you that can carry you through dark times. Even if you don't believe it can, it will.
