mental health
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Lizzo is feeling better as she navigates her mental health. The “Good as Hell” star shared a mirror selfie to Instagram on Wednesday (May 22), giving an update on how she’s been feeling in the caption. “I’m the happiest I’ve been in 10 months,” she wrote. “The strange thing about depression is you don’t know […]
For Noah Kahan, describing the past year as a whirlwind is an understatement. “It’s really been two years now,” Kahan tells Billboard of grinding out various tour legs in support of his breakthrough 2022 album, Stick Season, and watching his audiences balloon month after month.
“I’ll have a two-month run, and then three or four days off, and then I’m back,” he continues. “It’s not enough time for me to find myself again, and I think it’s been hard to have these little tastes of a normal life. Don’t get me wrong — this is my dream job, I love touring and playing every show. I’m just trying to find ways to make it a healthier experience for myself.”
With that in mind, Kahan has announced the details of how his mental health initiative, The Busyhead Project, will be present on his latest tour, as he kicks off a North American leg of arena shows this weekend and also commemorates Mental Health Awareness Month. The ascendant singer-songwriter’s We’ll All Be Here Forever tour will resume in Nashville this weekend and run across North America through early August before returning to Europe for another month.
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Kahan’s tour will feature multiple activations and partnerships coordinated by the Busyhead Project, which launched last year: Each tour stop will include a Busyhead Project Action Village that amplifies local mental health organizations and features a community wall that allows fans to share positive messages. In addition, HeadCount will be on site in the Action Village to encourage voter registration.
For Kahan — who has been vocal about his struggles with anxiety and depression throughout his career, and has advocated for greater mental-health understanding during his time in the spotlight — the goal is for his charitable actions to scale up with his profile.
“In my own life and career, I feel like things have continued to build for me in small ways, and I want to make sure that my passion for talking about mental health and raising money for it is following the growth of like, my venue capacity, and my staff,” he says. “I’m a big believer in striking while the iron is hot — if you see my tour schedule, you understand that — but along with that is taking moments where there is momentum and visibility, and doing as much good as possible.”
In addition, The Busyhead Project has announced a new partnership with Backline, a national non-profit that connects music industry professionals with mental health and wellness resources, and is offering therapy for his touring crew while on the road. “I’ve always wondered why there isn’t more support in this industry — not just for the artists, or the band, but for the crew, the people working their asses off from 7 in the morning to 2 in the morning,” Kahan explains. “Touring isn’t nine-to-five, and if you’re struggling on the road, it’s really hard to find time to step away and take care of yourself. … It’s been really special working with Backline, and knowing that that [resource] is going to be on my tour makes me feel really good.”
The success of Stick Season, Kahan’s third studio album, has included its title track becoming the Vermont singer-songwriter’s first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100; high-profile collaborations with artists such as Post Malone, Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves; a Grammy nod for best new artist; and graduating from low-capacity venues to multiple headlining gigs at Madison Square Garden next month. Kahan says that he’s “always working” on new material in the midst of that extended breakthrough, although finding time to craft the Stick Season follow-up has been difficult amidst all the travel and performances.
“It’s been really tough for me to find a moment of grounding in all of this,” Kahan admits. “It’s just this feeling of not being able to access this thing I love so much, which is songwriting, and understanding myself. And it’s been really, really hard, and tiring for me to try to find time to be creative. With the way music is released now, I’m like, ‘Man, I should have a new record by the fall!’ And I just don’t! I can’t make something that doesn’t feel joyful for me.”
That doesn’t mean that the creative well is totally empty, though. “I’ve written some songs that I really love,” Kahan says, “and I have an idea for my next album that I really feel is important to me. It feels like it works in the world of Stick Season in a way, but isn’t just doing the same thing. It just feels like that same feeling of, conceptually, something really deep. I think that’s there.”
Above all, Kahan wants to practice what he preaches when it comes to his self-perception, in the middle of the biggest performances of his career to date and ahead of the Stick Season follow-up. “I’m trying to be kind to myself, and get some time to be creative soon,” he says. “Sometimes it’s hard to feel like I’m out there doing good work for mental health awareness, and then not taking care of my own as well. It’s been a struggle, but I’m finding ways to make it work.”
Artists are taking important strides towards changing the narrative around mental health by sharing their personal journeys and launching initiatives that support the emotional well-being of their communities.
