Why Mental Health Matters

Ashley Tisdale released her new album Symptoms earlier this year and I have been waiting for this release for soo long. Ashley Tisdale is one of my idols, and just seeing her singing again makes me happy. Also, what I admire most about this album is how openly she speaks, or better saying sings, about her mental health struggles. As someone who did a psychology undergraduate degree, I take mental health very serious. And in my opinion it is a very important topic to talk about, and I like that more and more organizations focus on the aspect of talking openly about mental health struggles. However, unfortunately a lot of people think that physical health is more important than mental health but this is not the case. Mental health IS and WILL ALWAYS BE MORE IMPORTANT than physical health—always keep that in mind. Mental health affects our wellbeing, affects basically everything in our life. You cannot function properly if your soul suffers and the way that Ashley Tisdale describes it in her new album is just amazing.

I love the way how every song focuses on one particular struggle of anxiety and depression. As an example, in the music video I have attached, "Voices in My Head," she focuses on those voices that tell her that she is not good enough, and honestly speaking, everyone can identify with that song. We have all been there, where the “voices in our head“ put doubts into our mind and let us maybe not take risks or making us feel like we are not worth it. But this song shows us that we are worth it, and that “this is the last time I listen to the voices in my head,“ to quote a line from this song. Her second song release "Love Me and Let Me Go" focuses on talking to her depression and anxiety to let her go, and that she had enough and wants to look for a new “love.“ This one is actually one of my favorite songs of this album. Additionally, the music video to this song is amazing too, and the visuals are the best I have ever seen. It is definitely worth it to watch this music video! Nevertheless, I love all of the songs of the whole album, but one of my favorite songs is "Symptoms," in which she sings about commitment issues and the feelings she had while dating someone. Commitment issues are very common nowadays and I like the way how she put this struggle into words everyone can relate to. Another one of my favorites is “Insomnia." Interestingly enough in this song she sings about being sleepless because she misses her partner. However, when I first read the title I thought it is about having “insomnia“ due to anxiety or depression symptoms, since insomnia is a very common symptom of anxiety and depression. And if some of you my readers suffer from depression or/and anxiety, you know what I am talking about.

However, I do not want to take too much away, so I just say listen to her album and listen more closely to her lyrics, you will understand what people with anxiety and depression go through in their everyday life. Plus I am sure that everyone can identify with at least one of her songs in her new album. And remember, every one of us struggles with something, so listening to this album should make us realize that there are people out there who still suffer in silence because they are not ready yet to talk about it. And lastly, if you listen to the album, let me know what you think of it.