Mariah Carey Reveals Her Battle With Bipolar Disorder in a Candid Interview
“I’m grateful to be sharing this part of my journey with you,” tweeted Mariah Carey this morning as she revealed to the world she has bipolar disorder. The five-time Grammy winner was first diagnosed with the illness in 2001 after being hospitalized for a physical and mental breakdown.
“Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me,” she told People. “It was too heavy a burden to carry, and I simply couldn’t do that anymore. I sought and received treatment; I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love—writing songs and making music.”
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder causes unpredictable shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels that impact one’s ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, and those who have it often oscillate between periods of “up” behavior, feeling elated and energized (known as manic episodes), and “down” periods of sadness and hopelessness (known as depressive episodes). “My depressive episodes were characterized by having very low energy,” she says. “I would feel so lonely and sad—even guilty that I wasn’t doing what I needed to be doing for my career.”
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 4.4 percent of U.S. adults experience bipolar disorder at some time in their lives. Like a number of celebrities who have chosen to open up about their mental health issues in recent months, Carey, who is currently in therapy and taking medication, says she’s finally in a “really good place.” Now she’s aiming to help change the widespread perception of the disorder by going public with her personal struggle. “I’m hopeful we can get to a place where the stigma is lifted from people going through anything alone,” she explains. “It can be incredibly isolating. It does not have to define you, and I refuse to allow it to define me or control me.” Carey is currently recording a new studio album and co–executive producing a scripted drama about her life for Starz, so there’s no doubt she has a revelatory new chapter ahead.