Historically, mental health struggles were private battles for many — including performers, who appeared cheerful and undisturbed in public. This trend is shifting, as artists from various musical genres are now using their influence to shed light on mental health, demonstrating their personal struggles and coping mechanisms to normalize and destigmatize such conditions.
Among those making a difference are a bevy of Latin stars — such as Karol G, who, with her Con Cora Foundation, introduced “Rincón de la Calma” (Calm Corner), an initiative aimed at fostering mental health awareness in Latin American schools. J Balvin stepped into the arena with OYE, a bilingual app focused on creative wellness, launched in 2022 to serve the Latin community. The app offers resources on managing anxiety, depression, crisis, grief, and more.
Mexican singer/songwriter Carla Morrison used her platform and music to publicly address her mental health. Having taken a break from the limelight, she returned with a powerful message in her 2022 single, “Ansiedad (Anxiety),” reflecting her lifelong struggle with anxiety. Residente also contributed to the conversation in the Latin urban scene with his introspective song “René,” which delves into his personal mental health experiences.
These artists are just a few examples of those in the Latin music industry leading by example, using their platforms and talents to support and encourage the multitude of fans who admire them. Read our list of 15 such artists below, presented in alphabetical order.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day. If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health or substance abuse disorders, reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration‘s national helpline 24/7 at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for confidential treatment referrals and information. For those who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and/or distress, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255. You can also call or text 988 to get connected to trained counselors.
Alejandro Sanz
Image Credit: JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images
For Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Billboard is teaming with Brandon Holman of the Lazuli Collective on a series of articles focused on mindfulness and the professional development of executives, creatives and artists in the music community.
Today’s conversation is with Kenji Summers, an advertising executive turned certified mindfulness instructor. Summers is the first to label himself “a black man who does too much” and is on a mission to help overwhelmed professionals that grew up on hip-hop learn mindfulness techniques to reduce anxiety and avoid burnout. Through meditation groups, Summers uses his deep love of music and hip-hop to help people find peace. Here, he explains how landing his dream job made him realize he lacked a deeper relationship with himself and how Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers brought about his meditation club.
I grew up in Brooklyn in the ‘90s, specifically in a neighborhood called Bed-Stuy. I was in between where Biggie lived and where Jay-Z grew up. At the time, my aunt Gerrie [Summers] was the editor-in-chief of Word Up! magazine. So, I was hearing in the house that I grew up in, the sounds of hip-hop, the culture and particularly the album, Life After Death the double album by Biggie. It was the first time I listened to a whole album.
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I remember sitting in my room after I expropriated or borrowed the album from my aunt because she would get them weeks in advance sometimes. I had my eyes closed and I was just vibing to it and I saw all the stories that Biggie was rhyming about – as many details as I could at 10 years old. What that led me to was a love for music, particularly hip-hop and wanting to know more about what my aunt did. Seeing how people could paint those pictures, I wanted to spend more time understanding how people do that.
Eventually, that led me to wanting to work at the intersection of music and messages or art and media. Once I realized there were careers in that space that weren’t just rappers, the person that I looked up to was Steve Stoute. He had transitioned from working as a president of a label and managing artists like Nas to starting a brand consultancy and an ad agency.
I started to take more advertising courses as I was graduating from university. I found mentorship and I found people who were Black and of color in advertising. Having those experiences early on in music, I thought maybe there’s a way to bring my culture to this industry of art and copy. I worked for some years in advertising, trying to get people to buy things they didn’t need and often believing things that they didn’t really understand. I saw it as a gift and a curse.
In advertising, I had to go to work every day and often it was very early days or very late nights and working on weekends. I would find myself smiling and ideas are flowing and then you put me in a meeting with my managers or the client and the words did not come out as smoothly. I would stumble over my words, repeat words i didn’t need to because I wasn’t sure if they were landing. I was nervous. I was shook.
I started to investigate. I started going to specialists, primary care physicians and neurologists. It was a neurologist that was like, “You might have anxiety. In fact, I know you have anxiety.” He said, “It’s not your brain. Your brain works just fine. It’s your mouth.” The neurologist sent me to another guy in his practice, who I know now was a mindfulness teacher and he said, “Alright, let’s sit. Let’s start at the bottom of your feet and let’s bring your attention to that part of your body.”
