Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams has suffered from depression.
The singer, who shot to fame alongside bandmates Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland, revealed she has battled moderate depression since she was a teenager. Michelle says therapy, exercise and positive thinking have helped to alleviate the condition in recent months.
“I’ve dealt with depression,” she explained during a break in rehearsals for a new touring production of Fela!. “I had to choose to get out of bed and do whatever I needed to do to be happy.”
The 32-year-old star remembers first feeling depressed when she around 15 or 16, but never took medication. Michelle has decided to speak out about her experiences in the hope that she inspires people in a similar situation to seek professional help.
“We’re taught, ‘Just go to church and pray about it. The Lord is going to heal you.’ Well, in the meantime, I believe God-gifted people, physicians, doctors, therapists - that’s your healing. Take advantage of it. Go see a professional so that they can assess you,” she urged. “It’s OK if you’re going through something. Depression is not OK, but it is OK to go get help.”
Michelle’s career looks set to continue to soar in 2013. As well as starring in the touring production of Broadway musical Fela!, it was also recently announced that Destiny’s Child has reformed for a compilations album.
Speculation is rife that the band will perform together during Beyoncé’s NFL Super Bowl set next month.
Michelle has fuelled the rumours by refusing to rule out an appearance at the iconic half-time show on February 3.
“Who knows?” she teased. “We make sure not to go too long without doing something.”
The star also spoke about returning to the recording studio with Beyoncé and Kelly. She says it feels like no time has passed since they last worked together and she is thrilled people are so excited about their latest musical venture.
“Stacking those harmonies on top [of] each other gave me goose bumps,” she said of recording the new song. “We were like, ‘We still sound good together.’ Duh! The bond will never die. We’re always going to be close. We’re always going to work together.
“It’s amazing that people are still fascinated by the connection. It’s been about eight years since we released original material and people still ask me, ‘Do you all talk?’ We could take a picture together today and then tomorrow, people would say, ‘Do you all still talk?’”
