Juliana Hatfield, a singer who enjoyed great success in the 1990s, expressed frustration with the PR machine that covered up her bout with severe depression. So severe that she canceled a European tour. Her publicist spread word that she was suffering from “nervous exhaustion.” However, Hatfield reveals:
[My depression was] so unbearable that I was going to jump out of a window to get away from it . . . I needed to check myself into some kind of psychiatric-treatment facility.
I wondered why my publicist hadn’t simply told everyone the plain truth . . . instead of issuing such a vague, all-purpose ‘nervous exhaustion’ line, which . . . as far as I know isn’t even a real diagnosis.
Hatfield, who has an album due out in mid-August, appears to have sacrificed long-term mainstream success in exchange for her mental well-being. Given the choice she had to make, I’m sure she couldn’t be happier.
(Hat tip: Powerline A.D.)
On another note, George Michael (who is currently on tour) recently divulged his 20-year battle with depression on Good Morning America. He attributed his music to helping him cope with such events as the deaths of his boyfriend and his mother.
Hi Marissa,
I guess I feel the opposite, I have always felt that if the professionals had just labeled me as having “nervous exhaustion” or a “nervous breakdown” my life would have taken a different course. I really like those terms better than all the mental health “disorders” we have today. Instead, I was given a label and ushered into the mental health arena.
I feel like that’s what most of these “disorders” really are…a breakdown…AND a normal reaction to what is going on in our lives or our bodies.
That’s a pretty good assessment. Perhaps depression is so prevalent in America because we’re all stressed and run ourselves ragged. Talk about an imbalance!