Dude, I couldn’t focus on that. I was not trying to hear it. I was like, fix me. Give me a pill. Be in therapy, whatever you got to do. I don’t know what this woo-woo stuff is. [Instead of mindfulness], I wanted to stop drinking alcohol because maybe that’s the thing. I started drinking kava. Maybe I’ll start going to therapy. My dad’s a therapist, so maybe therapy was the thing all along. It was cool. It helped, but I still found I didn’t have a relationship with myself and I didn’t have the words to describe that I didn’t have an intimate relationship with myself.
I was working at my dream job. I was working at Nike, which brought together the hip-hop and the advertising. They’re the best storytellers in the game. It was working at Nike that exposed me to the mamba mentality. There was something called mindfulness behind the mamba mentality. I found out there was this guy that Kobe [Bryant] worked with named George Mumford. I was stunned that he also worked with Michael Jordan. I started to read as much as I could about Goerge Mumford. I read this book called The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance. I started to hear my story in his story and he was talking about recovery. I realized, there are layers to this. To this day, I am still going through those layers and levels.
Around 2018, I had been let go from Nike and I was in my practice, meditating daily. When I started thinking of a mediation club, I don’t want to just meditate in silence. I have participated in those environments and it always felt like something was missing, like I was leaving a part of myself out. I thought of Sufism and was like, they don’t leave that out. Music is very spiritual. So music had to be at the forefront of the mediation clubhouse. I started to consider it through Kendrick Lamar’s latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The song “The Heart Part 5” that was released while I was on retreat. I listened to it on repeat. It was a mantra. There is a period, early on in the song, where he just stops the record, the music continues, and he just breathes.
[During COVID isolation], I started doing the mediation club over Zoom. We just listened to several songs from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers as mediations. Like I did with Life After Death when I was a kid. When the song ends, take up whatever space you need to take up. I just ask you take it up with dignity. You can sit up. You can lay down, just let the spine be divine. Let it be aligned. Then, what I think really brings it home, is we got to talk about your experience. It may be different. That’s when I started to see how I could use my certifications to hold that space, hold that container open for folks to get vulnerable.
I am fortunate that I can get a text message from George Mumford on a Wednesday morning. But I also know that if I get that, I got to give it away. That brings me to the life I am in now. It’s cool that I got a chance to be helped, but now it’s time to spin the block and help others that maybe don’t even know there is a way out.
TODAY Show co-host Hoda Kotb sits down with Selena Gomez — and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy — for this week’s episode of her podcast “Making Space” to discuss their mission to change the way we talk about mental health.
Gomez, 31, who has spoken in the past about her battles with bipolar disorder, told Kotb that she defines herself as a, “loving, caring… and a person who just genuinely wants to do anything to just help out someone,” Gomez said. “I think life can get distracting, and there’s so much noise, and titles don’t scare me anymore because I claimed my own story. I told my story, and I felt freedom from it.”
The singer said that advocating for mental health is something she’s always been passionate about. But before launching her Rare Beauty makeup line she wanted it to be “more than a brand,” and so insisted that before selling any product she wanted 1% of sales to go to Rare Impact Fund, which focuses on providing kids and teens with wellness resources, including information about suicide prevention efforts.
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“Ultimately we are able to help over 700,000 schools, we’ve raised $13 million… my goal has always been, ‘How can I make a positive change in this world?,’” she told Kotb. “Doing it through makeup sounds a little interesting but it is a part of your mental health. It’s mind, body and soul, people think they should feel a certain way and I wanted Rare to be a place where everyone felt like they belong.”
Gomez also recalled a conversation with an older women going through a divorce around the time the singer released her empowering 2019 single, “Lose You To Love Me,” and said that their five-minute chat was way more gratifying that taking a selfie with a fan. “I just noticed that those are the things that keep me going,” Gomez said of meaningful interactions and the importance of making connections. “She made my day and I hopefully was able to make hers.”
Kotb described worrying that Gomez pours so much of herself into her work and into other people that she wondered how the singer has enough energy for herself. “It starts with the fact that I did take the step to get help,” Gomez said. “There was a lot happening and I wasn’t understanding my mind, I wasn’t understanding my reactions and my emotions. And that was probably the most painful time in my life.”
But once Gomez was able to talk to people and work out some of those issues, “it became so clear and so important to me that I now make it a part of my life. I have boundaries. I learned to say no when I need to. I have great relationships and friends and wonderful relationships with people that I learn from.” At the end of the day, she said, it’s about owning her power and knowing, “I am who I surround myself with.”
