Madison Beer has opened up about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, praising the community she has met since starting treatment.
The singer, 21, has spoken publicly about her mental health struggles and tackles them on her debut album, Life Support.
Beer, who was discovered on YouTube aged 13 by Justin Bieber, was diagnosed last summer and channelled the experience into songs such as Effortlessly.
The New York-born singer said she hoped to help others by speaking out about her own experience of poor mental health, including thoughts of taking her own life.
She told the PA news agency: “I was going through a time that I felt like I was definitely not going to get out of and I started seeing psychiatrists.
“I see a therapist still to this day. But I started going to a psychiatrist just hoping for answers and some clarity.
“Because for a long time I have been confused by why I do certain things or think certain ways etcetera.
“I got that diagnosis around probably July or last summer. It has been a very interesting journey. I have been very blessed to have a great community.
“The BPD community is very loving and accepting and I have met a lot of friends in it already.
“I am really lucky that I have such an amazing therapist who has helped me navigate it.
“But I am still learning about it myself.
“It definitely provided me with a lot of clarity as to why I might tick or function a certain way, which meant a lot to me because sometimes that was big factor in my not wanting to be here.”
Beer said her diagnosis had given her clarity and helped her silence “that inner voice that was so evil and was constantly bringing me down”.
After being discovered online as a teenager, Beer was signed by Island Records and briefly managed by Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.
However, her debut album was scrapped and by 2016 she had parted ways with the label.
Life Support is being released on Epic Records and comes after a string of hits in the UK and US.
Beer said that period of her life had been a “blessing in disguise”
“A lot of that obviously wasn’t by choice,” she said.
“Getting dropped and doing it independently, now in retrospect it was a good thing and I look back and I am really glad. It was a blessing in disguise. But it was really hard.
“I think I have such a dedicated fanbase because of the relationship we have. I am so close with them. These are my best friends.
“These are my people. I am really grateful they have stuck by me through so much and the continue every single day to show me their loyalty.”
Life Support by Madison Beer is out now.
