Ariana Grande Just Got Real AF About Her Anxiety: ‘I Felt Like I Was Outside My Body’
Ever since the Manchester bombing at her 2017 concert, Ariana Grande has been steadily opening up about her anxiety. She previously said it's something she's always struggled with, but that it was intensified by the traumatic attack, and at one point, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to perform again.
Ultimately, though, Grande did decide to get back onstage, and has now become an increasingly vocal advocate for mental health. She even included a song, titled "Get Well Soon," inspired by her anxiety and dedicated to the Manchester victims on her new album Sweetener. And in a new interview with friend and collaborator Troye Sivan for Paper magazine, she got even more candid.
"[Pharrell Williams, who produced the album] kind of forced it out of me, because I was in a really bad place mentally," she said of "Get Well Soon." "I've always had anxiety, I've had anxiety for years. But when I got home from tour it reached a very different, intense peak. It became physical and I was not going out at all, and I felt like I was outside my body. I'd have these spells every now and then where I felt like I was having déjà vu, but like 24/7 for three months at a time."
She went on to explain that in the end, writing the track was healing.
"It definitely helped," Grande continued. "It still took me a few weeks to feel better, but looking back at it now from a healthier place, it's probably one of the most important songs I'll ever write."