In March, Gomez spoke on a panel at SXSW about her vulnerable 2022 doc My Mind & Me, confessing that she was on the fence about releasing the move to the public. “The moment I did that, I felt this insane amount of release,” she explained at the time about a feeling that she had to hit “rock bottom” before being able to overcome some of her challenges. “There wasn’t any hiding anymore. It was probably one of the hardest moments of my life.”
The doc was filmed over six years and it delved into the singer’s battles with depressive episodes and anxiety; Gomez revealed in 2020 that she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. At the third annual Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit in New York in May Gomez — the most-followed woman on Instagram with 428 million followers — told Kotb that she disabled the comments on her Insta except for her friends. “So I think I’ve created boundaries to help me,” she said. “I felt empowered by doing that,” she added, “by saying, ‘This is just for me.’”
“I will always be working on my mental health, and I will always evolve,” Gomez said at the event which also featured Surgeon General Murthy, who has worked with Gomez for years to address mental health-related challenges facing young people in the U.S. “I’m not better or worse than anyone. I’m simply just a person living and surviving every day.”
And she still is. Speaking on Kotb’s podcast, Gomez said now when she looks in the mirror in the morning she sees someone who is “waking up every day and trying her best. And that’s all I could ask for at the end of the day.”
Listen to the full episode of “Making Space” with Gomez here.
In such a stressful world where mental health challenges are on the rise, it’s comforting to know that there’s a timeless, low-to-no-cost medicine that can help soothe the soul, mend a broken heart, and increase both physical and emotional well-being. That medicine is music. As a psychologist, I’ve seen firsthand the life-changing effects music can have on the lives of my patients. In times of deep despair or moments of anxiety or depression, music and its resonance in the body has had the power to heal in ways that words alone cannot.
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So what is it about music that makes it such a powerful tool for healing? From a psychological perspective, music has the ability to go beyond the rational mind and access deeper layers of consciousness. According to a study in Finland, when we listen or make music, we’re not just taking in the sound through our ears; our entire brain gets involved. The study showed that music recruits the motor areas of the brain, which gets our toes tapping and our bodies swaying; lights up the emotional center of the brain, which lifts our spirits and reduces our stress levels; and activates the part of the brain which allows the mind to wander, daydream, and be creative.
When we’re depressed, grieving, or traumatized, it can be challenging to get enthusiastic about anything. And yet, when we play some music, the sound lights up our “pleasure center,” that deep part of the brain that secretes dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone. A particularly fascinating study noted that simply anticipating or remembering a certain song can boost dopamine levels. And even after listening to the song, those levels can stay elevated as long as fifteen minutes after the music ends. That means, we get to keep feeling happy longer.
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When we suffer from anxiety, fear, or panic attacks, listening to music can help calm our nervous system and decrease levels of stress hormones, like cortisol. It’s also been found to reduce blood pressure, improve sleep, and lessen physical as well as emotional pain by triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. In addition, research suggests that having music play in the background while we’re doing another activity can improve our ability to focus and problem-solve, especially those with ADHD. Think of music as a tool for ultimate self-care — moments of compassion that allow for self-reflection and reconnection.
Music improves our memory
Music has the unique ability to evoke specific thoughts, emotions and memories, serving as a bridge between past and present. Anyone who has ever suffered from a break-up or lost someone they loved will recognize its power to access these moments long forgotten. Listening to a certain song can transport us back to that time and place and allow us to feel it all over again. For individuals struggling with trauma or PTSD, certain songs can activate powerful thoughts and feelings, which can provide an opportunity for catharsis and healing.
Music connects us
What I love most about music is its profound impact and ability to foster connection and community. Playing music together, dancing, sharing a playlist with friends, or even attending a concert surrounded by complete strangers makes us feel part of something bigger than ourselves. In a world with so much isolation and loneliness, music serves as a unifying force that brings us together across generations, cultures, ideologies, and backgrounds, promoting trust and a sense of belonging.
Curating Your Playlist
Below, you’ll find a 20-track Latin music playlist that I felt called to share. Now it’s your turn — I encourage you to take your own musical journey. Maybe there are songs that speak to something you’re going through or thinking about right now. Or songs that spark a certain memory that makes you smile. Have fun with it and share with your friends if you like.
Edith Shiro, PsyD, is a Venezuelan clinical psychologist in private practice in Miami and the author of The Unexpected Gift of Trauma, available now. She is a board member of the World Happiness Foundation and was awarded the Health Innovation Award 2023 for outstanding service in healthcare and Hispanic Women of Distinction 2018. Also, the Latino Book Award 2022. Learn more at dredithshiro.com
For Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Billboard is teaming with Brandon Holman of the Lazuli Collective on a series of articles focused on mindfulness and the professional development of executives, creatives and artists in the music community.
