The Weeknd and depression (+What he said)

This article will center around the singer The Weeknd. It will show how he has discussed his emotional struggles throughout his life, and how he has chosen to deal with them. Aside from that, the article will explain what depression is, and what are ways to cope with it.

The Weeknd and depression

The Weeknd has used his songs to express how he feels. And that has raised many questions about his mental health condition. This doesn’t appear only in his songs. The artist has talked many times about his former experiences with drugs, how lonely he felt, and how he dealt with his dark side.

Because he was raised by a single mom, he often refers to having gone through an extremely lonely childhood. As he left high school and started living with friends, he felt he was going through an extremely dark period. Back then, doing drugs would work as a crutch for him.

And even though he knew that was a troubling time in his life, in an interview with ABC News, when asked if he looked for professional help, he stated that looking for therapy back then was not a part of his reality. 

He said that this is usually available to more privileged people, and at that point, he was dealing with some moments of homelessness even. 

Since he left his mother’s house, and she expressed how disappointed she was at him for leaving, he stated that he could only go back to her if he had made something of himself. And it was that thought that ultimately made him clean up his act and get better. 

But in the early years of his career, it is possible to see the signs of depression. In the first songs he released, he created a persona, and wouldn’t show his face, or give any interviews. He was extremely insecure about how he looked, and the way he would express himself. Showing signs of low self-esteem.

In his most recent songs, especially the EP “My Dear Melancholy”, which was released in 2018, depression seems to show its face again. In it, he has spoken about suicidal thoughts. In the song “I was never there” he says: “What makes him wanna take his life? His happiness is never real.” 

And through the course of that work, like in the song “Privilege”, he shows how he is going back to his old coping mechanism of taking drugs to deal with negative emotions. 

Through “Call out my name” he says that losing the woman he loved caused him to feel like this. He believes he was just used by her to pass the time before she went on with somebody new.

Throughout the EP he seems to ask himself if it is worth it to love someone. And it seems that he has decided that it is safer to turn to his coping mechanism, meaning drugs, than to open himself up to getting hurt again.

Who is The Weeknd? 

The Weekend, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is a rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was born in Canada in 1.990. He is the son of immigrant parents and has used his songs as a form to express his feelings.

He became famous after releasing songs anonymously on Youtube in 2009. That raised a lot of questions about his identity, and by 2012 he signed a contract with Republic Records. And from then on he has released many famous songs, even as a part of the soundtrack of famous movies such as Fifty Shades of Grey.

He was nominated for many awards, such as the Grammy Awards. He also reached the highest spot on the Billboard charts. But even through all of this success, he is still dealing with things that happened in his past. The distant relationship with his father, or his abusive use of drugs, be it mushrooms, Ketamine, MDMA, or even cocaine.

He dropped out of high school when he was 17, and moved in with some friends. In that period, he lived a party lifestyle. But during those years, he was also arrested multiple times, and experienced times of homelessness. Going through those experiences was what made him decide to get his life back on track.

What is depression? 

Depression is a mental health condition that causes the person to experience intense sadness. But it can make a person feel like they lost their purpose in life. It can make them lose interest in doing things, even what they used to love.

It can make them feel less energetic and more fatigued. Losing the ability to focus is also a sign of depression, as well as becoming more isolated, feeling guilty, ashamed, and irritable. Depression can also change the person’s eating and sleeping patterns, and make them feel worthless, and with low self-esteem.

Some people, when they are depressed, can think of self-harm, and sometimes may even have thoughts of death and suicidal thoughts. Although depression may be different in each person, and the symptom can vary, for a person to be considered depressed they need to have been going through its symptoms for more than 2 weeks.

What are ways to cope with depression?

When a person is going through depression, they should look for professional help. They can look for a therapist or psychiatrist. And some people even chose to go to both. In therapy, you will be able to talk about how you feel, understand your emotions better, and even create strategies to navigate depression.

The psychiatrist will prescribe you medication to help ease your symptoms of depression. Aside from that, there are some things you can do in your daily life that will help you cope with depression. You may want to start practicing meditation. That will help you have a moment to center yourself.

Moving from all those negative thoughts going through your head, and allowing yourself to focus on your well-being. Aside from that, exercising can be something that will improve your mood. 

You don’t need to do a big workout, but you can start with a walk around your neighborhood. It will allow you not only to be around people but the rush of endorphins after it can make you feel better.

Trying to set a healthy eating and sleeping schedule can also help. And it is known how depression makes that hard. But through that, you may feel more energetic, and less fatigued. 

Try to also be open to people you love. Although it may seem hard at times, being around them can be a chance for you to vent, as well as distract yourself a little from what you are going through. 

Aside from that, being open to trying new things can help you not only get a sense of achievement but also show you how there are other things you can be interested in. It can be doing some volunteer work or going hiking. The important thing is that you try to see there are still things you are capable of.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Is the singer The Weeknd depressed? 

How does addiction connect to suicide? 

Addiction can impact a person’s sense of self-worth, and even their self-esteem. In the long hall, it can make them feel weak, and lose hope of ever getting clean.

Because it impacts their relationship, and how they focus on work and study, it can cause them to feel like a failure at times. When the addiction starts to take away all the hope the person has, and they are faced with how hard it is to get out of the addiction, they may begin to face suicide as a way out of this vicious cycle.

What are the forms of depression?  

Depression can be mild, moderate, major, or persistent. The first form lasts only a few days, and it can be hard to diagnose because of how mild the symptoms are. In moderate depression, the person already feels some sort of impact of depression in their lives, and some people may even need medication to treat it.

Major depression usually changes the person’s whole life. It can make it impossible for them, at times, to do even the simpler things such as getting out of bed. To treat it, most people go through the joint treatment of therapy and medication.

Persistent depression is a form that can go on for as long as 5 years. During that time the person can swing between moments of major and mild depression. Because of these swings, the person needs to be in treatment with therapy and medication.

Why do depressed people turn to drugs? 

Depressed people usually look for drugs and other things at the helm of risky behaviors as a way to deal with the negative emotions and make them feel better. 

Aside from drugs, they can turn to risky sexual behavior, gambling, alcohol, and even overspending to feel better, but of course, this is just a temporary improvement on how they feel.

And as time progresses, they may need more and more of those behaviors to feel somewhat better. Which explains why they can get addicted easily.

Can you be suicidal but not depressed? 

Yes, a person can be suicidal and not be depressed. Even though it is more common to observe suicidal thoughts in people with depression, someone may be going through a difficult moment in their lives and start to consider the possibility of ending everything.

And even though they may not be depressed, they will need to have support to handle the suicidal thoughts and find possibilities for dealing with the difficult time that doesn’t involve ending their own life.

What are the causes of depression?

Depression can be caused by some factors. It can happen due to a genetic factor, meaning that when you have a family history of depression, you have a higher chance of getting depressed. Along with that, it can also happen because of a chemical imbalance in your brain.

So when the level of some neurotransmitters such as serotonin is low, and the level of some hormones, such as cortisol is high for a prolonged period, you may get depressed. 

The condition may also be related to external factors, which means that when you are going through a traumatic experience, such as the loss of a loved one, or the end of a relationship, you can get depressed.

Conclusion 

This article centered around the singer The Weeknd and depression. It showed how he has manifested many times about his emotional struggles, and how he has handled them. Aside from that, the article explained what depression is, and what are ways to cope with it.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, feel free to write them in the section below.

References

My Dear Melancholy” The Weeknd’s mental battle

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Entertainment/weeknd-opens-dark-past/story?id=43987671

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/the-weeknd-exclusive-interview-after-hours-1234573754/amp/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weeknd