Camila Cabello says that her life has changed since she overcame the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.
The 27-year-old “Havana” singer has been open about her experience with anxiety and OCD in the past, explaining that for her the condition means having the same thoughts “over and over again”.
It also manifested as asking the same question repeatedly, such as “‘Are you sure you’re not mad at me? Wait, are you sure you’re not mad at me?’” she said, giving examples in a new interview with The Times.
“It’s much better now,” she continued. “I found the right therapist and the right medication.”
For Cabello, this meant taking elective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a category of antidepressant that are thought to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain, according to the NHS. The medication can also be used to treat anxiety and other mental health conditions.
“It felt like I was caving in to take medication,” she said. “But it honestly changed my life.”
The pop star, who boasts billions of streams of her songs, said that her OCD did not affect her music but mainly impacted “life and human stuff”.
Reflecting on living with the condition, the singer said she attributes its development to her itinerant childhood, where she regularly travelled from place to place.
“My mum will be, like, ‘Well, since you were little you’d be in Cuba with your cousins and your grandparents, and then all of a sudden you’d be in Mexico and you’d spend a week crying.’
“My life in Cuba was very much about my extended family. That’s why, in the United States, music and pop culture filled such a giant hole, and I developed a big internal world.”
OCD is a common mental health condition in which a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours, the NHS explains.
Symptoms of the condition can include an unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters the mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease and a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel you need to carry out to try to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought.
The main treatments for the condition are psychological therapy and medication.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
