Shawn Mendes reflects on his mental health journey in 2023

Shawn Mendes is reflecting on his mental health in 2023

"Over the last year, I spent a lot of time singing like this... I found that in moments of extreme anxiety or fear if I sat down with my harmonium and allowed myself with full trust to sing whatever came out it would often ease the pain," Shawn penned.

"It felt so difficult at first to let myself sing without needing perfection but after a while, I actually started to fall in love with the dance between the 'right' and the 'wrong' notes.

"I realised there were only moments of bliss and euphoria from the 'right' notes BECAUSE of the 'wrong' notes. The only reason I can sing in key is because I’ve learned to listen."

The 25-year-old went on to explain that one of the biggest lessons he learned this year was "to accept and welcome the lows of life."

Shawn continued his post: "Not to constantly need to change or fix something in order to feel high again because I know if I really slow down and listen when I’m low there’s always something to hear."

The singer has been open about his mental health struggles in the past as at one point he had to cancel tour dates in 2022 to focus on his well-being.

Speaking in February of last year to WSJ Magazine, he spoke about how he attended therapy to help unpack everything he was dealing with.

"The process was very difficult. A lot of doing therapy, a lot of trying to understand how I was feeling and what was making me feel that way," he said.

"And then doing the work to help myself and heal."

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