Camila Cabello Gets Real About Overcoming Anxiety: 'You're Worth The Fight'

By Regina Star

July 22, 2019

Camila Cabello is coming clean about her struggles with anxiety.

The "Havana" star opened up about the challenges she's faced as an entertainer in a series of vulnerable Instagram posts on Sunday night (July 21). In the two-part admission, she detailed her life before and after the spotlight, and how anxiety has shaped the way she feels about herself.

"I remember growing up hearing stories of the singers I loved, all the stories sounded the same, kids who would grow up performing for their families and putting on talent shows for their parents when they were little who grew up to be dazzling to me. I was the opposite," the singer begins her posts. "I never ever sang in front of my parents or friends and would get flustered when they would ask me to."

"I sang in my room when my parents left for Walmart and cried when one day I saw them filming me through the crack of the door. I got teary eyed when people sang happy birthday to me because people looking at me actually made me overwhelmed," she continued. "I was generally incredibly nervous and socially anxious when I was little; and people always have this look of disbelief when I tell them that."

The star then recalled an interview in which she was met with the same look when talking about having stage fright. She described her anxiety as having "two Camila's in me": one that is "terrified" of performing and another "who knows what she wants out of life."

Despite her fears, the 22-year-old had to convince herself to not allow her dreams to pass her by. "If you haven’t been very brave, or very social, or wild, or an adventure seeker, if you describe yourself as the opposite of those things... it doesn’t mean you can’t be," she explained.

"I went from never wanting to sing in front of my family to being addicted to performing, from being too anxious to hang out with new people to... still being a little anxious but having THE BEST time and making irreplaceable memories," she went on. "The essence of me is the same, but i’ve changed so much as a person. You choose who you're going to be."

Before signing off her emotional note, Cabello left fans these words of encouragement: "Force yourself to do what you’re afraid of, always … because you're worth that. You’re worth the fight."

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I remember growing up hearing stories of the singers I loved, all the stories sounded the same, kids who would grow up performing for their families and putting on talent shows for their parents when they were little who grew up to be dazzling to me. I was the opposite, I never ever sang in front of my parents or friends and would get flustered when they would ask me to, I sang in my room when my parents left for Walmart and cried when one day I saw them filming me through the crack of the door, I got teary eyed when people sang happy birthday to me because people looking at me actually made me overwhelmed. I was generally incredibly nervous and socially anxious when I was little; and people always have this look of disbelief when I tell them that. I did an interview the other day where I got it again, the interviewer said something along the lines of “So... how’d you end up here?” The answer is, I feel like my whole life there’s been two Camila’s in me. There’s little Camila that is terrified of the unknown, is aware of all the ways everything can go wrong, (actually can picture them vividly lol), and thinks it’s safer to stay home than to play ball. Then there’s the other Camila. And she knows what she wants out of life, is aware of how little time I have to let little Camila run the show while time passes by, and grabs young me by the hand and forces her out the door saying “Let’s go. You’ll survive, and I’m not gonna miss out on this. Let’s go.” And that is literally how I can sum up how I’ve gotten to this point in my life. (I’m talking about as a person, not success.) remember feeling discouraged when I felt like some people were just “born” to do things. That they always had it in them. “They were always this outgoing, they always loved to entertain, they were always this bold, they were always this outspoken.” (.....continue)

A post shared by camila (@camila_cabello) on Jul 21, 2019 at 10:14am PDT

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(part 2..) The truth is you decide who you’re going to be. Every day. I’m not talking about talent or success. I just mean the type of person you’re going to be. If you haven’t been very brave, or very social, or wild, or an adventure seeker, if you describe yourself as the opposite of those things... it doesn’t mean you can’t be. The other you needs to grab little you by the hand, yank you by the hairs and tell you, “Let’s go.” Little me hasn’t left. I just don’t let her boss me around as much. I felt like sharing because I think sometimes we see other people do things and think “Ah, well.. that’s just not me. I’ve never been like that.” It’s NOT TRUE. I’m telling you. I went from never wanting to sing in front of my family to being addicted to performing, from being too anxious to hang out with new people to... still being a little anxious but having THE BEST time and making irreplaceable memories. The essence of me is the same, but i’ve changed so much as a person. You choose who you’re going to be. Force yourself to do what you’re afraid of, always- and go after what you want and who you want to be, because you’re worth that. You’re worth the fight. It’s the most worthwhile one there is. Love you ❤️

A post shared by camila (@camila_cabello) on Jul 21, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

Cabello is performing at this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas in September alongside a lineup of superstar artists. Fans across the country can tune in and watch an exclusive live stream of the show via The CW App and CWTV.com. Then, on October 2nd and 3rd, relive all of the epic performances from the weekend during a televised special on The CW Network at 8pm ET/PT. And leading up to the official television special, The CW will also air an hour-long Best Of Special on Sunday, September 29th at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Photo: Getty Images

TopicsCamila Cabello