SINGER ALESSIA CARA ON BEING OPEN ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
NEW YORK—Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara sings about mental health and her battle with insomnia in the new single “Sweet Dreams,” released earlier this month, and culled from her upcoming third studio album.
The “Scars to Your Beautiful” singer, who has previously addressed body positivity and selfesteem in her music, also puts out track “Shapeshifter” in the double single release.
In an interview with Reuters, the Grammy winner spoke about her new music and talking openly about mental health.
Excerpts edited for clarity and length. How would you describe the album?
I always like to say that there’s this running theme of duality and there’s kind of a thread ... and this album recounts a lot of the beginning and the end of that thread.
The first half of that thread in the first half of that year being a little tumultuous, a bit riddled with anxiety, stress and fear. On the other end of that thread came the healing and growth and this newfound sophistication I feel I’ve discovered within myself.
How did you find that growth and sophistication?
Doing therapy really helped. I started therapy a long time ago, and then I stopped for a while and sort of neglected myself and my mental health. And it wasn’t until I got the proper help I needed through therapy and just making a bunch of changes in my lifestyle.
I also now take medication for my anxiety, which is wonderful. It worked wonders for me and I wish it wasn’t so stigmatized.
Why is mental health so easy for you to talk about?
It’s not a weakness. For a long time, I always felt like if I got therapy, if I took medication, it would be like I was succumbing to some sort of weakness.
But there’s a lot of strength in vulnerability and there’s tons of strength and openness in being honest. So, I look at it like that now and I just don’t really apologize for what I need to do to be happy.
What is it like performing again?
It feels very strange because I’m not used to it. Even holding a microphone for the first time was so strange when I did my performance recently. But having gone through what we went through, I just look at it in such a different way, and I feel I will definitely not take it for granted anymore.