Paramore‘s Hayley Williams has spoken out for Suicide Prevention Day, openly discussing her own mental health battles.
World Suicide Prevention Day was earlier this week, with Williams using the opportunity to urge others to seek help and believe that there will be ‘light beyond the darkness’.
“Really I just wanna say that when my mind was super dark and hopeless, there was a part of me that felt safe being cynical and shut down,” she wrote on Twitter. “I’m trying to get healthier now… and it’s a lifestyle shift. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable and I don’t always do it well, but I hope that if you struggle with darkness that you will try and remember to let yourself feel joy when it comes.
“I’m trying too. Sometimes I feel like I probably look less “cool” or I worry that I’m somehow faking it, but! I try hard to call out and recognize joy when i feel it, or even when i see it on my friends”
She added: “Thankful for any chance to feel a genuine smile… not only on my face but deeper than that. If you feel darkness, I hope you’ll wait for joy. It will come again and it is worth it.”
yesterday was #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. really i just wanna say that when my mind was super dark and hopeless, there was a part of me that felt safe being cynical & shut down. im trying to get healthier now… and it’s a lifestyle shift. sometimes it feels uncomfortable…
— hayley from Paramore (@yelyahwilliams) September 12, 2018
and i don’t always do it well… but i hope that if you struggle with darkness that you will try and remember to let yourself feel joy when it comes. im trying too. sometimes i feel like i probably look less “cool” or i worry that i’m somehow faking it.
— hayley from Paramore (@yelyahwilliams) September 12, 2018
but! i try hard to call out and recognize joy when i feel it, or even when i see it on my friends. thankful for any chance to feel a genuine smile… not only on my face but deeper than that. if you feel darkness, i hope you’ll wait for joy. it will come again and it is worth it.
— hayley from Paramore (@yelyahwilliams) September 12, 2018
Williams has often been very vocal about her mental health, writing that ‘getting healthy is a lifetime of process.’
The singer previously shared a powerful personal essay on the topic, detailing the pressures that come with social acceptance and ‘fitting in’.
Writing on Twitter, she said: “*sheeesh, ppl love to talk shit when you finally getting to a good spot.* learning this now: being unhealthy may garner some empathy from previous apathetic onlookers… but nothing beats getting consciously healthy w/ true love around you. misery’s romance will never compare.”
“AND 1 MORE THING — gettttttting healthy is a lifetime of process,” she added. “kinda tired of folks treating mental health as an either/or situation. sometimes you’re just in the grey for a while, making your way to the light. (pls don’t shit on someone else’s journey to a less-dark place).”
Meanwhile, the band also recently announced that they will no longer play ‘Misery Business’, their breakthrough hit, at live shows. The track has been the focus of a heated debate whether the lyrics are ‘anti-feminist’.
“This is a choice that we’ve made because we feel that we should, we feel like it’s time to move away from it for a little while,” said Williams of their decision to axe the track. “This is to every bad decision that led us here, this is to all the embarrassing things we might have said, but we owned up to it and we grew.”
FOR HELP AND ADVICE ON MENTAL HEALTH:
- ‘Am I depressed? – Help and advice on mental health and what to do next
- MIND – For mental health support, advice and awareness
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day