Anxiety & Your Favorite Artists… What’s Really Going On?

*WARNING – POSSIBLE TRIGGERS IN ARTICLE*

I was actually going to wait a while before I brought up this topic but after reading that one of my favorite artists, Zayn Malik, has cancelled his second big concert due to anxiety and lack of confidence because of it, I just feel the need to speak on it now.

My Story

Let me first start by saying that I, personally, have and still suffer from anxiety and depression. I struggle with anxiety more so now than I do depression but it’s still very hard to overcome. Depression is something I felt more in high school and after losing my mom but that’s a story for another time. I feel that I have had anxiety majority of my life but didn’t really understand or notice the effects of it until I was older and started having bad panic attacks when my mother was ill.

I already know that a lot of people believe that it’s not possible to be perfectly fine one second then having a full blown panic attack the next without knowing how or why. And before you judge people for having anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issues especially those that are mainly stress-related, imagine how you would feel.You may think that it’s just something to get over but it’s not. Some of us may have to live with it our entire lives.

We can try to push it aside, seek therapy, take medication, or find other solutions (mainly temporary) but those things can only do so much, for so long. I know what it’s like to have people not believe you about having these problems. I appreciate it if you ask me about it to try to educate yourself and you try to be supportive but other than that just keep your insensitive opinions to yourself. Please.

When Your Faves Suffer As Well…

Now on to Zayn Malik, and more recently Selena Gomez and Camila Cabello of Fifth Harmony, and anxiety being publicized. I am only using Zayn as my main example because he is the most recent and popular case. I know there are tons of “celebrities” and people in and out of the limelight who deal with anxiety and depression. I am in no way minimizing the importance of anyone else who may be suffering from this.

Back in June, Zayn was supposed to perform at UK’s Capital Summertime Ball. This would have been one of, if not, his biggest performance as a solo artist, especially getting to perform in front of his home country. But hours before he was scheduled to go on he released a statement:.

I could just imagine what may have happened and what was running through his mind. He was probably more worried about what everyone was thinking or going to think and how disappointed his fans were. But what made all of that worse is that you had people saying that he was faking it because he “looked fine”. He may have actually been fine even though when he spoke you could hear the nervousness in his voice. But at the end of the day, he is a young HUMAN BEING.

I’m not even going to lie to you guys, just writing about this is breaking my heart. He was actually harassed while in the group because of his Pakistani background. Just imagine having your fans, people who have loved and adored you for the past 4-5 years, turning their backs on you because of something they didn’t understand or maybe didn’t want to understand. He did what he felt was best for him (hopefully) and his music reflects that new found freedom.

Questions…

I do have some questions though: Is there anyone encouraging him to actually tour for this album? Have they been pressuring him to tour at all? Was he planning on touring at all or was this all just a pet project to see how he would be received as a solo artist? Did Zayn talk to a GOOD support system before going solo and starting this journey with an album?

Of course social media and many of the news outlets have picked up on the latest story about Zayn cancelling this second show in Dubai. I have watched a couple of them and I hate how they talk about him and anxiety. I know it’s just your job to cover entertainment and celebrity news. You think you’re bringing awareness but you’re not, you’re mocking it and downplaying what it actually is. It’s reality for A LOT of people, not just celebrities.

But thank you to those of you who sat there and read this. I really wanted to share this part of myself with you because I hadn’t realized how many people were actually affected by this mental illness. My thoughts and prayers are with you all and maybe one day we will win this battle and can help others with their struggle.

All my love,

Mimi