Camila Opened Up About Her Experience With Anxiety & OCD Behind The Scenes

Camila Cabello's voice is powerful. Whether she's connecting with listeners through the lyrics of her songs or speaking from the heart on social media, Cabello's fans give her their undivided attention. Camila Cabello's quotes about her experience with anxiety and OCD will make others feel seen.

Cabello penned a personal essay for the Wall Street Journal in honor of Mental Health Month, and opened up about how she has long masked her reality on social media and is now finally able to face her experiences head on.

In her essay, she explained that if you looked at her Instagram page, even in her darkest times, all you would see were pictures of Cabello rocking awesome outfits and writing hit songs. She shared:

Here’s what there ​aren’t​ pictures of from the last year: me crying in the car talking to my mom about how much anxiety and how many symptoms of OCD I was experiencing. My mom and me in a hotel room reading books about OCD because I was desperate for relief. Me experiencing what felt like constant, unwavering, relentless anxiety that made day-to-day life painfully hard.

Cabello went on to note that she initially felt "embarrassed and ashamed" of her feelings because she "didn’t want the people who thought I was strong and capable and confident — the people who most believed in me — to find out that I felt weak."

After some time, Cabello made the decision to speak out about her experience because she realized that "denying" her suffering and "berating" herself wasn't helping. Cabello turned to cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, breathing exercises and other techniques to help manage her "internal war" and now feels "the most connected to myself I’ve ever been."

"For a long time, anxiety felt like it was robbing me of my humor, my joy, my creativity and my trust," Cabello continued. "But now anxiety and I are good friends. I listen to her, because I know she’s just trying to keep me safe, but I don’t give her too much attention. And I sure as hell don’t let her make any decisions."

Cabello hopes her story will inspire other people experiencing similar things to speak out and seek help when needed. The singer concluded her essay with a message about not letting social media get the best of you.

"We live in a culture that pursues an unattainable perfection," Cabello wrote. "Social media can make us feel like we should be as perfect as everybody else seems to be. Far from being a sign of weakness, owning our struggles and taking the steps to heal is powerful."