Pop’s Confessional Turn: How Music Reshapes Mental Health Conversations

Leave it to Taylor Swift to eloquently proclaim, “Heartbreak is the national anthem, we sing it proudly, we are too busy dancing.”

Those are the lyrics to the superstar’s 2014 track “New Romantics,” a cathartic shout-from-the-rooftops anthem that showcased the songwriter’s heart-on-her-sleeve approach, while touching on the indomitable power of music. As all Swifties know, she built her entire career of catharsis through music and a legion of fans have experienced that catharsis right back.

Mental health and music have long gone hand in hand, because that’s the power vulnerable lyrics can have: they’re a balm, a soothing salve, a warm hug. No matter its heartbreak or anxiety, the right song provides a give and take between artist and listener. Swift of course isn’t alone: Billie Eilish bravely sings about mental health, as do luminaries like Selena Gomez and Kid Cudi. Recent breakouts like Lola Young do as well, as Young so expressively regales her feelings in songs like “Messy.” In fact, these healing lyrics have been at the bedrock of the art form since the beginning: from relating to the feeling of isolation thanks to Elvis as he crooned “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” or having spirits lifted by bands like the Beatles and songs like “Here Comes the Sun.”

But as much as music can change our mood or make us feel heard and seen, there’s still a stigma.

BetterHelp zeroed on the hangups that still persist in society in their recent State of Stigma report, which asked 2,000 Americans about mental health in the midst of AI, a changing world and ever-shifting perceptions. The surprising numbers the survey uncovered speak for themselves: 85 percent of both Millennials and Gen Z reported back a belief that health care is a basic necessity, while at the same time roughly half of both groups feel pressure to handle them on their own.

According to BetterHelp’s President Fernando Madeira, “Mental health needs are rising, but so is the hesitation to get help.”

As a result, he points to what he defines as a “real challenge: people believe in care, but too many still face stigma and friction when it comes to taking the first step.” Even more troubling is that a whopping 77 percent of men and 82 percent of women surveyed said they suffered from anxiety in the past two weeks. Meanwhile, 79 percent of men and 83 percent of women say they’ve felt depressed.

While artists may be providing cathartic releases through their art, more and more of today’s biggest stars are getting honest about similar issues. Doja Cat recently revealed she surfers from Borderline Personality Disorder, saying “I’ve learned from a very young age to pretend that I like stuff, to pretend that I’m happy, to pretend that I don’t like stuff that I do, to appear like everything is okay.”

Meanwhile, Lewis Capaldi reflected in a recent interview about a concert appearance in Chicago where he said he couldn’t finish a song he was performing. “I was like, backstage, convulsing and having this crazy panic attack, mental episode,” he recalled. “It was really, really bad. It was the first time people at my shows had seen it.”

This raw honesty chips away at the aforementioned stigma, with 48 percent of Gen Z saying they feel a stigma discussing mental health while 42 percent reporting that they have a worry they’ll be judged for simply seeking care. As the survey found, “Awareness is no longer the barrier; access, friction, and follow-through—are.”

In the debut episode of BetterHelp and Billboard’s LIKE MINDED series, Ravyn Lenae and Corinne Bailey Rae opened up about their respective struggles and strides in a candid conversation. “What you don’t expect is the loneliness of it,” Lenae said of her sudden success with songs like “Love Me Not.” “I remember being on tour and I remember crying one day in my hotel room and being confused about why I’m crying because everything’s going so well.”

Mimicking the power of music beyond the lyrics and sounds, BetterHelp is helping break down the walls of that stigma and get music fans, and everybody else, the healing they deserve. 72 percent of users report seeing a reduction in their mental health symptoms, while 69 percent have experienced a meaningful improvement in anxiety and depression. And much like sharing a playlist you’re proud of, an impressive 82 percent of people surveyed said they’d recommend their BetterHelp therapist to someone else.

Meanwhile, Madeira points out that “the question isn’t whether AI will play a role, but how responsibly it can be built. As a company committed to removing barriers to mental wellness, we have an obligation to ensure AI redefines how mental health care is accessed while upholding the clinical rigor, safety, and outcomes that matter.”

All of that progress makes way for what Swift sang about heartbreak: “We sing it proudly, we are too busy dancing.”

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/pops-confessional-turn-is-rewiring-the-way-prioritize-mental-health-1236248237/)._