Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of suicide, disordered eating, mental health issues, and addiction.
However, while Welch was killing it vocally, school was another story.
“The fact that I work in a creative industry probably helps.
In fact I think in some ways it has helped.
We dyspraxics think in a different way,” she said.
The two families moved in together, and Welch suddenly had three new siblings.
We’d grown up with those kids, then they become your family and the whole dynamics change.
It was horrible for a long time, as we all really hated each other."
Sadly, there was more tragedy in store for the young singer following her parents' divorce.
Her grandmother, who had bipolar disorder, died by suicide when Welch was 14.
“It was hard to be close to her, because she was on a lot of medication.
“I think [my grandmother’s] pain echoed down to my mother and then to me.
My mother has put an absolute lid on it, in the most impressive way.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.
… To let go of that sometimes feels like a bigger achievement than headlining Glastonbury.”
If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available.
“That’s when the drinking and the partying exploded, as a way to hide from it.
I was never interested in a nice glass of wine,” she toldThe Guardianin June 2018.
“Being an extreme drinker was a huge part of my identity.
Music and alcohol are sort of my first two loves,” she said.
But she knew she needed to make an extreme lifestyle change.
It was like, ‘I’m going to die.
I need to stop,'” Welch said.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
“For a while, I felt like I was in purgatory in this weird limbo all the time.
The record pieced me back together.
The songs about the difficulties and depression actually then became the things that helped me,” she explained.
In a 2018 interview with theBelfast Telegraph, she explained, “I was in such a bad place.
Then she decided to kick things up a notch and crowd surf.
As she explained toBillboardthe following month, “As I landed …
I heard the crunch.
I crawled off the stage the wrong way.
I would go and get into bed with her even though she was the younger sister.
So this dynamic was already set up when we were kids that she was taking care of me.
“I’ve been doing transcendental meditation for nearly five years now, and that’s been hugely helpful.
I actually had a really bad anxiety attack yesterday.
And I get this thing where I think I’m dying,” she said.
You don’t get a brain break.
According to a2022 study, the stress and disruption caused bythe Covid-19 pandemic created an uptick in eating disorders.
“There were moments when I was like, ‘Should I be starting to cut back on my sugar?
Or should I do a cleanse?’
And that for me is just a slippery slope.
She added that at her next show, her fans would have to be doing the jumping for her.
