Throughout his career, Justin Bieber has been an open book with his dedicated legion of Beliebers about his ongoing struggles with his mental health.
“Justin has become a recluse and a changed person. He has no interest in being a celebrity and an artist,” an insider close to the Grammy winner told Us Weekly exclusively in October 2018 after he was spotted crying in a car with his wife, Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), whom he married a month earlier during a secret New York City courthouse ceremony. “He has withdrawn again, much like he did a couple years ago. He started recording music, but just stopped.”
A few months later, Justin decided it was time to seek professional help. “He sees a therapist, but he’s not in a special center or anything,” a source explained to Us in February 2019. “He doesn’t want to be dependent on medication. He struggles with ups and downs, anxiety, depression and uncertainty about the future.”
Through it all, Hailey has been the pop star’s rock. “I just wanted him to be happy and be good and be safe and feel joy,” she told Vogue in February 2019. “I’m really proud of him. To do it without a program, and to stick with it without a sober coach or AA or classes — I think it’s extraordinary. He is, in ways, a walking miracle.”
Scroll down to see Justin’s most honest quotes through the years about working through his mental health issues.
Throughout his career, Justin Bieber has been an open book with his dedicated legion of Beliebers about his ongoing struggles with his mental health.
“Justin has become a recluse and a changed person. He has no interest in being a celebrity and an artist,” an insider close to the Grammy winner told Us Weekly exclusively in October 2018 after he was spotted crying in a car with his wife, Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), whom he married a month earlier during a secret New York City courthouse ceremony. “He has withdrawn again, much like he did a couple years ago. He started recording music, but just stopped.”
A few months later, Justin decided it was time to seek professional help. “He sees a therapist, but he’s not in a special center or anything,” a source explained to Us in February 2019. “He doesn’t want to be dependent on medication. He struggles with ups and downs, anxiety, depression and uncertainty about the future.”
Through it all, Hailey has been the pop star’s rock. “I just wanted him to be happy and be good and be safe and feel joy,” she told Vogue in February 2019. “I’m really proud of him. To do it without a program, and to stick with it without a sober coach or AA or classes — I think it’s extraordinary. He is, in ways, a walking miracle.”
Scroll down to see Justin’s most honest quotes through the years about working through his mental health issues.
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Self-Medicating
Justin revealed in a February 2016 interview with GQ that he had been taking Adderall “for about a year” but started weaning himself off the ADHD medication. “I feel like it’s giving me anxiety,” he told the magazine. “Here’s the thing. The doctor’s been telling me that the reason I haven’t been able to concentrate during the day is because I’m not getting … restful sleep, so during the day I need [Adderall] to concentrate.”
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Feeling a Bit Off
Justin canceled meet and greets on his Purpose world tour in March 2016 as he continued to struggle with his inner demons. “I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy,” he explained on Instagram. “Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression .. The pressure of meeting people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised. Can’t tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn’t so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I’m in to give you the best show you have ever seen.”
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A Heartfelt Message
After Justin canceled the remaining dates of his Purpose tour in August 2017, he took to Instagram to address his fans. “Im so grateful for this journey with all of you.. Im grateful for the tours but most of all I am grateful i get to go through this life WITH YOU,” he wrote. “Learning and growing hasn’t always been easy but knowing I im [sic] not alone has kept me going. I have let my insecurities get the best of me at times, I let my broken relationships dictate the way I acted toward people and the way I treated them! i let bitterness, jealousy and fear run my life.!!!! … Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE.. I want my career to be sustainable, but I also want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable. So that I can be the man I want to be.”
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Looking Back
Justin admitted in a February 2019 interview with Vogue that he “got really depressed” during his Purpose tour. “I haven’t talked about this, and I’m still processing so much stuff that I haven’t talked about,” he said. “I was lonely. I needed some time.”
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Figuring Out Life
Reflecting upon his troublesome past in the aforementioned Vogue interview, Justin said, “I found myself doing things that I was so ashamed of, being super-promiscuous and stuff, and I think I used Xanax because I was so ashamed. My mom always said to treat women with respect. For me that was always in my head while I was doing it, so I could never enjoy it. Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing. It got pretty dark. I think there were times when my security was coming in late at night to check my pulse and see if I was still breathing.”
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Trust Issues
Justin acknowledged in the same Vogue interview that he struggles “with the feeling that people are using me or aren’t really there for me” — including his wife. “It’s been difficult for me even to trust Hailey,” he confessed. “We’ve been working through stuff. And it’s great.”
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Asking for Prayers
Justin shared an update on his battle with depression with his Instagram followers in March 2019. “Just wanted to keep you guys updated a little bit hopefully what I’m going through will resonate with you guys,” he wrote. “Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.. I always bounce back so I’m not worried just wanted to reach out and ask for your guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work thanks .. the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my stuff head on.”
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Becoming a Better Man
Later in March 2019, Justin shared another candid message to his fans on Instagram about the delay on his next album. “I’ve toured my whole teenage life, and early 20s, I realized and as you guys probably saw I was unhappy last tour and I don’t deserve that and you don’t deserve that, you pay money to come and have a lively energetic fun light concert and I was unable emotionally to give you that near the end of the tour,” he wrote. “I have been looking, seeking, trial and error as most of us do, I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be. Music is very important to me but Nothing comes before my family and my health. I will come with a kick ass album ASAP.”
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The Power of Song
In May 2019, the performer released a duet with Ed Sheeran titled “I Don’t Care,” on which Justin addressed his mental health. “With all these people all around / I’m crippled with anxiety,” he sang. “But I’m told it’s where we’re supposed to be / You know what? It’s kinda crazy ‘cause I really don’t mind / And you make it better like that.”
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Reflecting on His Journey
The singer opened up about his realization that marriage wouldn’t solve any of his internal struggles.
“It’s a journey. I remember when I first got married, I hit a little bit of an emotional breakdown because I thought marriage was going to fix all my problems and it didn’t,” Bieber told Apple Music’s Ebro Darden in May 2022. “It just kind of was a reflection of like, ‘Man, you’re a bit of a hypocrite, man.’”
