Kesha has a very good reason behind her social media breaks and it revolves around her own mental health. It's the central point in a new, candid open letter, which was shared via Teen Vogue on Wednesday (May 17).
It all kicked off with a stroll down memory lane as the pop star recalled feeling like an outcast during much of her Nashville adolescence. "I was often bullied and shamed into hiding the things that made me unique," the 30-year-old admitted. "I remember hanging up the velvet pants I had made by hand and asking my mother to take me to the Gap to buy some 'normal clothes' at one point. That experiment failed miserably. It just wasn’t me."
Kesha acknowledged the bullying she experienced as a teen, but also made note of the kind of bullying that happens in 2017, particularly on the social media front. "The amount of body-shaming and baseless slut-shaming online makes me sick. I know from personal experience how comments can mess up somebody’s self-confidence and sense of self-worth. I have felt so unlovable after reading cruel words written by strangers who don’t know a thing about me," she explained.
Unfortunately, that kind of criticism paired with paparazzi photos of the star only fueled her eating disorder and further heightened her anxiety and depression. "Seeing paparazzi photos of myself and the accompanying catty commentary fueled my eating disorder," she wrote. "The sick irony was that when I was at some of the lowest points in my life, I kept hearing how much better I looked. I knew I was destroying my body with my eating disorder, but the message I was getting was that I was doing great."
As for how she copes with unkind criticism, Kesha's strategy involves putting down her phone and engaging in the real world. "This year I made a pledge to take more breaks from social media and screens and spend more time in nature," she continued. "For me, some of the most therapeutic experiences include hiking up a mountain or riding a bike by the beach. Being among animals in their natural habitats reminds me that my problems are so small. Our lives are no more significant than the lives of any other animals. We’re all just animals, after all!"
Original article by iHeartRadio