Camila Cabello gets candid about her OCD mental health struggles

The singer said it affected her physically, not allowing her to sleep for a long time and leaving her with a constant knot in her throat.

SHARE Camila Cabello gets candid about her OCD mental health struggles
Pop star Camila Cabello performs at Lollapalooza in 2018.

Pop star Camila Cabello performs at Lollapalooza in 2018.

Erin Brown/Sun-Times

Camila Cabello is getting candid about her struggles with mental health.

In an essay published in WSJ magazine Thursday, the singer, 23, discussed not wanting to come forward about her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, OCD is when someone “has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over.”

“I didn’t want to tell you what was going on for the same reason a lot of us don’t want to talk about what it feels like to be at war in our minds and in our bodies. I was embarrassed and ashamed,” Cabello wrote. “That same little voice also told me maybe I was being 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.” 

But, she said that was “not the truth.”

“There was something hurting inside me, and I didn’t have the skill to heal it or handle it. In order to heal it, I had to talk about it,” she said. ”Denying my suffering and berating myself didn’t help things. I needed to say those three revolutionary words: ‘I need help.’”

She said she felt “messed up, with a capital UP” for a few months.

“My anxiety manifested in the form of obsessive compulsive disorder,” she explained. “OCD can take many different forms, and for me it was obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. To put it simply, it made me feel like my mind was playing a cruel trick on me.”

She said it also affected her physically, not allowing her to sleep for a long time and leaving her with a constant knot in her throat.

“I had chronic headaches, and my body went through what felt like multiple roller-coaster rides every day,” she said. “I kept going and kept showing up, never letting people around me know how much I was really struggling.”

Now, however, she says “anxiety and I are good friends.”

“I listen to her, 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,” she added. “Today I am no longer in that internal war. I feel the healthiest and most connected to myself I’ve ever been, and nowadays I rarely suffer from OCD symptoms. Anxiety comes and goes, but now it feels like just another difficult emotion, as opposed to something that’s consuming my life.”

Read more at usatoday.com

The Latest
Despite getting into foul trouble, which limited him to just six minutes in the second half, Shannon finished with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Cowboy hats, bell-bottoms and boots were on full display Thursday night as fans lined up for the first of his three sold-out shows.
The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m. near Minooka. The horse was successfully placed back into the trailer, and the highway reopened about 40 minutes later. No injuries were reported.
The Hawks conceded the game’s only two goals within the first seven minutes and were shut out for the 12th time this season in a 2-0 defeat Thursday.
Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III, 50.15% to 49.85%, a margin that changed only by hundredths of a percentage point, after city and suburban officials tallied more mail-in ballots Thursday.