Chappell Roan reveals she is diagnosed with severe depression
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of depression.
Singer-songwriter Chapell Roan has been diagnosed with severe depression amid her rapid rise to fame.
Chappell, who was named new artist at the MTV VMAs, candidly admitted how “it’s really hard to keep up” and how she copes “how anyone would,” with catching up to fandoms, performances, and an intense virality.
“I’m in therapy twice a week. I went to a psychiatrist last week because I was like, I don’t know what’s going on,” she said in an interview with The Guardian published on Friday.
“She diagnosed me with severe depression, which I didn’t think I had because I’m not actually sad,” she explained. “But I have every symptom of someone who’s severely depressed.”
Some of the 26-year-old singer’s symptoms include brain fog, poor focus, forgetfulness, and a “very lackluster viewpoint,” as she put it.
She theorized that her depression comes from the life-changing rapid shift from an underground pop princess to a full-blown megastar over the year.
“Everything that I really love to do now comes with baggage,” Roan said. “If I want to go thrifting, I have to book security and prepare myself that this is not going to be normal.”
“How do I do this in a safe way where I’m not going to be stalked or harassed?” she expressed.
In a way she could, the Pink Pony Club singer stood her ground with boundaries to keep herself safe and mentally stable. However, it caused fans to spread the backlash of her being “ungrateful” of her fame.
“They think I’m complaining about my success — I’m complaining about being abused,” she said.
Although it seems that the young megastar got everything she ever wanted when she spent years building a safe space for queer people like her, the burden of carrying the fame of it all still crushes her. For her, it felt like grief.
“I can’t help it. I just start sobbing and either being so angry at myself for choosing this path or grieving how the curiosity and pure wonder I had about the world is somewhat taken away from me,” Chappell stated.
Despite that, she talks about how her bigger budgets transformed her shows.
“I get to feel the energy of other people, it’s so cool to have shows so packed and have so much joy in the room,” she said. “It’s fun that my parents are supportive. It’s just cool to see my family get excited about things we never thought were possible.”
In 2022, she also shared about her mental health on an Instagram post about her bipolar II disorder, telling fans about the difficulty of balancing work and fan commitments with her therapy schedule.
“I don’t really talk about it much, but it affects me daily and is a big part of my music,” Chappell wrote in her post. “I think it’s important to talk about mental health.”
If you or anyone you know is considering self-harm or suicide, you may call the National Mental Health Crisis hotline at 1553 (Luzon-wide, landline toll-free), 0966-351-4518 or 0917-899-USAP (8727) for Globe/TM users, or 0908-639-2672 for Smart users.