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Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Michelle Williams was suicidal during the height of her fame with Destiny's Child. The 37-year-old singer discussed her longtime struggle with depression on Wednesday's episode of The Talk after Demi Lovato addressed her own experience with the mood disorder in her YouTube documentary.
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"I didn't know until I was in my 30s what was going on," Williams said. "I just thought it was growing pains. I just thought, 'I'm turning into a woman.' I've been suffering since the ages of between 13 and 15. At that age, I didn't know what to call it."
Williams was 19 when Destiny's Child skyrocketed to fame with the album The Writing's On the Wall. She said the group's manager, Beyoncé's dad, Mathew Knowles, didn't understand her feelings amid the success.
"I'm in one of the top-selling female groups of all time, suffering with depression," the star recalled. "When I disclosed it to our manager at the time, bless his heart, he was like, 'Y'all just signed a multi-million dollar deal and you're about to go on tour. What do you have to be depressed about?' So I was like, 'Oh, maybe I'm just tired.'"
"It got really, really bad ... to the point I was suicidal," she shared. "I was to that place where it got so dark and heavy because sometimes you feel like, 'I'm the provider. I take care of people. I'm not supposed to be feeling this way. What do I do?' and I wanted out."
Williams said she ultimately "released" her depression, but hopes to "normalize" conversations about mental health. She thanked fans for their support in a tweet Wednesday.
"I'm so thankful for the support! I just ask that the headlines and quotes reflect what I said. I didn't say I 'wanted out of the group,'" she wrote.