Today’s conversation is with Nick Maiale, founder/CEO of jump.global, a community-first marketing agency that that specializes in working with music business executives and music companies. Last November, the company launched its debut summit, which prioritizes professional and personal development and will return to Los Angeles later this year (Nov. 17-20). Throughout the year, jump.global hosts various “No Ego” events across major cities, which are open to everyone (translation: no guest list) and focus on interpersonal connections over networking. Maiale previously spent a decade at the Music Business Association and Music Biz Conference and is now driven to “make the music business more human.”
I think before the pandemic, my entire life revolved around work. I very seldom would think about my growth. It was always like, “How can we grow the company? How can we impact the bottom line?” And I quickly watched over the pandemic people losing jobs or people losing sense of self. And that was very disheartening. I was witnessing that for my friends, but I also witnessed that for me. I realized I worked at a company for 10 years and I never did anything to develop my skills and my life outside of maybe selling sponsorships. So I think that was the number one thing that I noticed coming out of the pandemic. And I’d say the one good part about it is that it was a bit of an awakening.
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My mom’s a social worker. And I would often hear her on the phone talking about very human things…things that we often don’t talk about in the music business. We are going to conferences to learn about streaming, distribution, AI. I love all of that stuff, but when was the last time you heard about someone going to a conference to learn about themselves and how they’re going to better themselves in the areas of leadership, effective communication, financial well-being, mental well-being? I wanted to create this environment where executives, not artists, can be seen as human and talk about things like addiction or parenthood. It was a little cheesy but [the conference tagline was], “Make the music business more human.” At the end of the day, it actually resonated with people.
I’m really proud of what we’ve created, but at the end of the day, my job is to let thousands of people into my life every week, which is really, really scary. It’s a beautiful thing, but what I learned was [I] have to figure out how [to] do things for people in a really structured way. I have calls with people all the time [so I now] post about my calls on LinkedIn, tag a couple people and say, “This person is your person now.” I gave that responsibility to my audience or to other people so that I didn’t have to feel that burden or that responsibility. And that little thing has helped my life dramatically. It just became really hard being that person who does everything for everyone. My mind got so overwhelmed with all this information that it started to shut down. My body started to shut down. And I was like, “What am I going to do? I built a business based off of connecting people. And now that’s the thing that’s killing me.” So, I worked with a health coach to fix it. I still want to build community, but now I’m doing it in a much healthier way.
I started working professionally at 19. I’m 32 now. And I started my company almost four years ago. I spent 10 years doing things and connecting people and going to every single event. And yeah, part of me loved it and part of me didn’t. I had to look back and go, “Where am I now?” I realize I’m building a business. I’m building an agency. None of it makes me money at all. The reason I wanted to do this was because people in the music industry don’t often have these opportunities to think about themselves. They’re often thinking about the business. So I wanted to redefine what it meant to be a communications agency. We focus on thought leadership, which is speaking at conferences; communities and trade works, so if you want to get involved with the Recording Academy; academia, we will not work with a client if they do not want to inspire the next generation, if they do not want to speak at schools; and international delegate programs, helping executives speak overseas.
I have so many clients who are about to be on their first panel and they’re so nervous because they’re like, “I don’t know what I’m gonna say,” or “Am I gonna be as cool as some of these other panelists that you know have been doing this for years?” We talk them through it. We watch them on the panel. They kill it. They’re dropping gems. That happens to me daily for my clients. We had a couple other instances where, for example, one of our clients was going to speak at Iceland Airwaves. Normally they would just go, do their panel and leave. But we convinced them to extend their trip and they got to see the Northern Lights and that was always a personal [dream]. It’s little things.
Four years ago I was in a weird place. I really never thought I would be where we are today…We often are doing things to pad other people’s pockets, which is fine, I get it, but I really am feeling fulfilled with what I’m doing right now. And I don’t know if I’d be working in the music industry if I wasn’t doing what I do right now. At the end of the day, the biggest thing I care about is that I want people to know — and jump.global will eventually be this — but I want us to be the professional and personal development company for the music business. I’m a very mindful entrepreneur. I do not hustle. I don’t work until 3 a.m. I’m a hustler, but I’m a good hustler. I’m just like, “We can do it, but still go out and have dinner with our families.”
