Brett Eldredge Hopes to Help Dispel ‘Stigma’ Surrounding Mental Health Issues
Brett Eldredge opened up about his own, personal experience with mental health issues -- and his belief that the stigma surrounding such issues is unnecessary -- on the 10 Percent Happier podcast in September of 2018. At a recent press event, the country star explained to The Boot and other reporters that sharing his experiences with other people that may be going through similar struggles has become an essential part of using his platform to help others.
"It became a very important thing for me. When you deal with issues like that, you feel like you're completely alone, but you realize it's the most human thing," Eldredge explains. "I wanna make it a passion of mine, to show that. To show that I've dealt with it, and it's fine."
Eldredge has explained that his own journey towards taking control of his anxiety included making time for meditation, mindfulness practices and keeping a gratitude journal, as well as getting his dog, Edgar Boogie, who frequently joins the country star on tour and even on stage. However, Eldredge stresses that his journey towards mental health involves maintenance, and is far from a straight trajectory upward.
"I've tried to figure it out for a long time, and you take two steps forward and one step back every once in a while," he goes on to say. "You keep pushing yourself and trying to better yourself."
The singer adds that, having dealt with mental health issues for so long, he's happy to discuss his anxiety publicly if it raises greater awareness for those dealing with related struggles. "It's always had this weird stigma about it, which is so dumb to me -- so ridiculous," he adds.
"Any way I can bring that to light and say that we're all just human trying to get through this stuff, [I will]. It's really a powerful thing to be able to help people," Eldredge continues. "And they also help me in return, [by helping me realize] that we're all here, and we're all figuring out how to deal with it."
See Brett Eldredge's Best Instagram Shots