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Billie Eilish on mental health: It's not weak to ask for help

By Annie Martin
Billie Eilish urged fans to take care of their mental health and each other in a new PSA. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Billie Eilish urged fans to take care of their mental health and each other in a new PSA. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

May 23 (UPI) -- Billie Eilish wants people to be open and proactive about their mental health.

The 17-year-old singer urged fans to take care of their mental health and each other in a PSA for Seize the Awkward, a mental health campaign.

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"It doesn't make you weak to ask for help. It doesn't," Eilish said. "It shouldn't make you feel weak to ask anyone for help. You should be able to ask anyone for help, and everyone has to help someone if they need it.

"Starting that conversation, you don't have to make it super serious right away. You say, 'How are you feeling? Are you okay?'" she said. "'Yeah, I'm good.' 'Really? Are you actually good?'

"Sometimes you don't even have to say anything to someone for them to know they understand, and they don't have to say anything to you. Sometimes it's about a hug," she said.

The "Ocean Eyes" singer told fans to keep their ears open and listen to each other. She said she's still learning the best way to care for herself and others.

"I'm just dealing with it how I'm dealing with it. I'm trying my best. Obviously, I'm not a trained professional in anything -- I don't know what I'm doing half the time. But I have seen it and I've been it," Eilish said of mental health struggles.

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"Even if it's just a little more comfort, that can really mean a lot to someone," she added. "It's been like that for me -- there have been certain people that have texted me right when I needed to be texted, saying they loved me and that they were thinking of me. It really means a lot."

Eilish released her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, in March. She previously discussed her struggle with depression in an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 radio.

"Depression has controlled sort of everything in my life," the singer said. "I've always been a melancholy person. I feel like there are some people that neutrally, they're kind of happy. It's really insane to me.

"It's different for some people and it's okay," she added. "I feel like people are just so weird about it because people that aren't neutrally unhappy don't understand how it is."

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