[I want to see] more people focusing on the business of their first and last names. If we’re going to have professional development, all of your clients better know about it, all of the artists better know about it. [We need] more companies investing in personal equity and more conversations around this type of wellness. Meditation is just as important as putting yourself in an environment where you’re able to speak clearly and be spoken to clearly.
Selena Gomez continued her mental health advocacy work at the third annual Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit in New York City Wednesday (May 1), opening up about her personal journey and the steps she’s taken to protect her headspace in discussion with Today‘s Hoda Kotb.
One of those steps, she revealed, has been reeling back her online presence — even if she is the most-followed woman on Instagram. “I disabled all my comments on my photos on Instagram for only my friends,” she told Kotb. “So I think I’ve created boundaries to help me. Obviously people fussed about it. They fuss about everything.”
“I felt empowered by doing that,” she added, “by saying, ‘This is just for me.’”
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The “Love On” singer also emphasized the importance of keeping positive people in her circle, including boyfriend Benny Blanco, who, she told Kotb, is “wonderful.” “It’s all about, at the end of the day, for me, owning my power,” she said. “And I am who I surround myself with.”
Speaking of Blanco, the producer was quick to share his support on Instagram after Gomez posted photos and videos from the panel on her profile. “i’m so proud of u bb,” he commented on her post. “u inspire me.”
“Our 3rd annual @rarebeauty Mental Health Summit has me leaving inspired by the next generation, filled with so much hope, and grateful to each of you for being on this meaningful journey with us,” the Only Murders in the Building star had written in her caption. “Mental health means so much to me and I’m honored we get to share this mission with the world together.”
Also in attendance was U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murth, who’s been working with Gomez for years to address mental-health-related challenges facing young people in the U.S. At the summit, the duo celebrated the Rare Impact Fund’s success over the past year in raising $7 million for the beauty company’s charitable partners, which largely focus on providing kids and teenagers with wellness resources, suicide prevention efforts and more.
“I will always be working on my mental health, and I will always evolve,” Gomez said at the event. “I’m not better or worse than anyone. I’m simply just a person living and surviving every day.”
Editor’s note: The following story includes discussions of suicide and sexual abuse.
Ashley Judd and Aloe Blacc, who’ve both been touched by the suicide of a loved one, visited the White House on Tuesday (April 23) to help the White House unveil its new national strategy to prevent suicide.
“As we all know, suicide affects everyone, it doesn’t matter your age, race, gender or where you live, it impacts all of us and sadly suicide and suicidal thoughts and actions have really increased over the past several years,” said Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who hosted the event.
Emhoff began his remarks by acknowledging Judd, whose mother country star Naomi Judd died almost two years ago by suicide and Blacc, whose close friend and collaborator EDM star Tim Bergling (aka Avicii) died by suicide in 2018. Emhoff noted that 132 people die by suicide every day and that “we’re here today because we know that we can and will change this. Suicide is preventable and the president and vice president have been hard at work taking action, action to mitigate and prevent suicide.”
Among the actions Emhoff said the administration is taking is mobile crisis response teams, more youth suicide prevention activities, as well as increased suicide prevention efforts in schools.
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Judd honored her beloved mother and described the Judds singers’ battle with mental illness, which she said was “lying to her and with great terror convinced her that it would never get better” during the discussion moderated by Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy that also featured Shelby Rowe, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Research Center. Judd spoke lovingly of her mother’s sense of humor and discovery of music as a child, but also noted that Naomi, 76, was a survivor of childhood and adult sexual violence who became a nurse and then a Grammy-winning country icon.
“She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her and it stole from our family and she deserved better,” said Judd, who noted that she suffered from childhood depression and suicidal ideation after being molested when she was seven-years-old. “But I had a different experience because I went to treatment in 2006 for unresolved childhood grief and sexual trauma and I’ve been in good recovery for 18 years and I’ve had a different outcome than my mother.”
What Ashley Judd said she carries with her now is a message of hope and recovery.
Blacc said he was on the dais because he has a strong belief in the “tremendous power of music to amplify these important messages” and because he’s learned to stand up for friends who self-harmed and lived as well as those who’ve not survived. “It’s important for all of us to recognize the power that we have,” he said. “So in knowing someone who may be going through a traumatic time and just being a stand for them could make the big difference.”
