Watching Bebe Rexha onstage, it may seem difficult to imagine the confident performer with the powerful voice is engaged in a constant struggle with anxiety, yet it’s something she says she’s still working to overcome.
Opening up in an interview with Teen Vogue, the “Meant to Be” singer describes how she works to keep her anxiety issues at bay.
“I cry a lot. It’s tough. I have my own therapist and I have people I talk to. It’s an everyday battle, I feel. I don’t wanna feed into it, but my lifestyle is so crazy,” she says.
RELATED: Bebe Rexha Empowers Up-And-Coming Female Songwriters
“When I first went to my first year of college, I was so intense. I didn’t know how to handle it and be around people,” Rexha, 28, admits. “I was super anxious all the time. I was anxious when I was a little girl, I just didn’t know what it was. Finally, when I figured it out, I was like, ‘Oh. Finally, I understand. I have anxiety.’”
Among the strategies she uses to keep anxiety in check is to keep herself busy and limit her use of social media. She also finds it cathartic to use the emotions she’s experiencing in her songwriting, which she says is the case in her upcoming single “Don’t Get Any Closer” from her soon-to-be-released “Expectations” album.
“That is my favourite song [on ‘Expectations’],” she explains. “It’s really true to who I am. I think I have a very hard exterior, but when somebody gets to know me, there’s a soft spot to me. It’s really hard to get to that; I don’t let many people in. That’s what that song is about. It’s very vulnerable. It’s like, I’m scared to let anybody in because you’re gonna see the real, true me and you’re not gonna like me.”
You can read the entire interview in the latest issue of Teen Vogue.
