Hayley Kiyoko Reveals Mental Health Struggles in Powerful New Ad: "We Need to Talk About It"

The artists — Hayley Kiyoko, Christina Perri, Aminé, and Lindsey Stirling — all talk about the importance of reaching out even when starting the conversation may be awkward. Ahead, each one shares their own experiences.

Back in 2016, Hayley suffered from a concussion and post-concussion syndrome. This sparked bouts of depression. She tweeted this past January, "Ever since I hit my head I deal with depression. I'm sure many of you do too. I know it sucks, but you aren't alone. Let's go through it together. Let's hold each other. Let's fight the fight. We are capable. We don't deserve to feel this way. We deserve better. WE WILL GET BETTER."

In this Seize the Awkward video, Hayley, 28, says she goes to her sister when she's struggling with her mental health. "I kind of got to a point where I couldn't not talk about it," she shared, noting that she struggles on a regular basis. "When you don't talk about it, you feel more isolated, you feel more alone, and I'm sure many of you go through those feelings."

Christina has been open in the past about mental health struggles that she experienced from a very young age. She told The Mighty in 2017 that her first suicidal thoughts came when she was 8 years old. She also battled anxiety, depression, and addiction.

Christina, now 33, shares in this video that she's been in and out of therapy for 25 years, which has helped her grow as a person. Having candid conversations with her friends in their group chat also helps. "We're all over America, but we check in with each other every single day," she said. "Every single time I've had a really serious issue, someone has reached out to me individually and either said, 'Me too,' or really just shown me that they were there for me."

Aminé, 25, has been open in some of his music about struggling with suicidal thoughts. In particular, his song "Dr. Whoever," touches on that. In a past interview with Billboard, he revealed that talking with his mom has really helped him. "When I hear her voice, I'm very much connected with my mom and this idea of losing her would be the end of the world for me," he said. "What keeps me going or keeps me wanting to do more music is knowing that I can provide for my family, make them happy."

He says in his video for Seize the Awkward that people see his career as fun and think artists like him could never struggle with their mental health, but he deals with the same issues "Taking care of yourself and making sure you don't always feel alone is kind of the most important part," he stressed. Having a friend recharges your soul, he said, and he'll call them out if they don't want to talk about something they're going through.

In an interview with The JED Foundation this year, Lindsey discussed her battle with an eating disorder in college. She admitted that she never viewed it as strange until her mom reached out, and she eventually went to therapy.

Lindsey, 32, also dealt with depression around the same time, and said in this Seize the Awkward video that her former roommate was the one to help her through depressive thoughts. During one instance, she went into her apartment bathroom, cut her hair, and cried. Lindsey's roommate put a hat on her head and immediately took her to get ice cream. "Having a safe place where I could talk about it with someone who was close to me, who looked beyond the symptoms, meant everything to me right then," she said.