Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
Hayley Williams shared a personal essay about her mental health struggles for PAPER on Wednesday. While noting that she's "still hesitant to call it depression," the Paramore frontwoman described her past few years, facing trials from divorce, the loss of a bandmate, and financial distress.
"A lot happened within a short time," she writers. "But then I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't laugh... for a long time."
Ultimately, she says it was her work as an artist that helped her through her rough period, as well as the support from her friends, including bandmates. Referring to the band's latest album, 2017's After Laughter, she calls this period in her journey "Life with AL," citing her work on it as healing.
"Writing opened my heart to healing as Zac Farro bolted back into mine and Taylor's daily lives like lightning," she says, citing Farro's return the band after a brief split. "Now every night on tour, I turn around and there's my brother back on the drums again. No more denial. No more walking across traffic like the old lady in the cartoon who doesn't even notice the wreckage behind her when she's barely made it to the other side."
Read the full essay here.