OHMYGOSSIP — Mabel suffered from “crippling” anxiety and depression as a child and teenager.
The 23-year-old singer – whose parents are Swedish pop star Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack producer Cameron McVey – revealed that she has dealt with mental health issues all of her life but her parents have been hugely supportive.
She told the August issue of Glamour UK: “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.”
And although she still suffers from anxiety, Mabel refuses to be embarrassed by it and has been able to channel it into making music.
She explained: “When I wrote my song, ‘OK’, last year, I woke up and it was a really bad day and I realised I had three options: I could cancel my session or pretend I’m fine. Or, I could go and tell everyone how I’m feeling because there’s nothing embarrassing about having anxiety. Those are the magical moments where I’m glad I’ve gone through what I have. I can turn them into music that will make other people feel less alone.
“It’s given me a crazy emotional capacity. I really feel a lot. Without that thought process and the bad things, I wouldn’t be as good a song writer as I am. Most art is our way of processing things. That’s why music was so life changing.
“When I started school, other kids were a bit more carefree and I was always wondering, ‘What happens if I do this?’ And, ‘Does this person like me?’ I was always overthinking. I had big questions about things like death and war from a very young age. I learnt how to read when I was really young, and I’d pick up books and newspapers when you don’t have the emotional or mental capacity to understand it.”
See the full feature in the August digital issue of GLAMOUR UK, available online now. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/magazine

Source: Herald Mail Media
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