On Thursday, Deyjah Harris, daughter of American rapper T.I., shared her experience with anxiety and depression, adding that her mental health has not gotten easier.
She shared a video on YouTube, stating, “Transparently speaking, depression and anxiety is something that I’ve been dealing with since about the age of 11.”
The 18-year-old opened up about her mental health struggles in hopes of raising awareness on mental health.
Harris said, “My self-esteem started to become an issue for me in the sixth grade due to bullying. I started to struggle with understanding what it was that I was feeling and I definitely knew that I wasn’t able to express what it was that I was going through.”
She even went on to say she had suicidal thoughts.
“There have been multiple times where I couldn’t really envision the evolution of myself due to the fact that I just felt really unmotivated and I also repeatedly had thoughts of me not being here anymore,” Harris continued.
“The way that I viewed depression and anxiety at 11 is way more different than I experience it now at 18. In other words, it hasn’t gotten easier for me. It seems as though any time my depression might come back … it just kind of comes crashing down on me 10 times harder than it did the last time.”
“Now, all of this is something I still have to deal with and manage, however, please don’t let this give you the idea that you won’t get better. It’s really just about healing you and your inner child to prevent any open wounds from carrying into adulthood.”
While she wishes to give more details about her struggles, she chose to keep it private because she does not want people to mishandle her truth.
In the video, she also shared a few useful tips on how to handle anxiety, such as practicing self-care and droning out other people’s thoughts and opinions.
Harris explained that her decision to reveal her mental health struggles on Instagram took a lot of time.
She wrote, “The mental health video has finally been uploaded on YouTube. No matter where you are with your recovery, no matter how flawed you might be, there is nothing that needs to be added or taken away from who you are as a person.”
“You can be happy and prosperous in all aspects of your life and STILL struggle. Mental illness doesn’t discriminate. You’ll never be the exception to recovery so just remember to treat yourself warmly. Eventually, every experience will get you exactly where you’re destined to be and it’ll all make sense. We’re going to get through this.”
“I don’t have all of the answers, I’m simply here to give light to wherever there’s darkness and connect with,” Harris added.
She also assured her fans, saying, “You are never alone.”
“It’s okay if your strength looks different this season,” she added. “I hope you all learn to embrace everything that comes with you and your being but most of all, as much as some of you might say I inspire you, I hope your own life inspires you.”
