Camila Cabello says anxiety made her feel 'burnt out and broken': 'I needed help. I needed therapy'

Singer and actress Camila Cabello says her struggle with anxiety left her feeling "burnt out and broken."

Cabello, 24, shared that “before lockdown I was burnt out. I was living with a really high amount of anxiety. It was too much and it was not sustainable. I felt like I was running with a broken leg but I wasn’t really listening to how I felt," she told the Sun in an intimate interview.

“I kept telling myself everything was good, ‘I should feel fine, I should feel OK.’ What I needed to do was say, ‘How do I actually feel?’ and letting that be OK. I needed to give myself permission to ask for help — because I needed help. I needed therapy," she shared.

It wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that the Cinderella star decided to dive head-first into recovery. She sought out additional professional help, and learned to deal with the anxiety that has plagued her since she was a teenager.

“The pandemic gave me that pause to say, ‘Let’s not carry on running on this broken leg, let’s fix it,’" she said. “In the past there were plenty of times when I’ve been working — not home or having any time for relationships, not having time to be healthy and happy — just working non-stop and not feeling good but doing it anyway. That’s something I would never do now. If I felt like that again, I’d just say, ‘Sorry, guys.’"

These days, she sees how vital it is to seek help and work on her issues.

“I know now I have to take care for myself. No one is going to know when I’ve reached a limit other than me, so I have to take care of myself in that way," she said. “I’ve learned a lot about balance, about saying no to things because it’s better for me to have that hour of therapy and see my friends. It’s about not allowing myself to get to the point where I’m burnt out.”

Calling the last year "a really positive time for me," Cabello detailed the progress that she's made.

“In the past year I’ve got a new therapist, I’ve made a lot of progress and I feel so much better. I’ve been working at such an intense pace since I was 15, so I never got a chance to go, ‘Hey, what does living without this pressure feel like?’ I felt like I didn’t know until this break."

Cabello said she has also seen how much working on herself has helped in her relationship with boyfriend Shawn Mendes, whom she says has been "so supportive. He is someone I feel I can really trust.”

“I have definitely seen the benefits in my relationships too. In fact, that’s probably one of the most important things — having that stability and having time to deepen intimate relationships.”

Last month, Cabello spoke out to share her opinion of society's beauty standards and how she's not allowing them to control her.

During an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Cabello recalled an incident in which she was body-shamed after being secretly photographed by paparazzi while out for a run in West Hollywood, Calif., Yahoo Life previously reported.

"I had my belly out, I didn’t know anybody was taking pictures of me," she explained. But when the photos began appearing in tabloids, Cabello she began to have "anxious thoughts" about having her stomach exposed and not "tucking in." However, she ultimately decided to speak up.

"I was like, you know what, this is normal. It’s like my weight is gonna go up and down. Also we have these crazy beauty standards from freakin’ Instagram of people that are Photoshopped or if they’re not Photoshopped, it’s not every woman’s body," Cabello said. "And I was just like, you know, let me get on TikTok and just talk about this."

In response, Cabello posted a video for her 12 million followers on TikTok. Captioned "I luv my body" she explained how she was "existing like a normal person" while photos were being taken of her.

"Being at war with your body is so last season," she shared in the video. "I am grateful for this body that let's me do what I need to do. We are real women with curves and cellulite and stretch marks and fat, and we gotta own that, baby."

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