He encouraged everyone in the room and watching to recognize the positive role we can play in other people’s lives. “The more we can recognize and see and offer our friends and our family members that moment to say, ‘I need your help’ and you know it makes me think about those moments where you get the phone call and a friend of yours has committed self-harm and you think, ‘when was the last time I called? When was the last time I texted?’”
The singer urged everyone to search for a “moment of joy” when they reach out to friends in crisis, including memories that spark laughter or a song, as well as to remind people that they are “the light.” Blacc said, “there’s no such thing as too much love. Let’s give as much as we can,” he added, leading the assembled guests in the chorus from “This Little Light of Mine.”
The administration’s new 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention — accompanied by the first-ever federal action plan — identifies 200 different actions that will be implemented and evaluated over the next three years. Among those actions are: identifying ways to address substance use and suicide risk together in the clinical setting, funding a mobile crisis locator for use by 988 crisis centers, increasing support for survivors of suicide loss and others whose lives have been impacted by suicide, and evaluating promising community-based suicide prevention strategies.
Watch a video of the event below.
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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
Halle Bailey is opening up about her struggle with postpartum depression. According to People, the singer/actress discussed her battle with the ailment that affects nearly one in seven women in a Snapchat video last week in which she shared her love for her “perfect” son Halo while discussing the serious postpartum feelings that overwhelmed her.
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“I have severe, severe postpartum [depression], and I don’t know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out,” she said in the clip. In an accompanying Instagram post, Bailey got tons of love and support from other moms, including one who wrote, “I didn’t feel normal in my own body until like over a year after my baby,” while another said, “Thank you for your words on post partum. For using your voice to speak not only on your experience but that of so many mothers.”
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Little Mermaid star Bailey and partner DDG quietly welcomed their first child together last year and in the Snap she called the rapper the “most amazing daddy in the world” and praised him for his steady support through her postpartum blues. “Halo is a miracle. He is perfect. He is beautiful,” she said. “When I look at him, I cry because of how special he is. The only thing that’s been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body. I feel like a completely different person. When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I’m in a whole new body. Like, I don’t know who I am.”
Like many women who suffer from postpartum depression, Bailey said she’s worried about the stigma about publicly talking about depression. “Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn’t realize how serious of a thing it actually was,” she said. “Now going through it, it almost feels like you’re swimming in this ocean that’s like the biggest waves you’ve ever felt and you’re trying not to drown. And you’re trying to come up for air.”
Most importantly, Bailey stressed that, of course, her depression had “nothing” to do with her son and that her post was prompted by a comment she read about her family that she didn’t detail. “It has everything to do with me and who I am right now. I guess today I was just triggered — especially [since] social media is just not a good thing to be on when you have postpartum — but I was just really triggered today, especially by seeing some of the things that have been said about me and my family, and the one that I love and the ones that I love,” she said.
In March, Bailey, 23, made an emotional speech at the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony in which she explained why she hid her pregnancy from a “place of protection.”
“There was no way in hell I was going to share the biggest joy of my world with anyone. Halo was my gift. He is the greatest blessing, and I had no obligation to expose him, me, or my family to that,” Bailey said. “With the state of the world and the place it is in with men trying to force their will on our bodies, no one on social media, and for d–n sure, no one on the planet was going to tell me what to do with my body or what to share with the world.”
Bailey and DDG revealed their son’s birth in January with a post on social media about becoming new parents. The singer has been doing double-duty as a new mom and a recording star, dropping her new single, “In Your Hands” on March 15; she cradles baby Halo in the video for the moving ballad featuring the moving chorus, “All in your hands, in your hands/ The world is yours when I’m in it/ In your hands, in your hands/ You can’t let go or you’ll lose your chance.”
The NIH says that postnatal depression is very common and can start anytime in the first year after giving birth and can also effect fathers and partners as well. Among the typical symptoms are a “persistent feeling of sadness and low mood,” “lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world,” “lack of energy and feeling tired all the time,” as well as trouble sleeping, difficulty looking after the baby or yourself, withdrawing from contact with other people, problems concentrating and making decisions and frightening thoughts, which can include thoughts of harming the baby.
Bailey ended the video with a reminder that just because she’s a public figure doesn’t mean the harsh things people write about her online don’t hurt. “Even though you may look up to certain people and you think that they are celebrities, and they appear it have it all together, you never know what somebody else is going through, especially someone who just had a baby literally,” she said.
Check out some of the supportive statements Bailey received on her Instagram post below.