06 November 2019
Newsdesk
The 23-year-old singer has battled with her mental health since she was “a kid”, and has now said she wants to use her platform for good, to make sure people know it’s “normal” to feel anxious.
She said: “Since I was a kid I’ve definitely battled with anxiety, and I think it’s important with the platform that I have to spread awareness about it, because it’s so normal. We’re all human, and to feel anxiety about things is completely natural.”
The ‘Don’t Call Me Up’ hitmaker has even made a difference in her own anxiety journey, as she says she now lets herself “feel” the emotion so that she can make the next day “better”, rather than trying to “push it away”.
Speaking during an appearance on UK TV show ‘Lorraine’ on Wednesday (06.11.19), she added: “For me, the biggest realisation with it is that it’s not necessarily about getting rid of it, it’s about being open and honest and just talking about it. Sometimes just feeling it, because if I do that, maybe tomorrow or the day after that will be better, rather than just trying to push it away.”
Mabel - whose parents are Swedish pop star Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack producer Cameron McVey - previously opened up about her mental health battle, as she admitted she had “crippling” depression and anxiety when she was just six years old.
She said: "I got to about six years old when my parents realised it was crippling...That's when music came into it and I started playing piano and journaling. I feel so lucky because I grew up with parents who understand it. They would listen to all my anxieties. Talking about it stopped me from catastrophising. They didn't see it as a negative I needed to get rid of.
"Music has always been my therapy. The first 12 years of my musical relationship was very much for myself; it was like a journal. I was a teen who had a lot of anxiety and depression.”
